How to handle deep study in so little time? | IIT Prof's tips

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the significance of deep self-study and problem-solving skills, acknowledging the challenge of time management when studying in depth. They clarify that deep self-study involves quickly grasping the theory and then thoroughly engaging with problem-solving, revisiting concepts to address any flaws in understanding. The speaker acknowledges that not all students can manage this approach due to natural differences in intellectual abilities and varying starting points in their study journeys. They discourage taking shortcuts and advocate for a disciplined, fundamental approach to learning, which may require sacrifices but will lead to a strong conceptual understanding. The speaker encourages students to focus on their own improvement rather than comparing themselves to others, stressing the importance of consistent progress and the long-term benefits of a deep, fundamental approach to studying, especially in subjects like physics and mathematics.

Takeaways

• 📚 **Deep Self-Study**: Focusing on deep understanding and problem-solving rather than just memorizing theories.
• ⏱️ **Time Management**: Acknowledge that deep study requires time, and not all students can manage it equally well.
• 🧠 **Understanding Flaws**: Recognize and revisit theoretical flaws identified during problem-solving to strengthen understanding.
• 🚫 **Avoid Shortcuts**: Refrain from shortcut methods which may lead to gaps in knowledge in the long run.
• 🎓 **Intellectual Differences**: Accept that some students may naturally excel or start self-study earlier, and do not be discouraged.
• 🔄 **Revisit and Relearn**: Regularly revisit and relearn concepts to achieve a deep understanding.
• 🚀 **Long-Term Benefits**: Initially, deep study may seem slow, but it pays off with improved problem-solving skills and understanding.
• 🌟 **Quality over Quantity**: Prioritize the quality of learning over the quantity of topics covered.
• 📈 **Progressive Improvement**: Recognize that as your understanding deepens, you'll be able to tackle more complex topics more efficiently.
• 🔗 **Fundamental Concepts**: Mastering fundamental concepts is more beneficial than memorizing shortcuts for each topic.
• 🤔 **Self-Improvement**: Focus on personal improvement rather than comparing yourself to others.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of deep self-study as discussed in the video?

Deep self-study emphasizes not spending all time on theory but quickly understanding it and moving on to problem-solving. It involves self-reflection and deep analysis to identify and rectify flaws in understanding, which leads to a fundamentally strong grasp of concepts.

Why is it important to avoid quickly looking at solutions when encountering problems during self-study?

Quickly looking at solutions without truly understanding the problem can lead to a false sense of comprehension. Instead, one should revisit the theory, relearn concepts, and remove flaws in understanding to build a strong foundation.

How does the speaker suggest managing time when deep self-study could lead to running short on time for all subjects?

The speaker acknowledges that deep self-study can be time-consuming but suggests accepting that not all students are equal in their capabilities. Some may naturally manage to cover more ground, and it's important not to feel discouraged by this.

What is the significance of starting self-study early according to the video?

Starting self-study early can lead to a higher maturity level in understanding and problem-solving skills. Those who start early may be ahead when the curriculum becomes more competitive, making deep study necessary.

Why should students avoid adopting shortcut methods for learning?

Shortcut methods may provide temporary gains, but in the long run, they can leave students with significant gaps in their conceptual understanding. Fundamental learning provides a more solid and long-lasting foundation.

How does the speaker suggest students approach the initial chapters of their study?

The speaker advises sticking to a proper method of studying, even if it feels like lagging behind initially. The difficulty in the beginning will pay off as the mind improves and intellectual abilities grow, making later chapters easier to tackle.

What is the role of background knowledge in preparing for later chapters, as mentioned in the video?

Deep background knowledge developed through fundamental learning in the initial chapters significantly boosts preparation for later chapters. It provides a strong base that makes understanding and problem-solving in subsequent topics more efficient.

How does the speaker compare learning with fundamental concepts versus relying on shortcuts?

The speaker argues that while shortcuts may seem efficient initially, they become difficult to manage as the number of chapters and topics increases. In contrast, learning fundamental concepts provides a sustainable and effective approach that serves as a 'shortcut' in itself.

What is the speaker's advice regarding comparison with other students during the learning process?

The speaker advises against comparing oneself with others. Instead, the focus should be on self-improvement and enhancing one's own conceptual understanding over time.

What is the key message the speaker wants to convey about the attitude and strategy towards studies?

The key message is to adopt a disciplined approach to learning, focusing on quality over quantity, and prioritizing academics. The speaker emphasizes that there is no magic pill; it's about the attitude, strategy, and sacrifices made for self-improvement.

How can students ensure they are making the best use of their time for self-study?

Students should prioritize their tasks, focus on the highest priorities, and employ effective time management strategies. They should also be mindful of the quality of their study, ensuring they dedicate adequate time to each problem for deep understanding.

