Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford researchers

Re:Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford re... by sliverstorm on Monday October 25, 2010 @04:29AM (#1829038)

What can I say, sometimes by 6AM my edge is considerably dulled, and a bit of a break can help fight off total exhaustion.

There's also writer's block-ish occasions where you keep staring at one problem and it's like beating your head on a brick wall, but if you step away and have a cup of tea and come back, that tough problem unravels itself in front of you.

I've also used the "I need a break" when I know that I'm simply out of juice for the day, and not going to make any more progress (particularly when I have something else heavy on my mind). It's not a break, I don't come back to it for at least a day, but it lets me walk away without feeling like a failure.

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Re:Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford re... by akjetma on Monday October 25, 2010 @05:56AM (#1829184)

I've spent hours looking at simple statics problems that I know I should be able to solve in fifteen minutes, but just can't for whatever reason. It's like I've gotten on the wrong mental track early on and can only move further along that track or backwards. I'll give up for the moment to go eat or see some friends or just make contact with the outside world for an hour or so and during that time, the answer presents itself without much effort. I can then come back and redo the problem within 20 minutes.

I wonder, though, if these epiphanies could have happened without the hour long struggle preceding it. Leaving a problem, it feels as if my mind is untangling itself and organizing this mess of thoughts.

What I would really like to see some research on is the mental barrier between myself and starting the work in the first place. I'm looking at it right now... :|

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Re:Need a study break to refresh? Maybe not, say Stanford re... by nkassis on Monday October 25, 2010 @08:57AM (#1829581)

Well I don't think the article is speaking about infinite energy here. If you are truly tired, you will need sleep but some people claim needing a break every 10-15 minutes of studying. That's the kind of stuff the article seems to talk about.

I know I have that problem, I'll loose focus easily. I can work out 5-6 lines of code and start drifting off. But when things are working out good, I can focus on it for hours just spurting out code. I love those moments. The point is, you still need sleep but procrastinating on HN every 20 minutes is a bad thing (Talking to myself here ;p)

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