Rapid learner skills(5)——How I was able to put in 8+ hours of focus per day during the MIT Challenge

How I was able to put in 8+ hours of focus per day during the MITChallenge

One of the most common questions I get asked about the MIT Challenge, my goal to compress four year of MIT’s computer science program into 12 months of self-education, was what schedule did I use to study?

I accomplished the MIT challenge by having a strict time schedule. Good focus does not just require you to set aside time to put in effort. It also requires you to set aside time when you konw that you will not be working.

You need to treat your learning time like it is——a scarce resource that must be used efficiently. If you treat it as an unending obligation, you will actively resist working when you start.

This tool applies doubly for people who are learning on top of a full-time job. Although you might not be able to take every evening and weekend off, you still need to set boundaries for recoving your energy.

Here are three strategies to improve your focus:

1. Decide first when you are NOT going to work.

Knowing I could relax in the evenings and Saturdays
(I used Sundays to keep running my blog/business), meant that I would’t hold myself back while working.

2. Take breaks as often as you need them, but take smart breaks.

The key to taking breaks intelligently is to pick an activity as a break that is more boring than actually studying. A break should not be fun, it should be realxing.

3. Focus is a skill that can be trained.

If you practice, you can increase your ability to focus. The more you practice, the better you will get over time.

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Words:

• Scarce: adj.
  not easy to find or get
• doubly:adv.
  twice as much, or very much more

Phrases:

• take + 时间 +off:
  rest
• get over something:
  to accept an unpleasant fact or situation after dealing with it for a while