What is the long-term benefit of sticking to a fundamentally proper way of learning, as per the video?

The long-term benefit is a comprehensive and genuinely deep understanding of the subject matter. This approach leads to a strong conceptual foundation that can be applied to various topics and prepares students more effectively for advanced studies or competitive examinations.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Deep Self-Study and Problem Solving

The speaker addresses concerns about the time-consuming nature of deep self-study and its impact on managing multiple subjects. They clarify that deep self-study involves quickly understanding the theory and then focusing on problem-solving, which reveals gaps in understanding. The speaker emphasizes the importance of revisiting and relearning concepts to achieve a deep understanding, rather than skimming through solutions. They acknowledge that not all students can manage this approach due to natural differences in abilities or starting points in their study journey. The speaker encourages students not to be discouraged and to prioritize a fundamental approach to learning, even if it means making sacrifices and taking a longer path to mastery.

05:01

🚀 Consistent Study and Long-Term Benefits

The speaker discusses the importance of maintaining discipline in studying and developing problem-solving skills through self-analysis and introspection. They advise focusing on the quality of learning rather than the quantity. Initially, this method may seem slow and make students feel like they are lagging behind their peers. However, the speaker assures that with consistent application, the process becomes easier, and the foundational knowledge gained will significantly boost preparation for later chapters. They highlight that fundamental concepts are fewer in number than shortcuts, making it easier to retain and apply knowledge across various topics. The speaker advises against comparing oneself with others and instead focusing on self-improvement and conceptual understanding.

10:03

⏳ Time Management and Prioritization

The speaker emphasizes the importance of effective time management and prioritization in academic pursuits. They acknowledge the limited hours in a day and the necessity to focus on high-priority tasks, particularly for those serious about academics. The speaker encourages a strategic approach to studies, suggesting that there is no shortcut to success. They advocate for a change in attitude and strategy, rather than relying on a 'magic pill' for academic improvement. The message is to make the best use of available time and resources, focusing on a fundamentally correct way of studying to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

Keywords

💡Deep self-study

Deep self-study refers to a method of learning where one does not just memorize theories but actively engages with problems to analyze and understand the underlying concepts. It is a process of self-reflection and analysis to identify and correct flaws in one's understanding. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that deep self-study is not about spending excessive time on theory alone but rather a combination of quickly grasping the theory and then investing time in problem-solving to achieve a deep understanding.

💡Problem-solving skills

Problem-solving skills are the mental and analytical abilities one uses to resolve issues or answer questions through critical thinking and logical reasoning. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses the importance of improving these skills through deep self-study, suggesting that spending time on each problem is crucial for identifying gaps in one's knowledge and enhancing the ability to tackle complex issues.

💡Time management

Time management is the efficient organization and allocation of time to complete tasks or achieve goals. The video addresses the concern that deep self-study can be time-consuming and may not allow for coverage of all subjects. The speaker acknowledges this challenge and suggests that while some students may naturally excel at managing their time for such an in-depth approach, others may need to make sacrifices and prioritize their study methods.

💡Intellectual abilities

Intellectual abilities refer to the cognitive skills and mental capacities that enable individuals to understand, reason, and learn. The script mentions that not all students are equally endowed with these abilities, which can affect their capacity to engage in deep self-study. The speaker encourages students to accept these differences and not to be discouraged by them.

💡Shortcut methods

Shortcut methods are quick and often less comprehensive approaches to learning that may help students cover more material in less time. However, the video warns against relying on such methods, as they can lead to gaps in understanding. The speaker argues that a fundamental grasp of concepts is more beneficial in the long run, as it provides a solid foundation for advanced topics.

💡Conceptual understanding

Conceptual understanding is the ability to comprehend the fundamental principles or ideas that underlie a subject. The video emphasizes the importance of developing a deep conceptual understanding rather than just memorizing facts or formulas. It is presented as the key to truly mastering a subject and being able to apply knowledge to a variety of problems.

💡Self-improvement

Self-improvement is the process of enhancing one's knowledge, skills, and personal development. The speaker in the video encourages a focus on self-improvement over competition, suggesting that students should aim to improve their own abilities rather than comparing themselves to others. This is linked to the idea of deep self-study and the long-term benefits it provides.

💡Sacrifice

Sacrifice involves giving up something of value in order to achieve a greater goal. In the context of the video, the speaker talks about the sacrifices students may need to make to focus on deep self-study. This could mean dedicating more time to fewer subjects or forgoing other activities to ensure a thorough understanding of the material.

💡Prioritization

Prioritization is the act of determining the order or importance of tasks or objectives. The video script discusses the need for students to prioritize their academic goals when engaging in deep self-study. This may involve choosing to focus on certain subjects or topics over others to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the most critical areas.

