Study Sessions Should be Short and Frequent as Opposed to Long and Sparse

First, you want to form a habit. Second, you want to operate at peak productivity during your session. Third, you want to minimize the amount you forget between sessions.

Want to get notified about new posts? Join the mailing list and follow on X/Twitter.

When learning math, it’s best for study sessions to be short and frequent (as opposed to long and sparse). ‌ For instance, suppose you’re budgeting 3 hours per week to learn math. If circumstances allow, it would be better to study 30 minutes six days per week, as opposed to 90 minutes twice a week. Below are several reasons why.

First, you want to form a habit. The more consistently you study math, the more it will become a habit that you naturally do each day without thinking, just like (hopefully!) taking a shower and brushing your teeth. That habit is what will carry you though the long game once the initial adrenaline wears off.

Second, you want to operate at peak productivity during your session. It’s easy to maintain high levels of focus and intensity throughout a short 30-minute session. However, during a long 90-minute session, you’ll become significantly less productive as fatigue sets in.

Third, you want to minimize the amount you forget between sessions. When you have multi-day gaps between study sessions, you’ll have to spend more time revisiting previously covered material.‌

(Just ask any teacher how much their students forget over weekends, and how much valuable class time they have to spend on Monday re-teaching the things that they covered on Thursday and Friday.)

However, there are some caveats to consider.‌

Whenever you switch to a different activity, it may take a few minutes for your brain to spin up on the new context. This is called “context switching cost,” and if you make your sessions too short, then the proportion of study time that is wasted on context switching will outweigh the other benefits of daily practice. While it’s good to spread out your practice, each session should be long enough that the context-switching cost is proportionally negligible.

Additionally, if you have a hectic schedule and “six days per week” in theory ends up being just “three days per week” in practice, then you’ll need longer sessions just to achieve the same volume of practice.

Just think of it like working out. 30 minutes six days per week? No problem, easy.‌

45 minutes four days per week? 60 minutes three times per week? Takes some discipline, but it’s doable.

90 minutes twice a week? It’ll feel like a grind with slow progress, and you’ll constantly feel tempted to skip workouts.

Want to get notified about new posts? Join the mailing list and follow on X/Twitter.