💡Background knowledge

Background knowledge is the foundational information or understanding that one has acquired previously, which can be applied to new learning situations. The speaker explains that deep self-study helps in developing a strong background knowledge, which in turn makes it easier to understand and tackle later, more complex chapters or topics.

💡Competitive examinations

Competitive examinations are tests or assessments that are used to select candidates based on their performance relative to others. The video script contrasts the preparation for competitive examinations with that for board examinations, emphasizing that the focus should be on conceptual understanding rather than just exam preparation. The speaker advises students not to get caught up in the competitive aspect but to concentrate on improving their own knowledge and understanding.

Highlights

The importance of deep self-study and improving problem-solving skills through spending ample time on each problem.

Acknowledging the challenge of time management when studying deeply.

Clarifying the concept of deep self-study, which involves not just learning theory but also solving problems and revisiting theory to understand deeply.

The necessity to avoid the mistake of quickly looking at solutions without truly understanding the underlying theory.

Accepting that not all students have the same intellectual abilities and some may naturally progress faster.

The value of starting self-study early to build a strong foundation for deeper study in competitive environments.

Emphasizing the need to avoid shortcut methods for a fundamentally strong understanding.

The inevitability of initial sacrifices in time and effort for a strong academic foundation.

Stressing the importance of quality over quantity in study, focusing on deep understanding rather than covering many topics superficially.

Encouraging students to stick to their study methods despite initial challenges and the perception of falling behind.

Highlighting that deep study methods will yield easier understanding and progress in later chapters.

The advantage of deep background knowledge in tackling advanced topics, especially in subjects like physics and mathematics.

Comparing the burden of remembering shortcut methods versus the ease of understanding fundamental concepts.

The practical application of fundamental knowledge, such as free body diagrams in physics, across various chapters and real-life scenarios.

Advising against comparing oneself with others and focusing on self-improvement.

The significance of improving conceptual understanding on a weekly basis for significant long-term gains.

The necessity of making the best use of the limited time available for studies.

There is no magic pill; it's about attitude, strategy, and making sacrifices for a fundamentally correct study approach.

Transcripts

hello everyone in my previous video I

had discussed the importance of deep

self-study and of improving one's

problem solving skills through spending

a lot of time on each of the problems

while many of the students had responded

positively to it and almost all of you

had appreciated it some students had

correctly pointed out that if one were

to study like this in a very deep

fashion spending a lot of time on each

of the problems there just won't be

enough time for all the subjects and let

me tell you I completely feel you I

understand what you're trying to say

here and those of us who have gone

through the process we have all

experienced this to one extent or

another so in this video I thought it'll

be a good idea to clarify some of the

concepts that I uh that I had mentioned

about and also to discuss a few

strategies and the new and the special

attitude that you need to have if you

have to study in this fashion

let me tell you that there is no magic

pill that I'm going to discuss it is

just basically common sense but

something which I will explicitly

mention to you so the first thing is

that we should be very clear about what

we mean by Deep self-study so what is

meant is that you do not spend that we

do not spend our whole time studying the

theory that is not deep self-study

rather we should study um as fast as

possible the theory and and as quickly

as possible go to solving the problems

now when we are doing the problems

during this entire process through

self-reflection through a deep analysis

of our flaws and everything we will

inevitably realize that there are some

deep flaws in our understanding of the

theory it is then at this point you must

not we must not make this mistake of

quickly looking at the solutions and

just lying to ourselves that we have

understood it this would be a very very

big mistake rather what we must do is to

go back to the theory revisit it and

relearn the concepts in a fundamentally

strong way so this revisiting revising

and relearning in a uh so that leads to

the depth in our understanding the

removal of the flaws so this is what is

meant by Deep self-study not just

learning the theory over and over again

it is in combination with problem

solving

now regarding the point of time

management now see if you have to do

self- study along with this spending a

lot of time with uh the with each of the

problems you are definitely going to run

short of time as I said I agree to this

but we must acknowledge the fact and

accept that not all students are built

equal so some people will definitely

manage to do this kind of self study as

well as do the problems and finish up

everything before us so there are

certain students some gifted students

like that so we should not feel

discouraged about it okay so these are

some natural differences in our

intellectual abilities which we have to

live with plus there is also the fact

that many students because of some

proper guidance from their childhood or

because of self-realization whatever May

the reason they perhaps started this

journey of self-study deep self-study a

little bit earlier than us that's why

they are further along in their maturity

level and when in class 10 and class 11

it starts becoming very competitive and

this kind of really deep study is

necessary probably they are already a

little bit ahead of ourselves but no

matter this is not a point of

discouragement rather what we should do

is we should

not uh go and adopt some kind of

shortcut method it does not mean that we

should not ourselves

uh sacrifice the correct and proper way

of studying things in a fundamental way

that is absolutely necessary we have to

have to do it so when we do it naturally

we have to do some sacrifices for us for

for lesser Mortals who are not gifted

naturally we have to do some sacrifices

because we have to get our priorities St

straight if you have to learn these

Advanced topics at the class 11 um or

Class 12 stage in a proper fashion then

definitely some sacrifices are

necessary now um if we don't do that and

we just adopt some kind of a shortcut

method then what will happen is that

apparently it will it will seem to us

that we are able to catch up with our

more gifted friends on a very temporary

basis but in the long run you will

yourself discover that or we'll

ourselves discover that we are left with

some gaping loopholes in our conceptual

understanding in our overall preparation

so what must we do we must stick to the

discipline of learning things in a

proper way in a fundamentally proper way

and uh developing our problem solving

skills through self analysis

introspection by spending as I say again

by spending quite a bit of time on each

of the problems instead of trying to

cover a lot of quantity we should also

be mindful of the quality now uh as we

keep on doing this for the first few

chapters it may seem to us that we have

started to lag behind many of our

friends or perhaps in comparison to what

the teacher also is teaching in class no

matter let it be so stick to your guts

okay we have to stick to your to our

guts and we have to realize and this is

where our attitude is very very

important and this is like the heart and

soul of this of the message of this

video is that in the initial few

chapters we may feel like that we are

lagging behind

but it keeps getting easier and easier

as we uh as we keep on sticking to this

proper method of studying uh our brains

will start improving our way or our

ability to to study in a proper way will

keep on improving and in some of the

later chapters we'll start to see the

dividends of it we'll start to get the

payback from our proper study methods so

in the first few chapters life is going

to be difficult okay this is true but

slowly slowly as our mind improves as

our intellectual ability improves uh as

our problem solving abilities improve we

are going to be able to tackle the

chapters in a slightly more uh faster

way and the good news is that the more

chapters you cover in this kind of a

fundamentally proper

way the more background knowledge the

Deep background knowledge um will

develop in your brain and this

background knowledge will tremendously

boost your preparation and your study of

the later chapters so the first few

chapters the the the knowledge the basic

knowledge that develops that will

tremendously boost your preparation for

the later chapters this is especially

true in physics and to a large extent

even in

mathematics and certainly in chemistry

also it is important but chemistry is

slightly bit different um which in some

of the topics are more information heavy

but it is espe especially between in

physics and Mathematics now as opposed

to this if some of your friends are

adopting some kind of shortcut methods

maybe they're getting ahead of you but

try to realize one very very simple

thing see for each and every topic if

there are some Shortcut methods

initially it may seem that okay you are

learning the shortcut methods and you

were able to do some of the problems in

a fast manner maybe covered more a lot

of ground uh in a fast way but as the

number of chapters keeps on increasing

and remember that the plus two syllabus

is quite huge considering physics

chemistry and Mathematics how many

shortcuts can you

remember it becomes way too heavy to

remember so many different shortcuts for

different different topics rather

instead of that if you are learning

things in a very fundamental way the

number of fundamental concepts is not

that high so if you learn free body

diagram in physics properly it helps you

in each and every chapter you don't have

to learn any shortcut method the the

knowledge itself is the shortcut for you

please try to remember this even now on

a daily basis especially in mechanical

inuring that I am now in the the ability

to draw free body diagrams which I had

developed back in my class 11 that has

stood me in good State even now on a

daily

basis and this would be true in other uh

and other topics in other abilities also

so finally what I want to say to you is

that please please do not compare

yourself with others your only

motivation is to improve your own self

this is especially true in plus two

please don't think about competitive

examinations like that like preparation

of competitive examinations versus

preparation of board examinations all

these things concept is concept

scientific concepts are scientific

Concepts so you try to improve Pro your

conceptual understanding in a deep

fashion and just try to compare yourself

what you are in this week versus what

you are in the next week and what you

are in in the week after that so if you

keep on improving little by little every

week there will be a tremendous

difference between your abilities and

your knowledge what it is now and what

it is 3 months later okay so I hope so

so combined with with with the sacrifice

that as as I mentioned earlier com comp

I mean combining this kind of a

self-improvement along with the

sacrifice that you necessarily must put

in to get your priorities straight and

to focus on the highest priorities which

if you're serious about academics it

should be the academics I think it is a

guaranteed Journey towards a

fundamentally correct way of improving

your preparation and making it to really

very comprehensive genuinely

comprehensive that's all there is no

magic pill as I said it's just a a a

difference in your attitude and your

strategy of how you approach your

studies so they're only 24 hours a day

so you have to make the best use of what

you have all right thank you very much

all the best