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Off-Topic Balancing mental energy, learning/retaining new information, and training

bluejeff

Level 7 Valued Member
Greetings SF community.

I am a 40 year old working on an undergraduate physics degree. While I find the material and much of the mathematics quite interesting, the sheer volume of it in the timeframe I have to learn each semester often feels overwhelming. I want to start homework the evening after classes, but often times if I exercise in the afternoon, I lose mental energy and it becomes very hard to focus. Many days it's hard even if I don't work out.

I am not sure how much to attribute this to age at this point, and how much to attribute to the fact that it really is a lot of material (especially for someone who only first learned calculus something like 18 months ago). I just feel like I learn reaallllyyy slowwww. It's not that I can't understand the material; it feels like I need a dozen exposures to the same thing for it to start to stick. In the past I have relied on repetition and practice, but currently have some struggles even getting to the point where I can do that, depending on what the topic is. The pace of the courses also does not allow me to take my time and let things really sink in.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has had any success with supplements, diet, lifestyle modifications, etc for increasing mental energy and focus. I realize it is an unfortunate reality of university that the workload kind of takes over one's life, but I am struggling with my mental gastank. The will to do the work and read and watch videos and whatnot is all there, it's just that I run out of gas and at that point the information on a page in front of me just looks like gibberish.

I also have had to reduce my training volume to something like a third of what it used to be. I've relied on greasing the groove and playing with different semi-minimalist routines, but I feel like school exhaustion is holding me back from much progress, which I've seen little of in the last six months.

I do drink a little and use a little THC (legal here in Colorado), but try my best to limit myself to just a few beers a week and one (sometimes two...) days using THC. I try to do these things on my weekend when I don't have to be in school the next day and just have to work the weekend job. I do wonder if cutting out one or both entirely would impact things much though.

Just curious if anyone has gotten through similar experiences and come out "on top." I fully realize that the reality of these things may very well just be that it is the way it is and I just need to get through it.

Thanks in advance.
 
Caffeine. A lot of caffeine. Finding the right place to study and developing the discipline.

I think the booze and THC isn't helping you, but I get it.

Training's tough - I'm older than you and a hard training session can pretty much wipe me out for the rest of the day. Anything beyond things I can autopilot through are rough after a hard squat workout.

It's harder as you get older - I have zero doubts about that. Part of it is my tolerance for BS is exactly ZERO at this stage of the game - I don't want to waste time and energy on things that I can't see directly applying to my work and interests. I can usually find an application though if I have at least a little interest in the subject at hand. I'm still good about memorizing things in my field - some of that is just experience and wisdom making it easier to integrate the new into already existing schemata, BUT it doesn't get easier w. age.

"Make It Stick" was a pretty good book, I thought. There are others on the subject, but it's a good one if that's helpful at all.
 
bluejeff said:
Greetings SF community.

I am a 40 year old working on an undergraduate physics degree. While I find the material and much of the mathematics quite interesting, the sheer volume of it in the timeframe I have to learn each semester often feels overwhelming. I want to start homework the evening after classes, but often times if I exercise in the afternoon, I lose mental energy and it becomes very hard to focus. Many days it's hard even if I don't work out.

I am not sure how much to attribute this to age at this point, and how much to attribute to the fact that it really is a lot of material (especially for someone who only first learned calculus something like 18 months ago). I just feel like I learn reaallllyyy slowwww. It's not that I can't understand the material; it feels like I need a dozen exposures to the same thing for it to start to stick. In the past I have relied on repetition and practice, but currently have some struggles even getting to the point where I can do that, depending on what the topic is. The pace of the courses also does not allow me to take my time and let things really sink in.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has had any success with supplements, diet, lifestyle modifications, etc for increasing mental energy and focus. I realize it is an unfortunate reality of university that the workload kind of takes over one's life, but I am struggling with my mental gastank. The will to do the work and read and watch videos and whatnot is all there, it's just that I run out of gas and at that point the information on a page in front of me just looks like gibberish.

I also have had to reduce my training volume to something like a third of what it used to be. I've relied on greasing the groove and playing with different semi-minimalist routines, but I feel like school exhaustion is holding me back from much progress, which I've seen little of in the last six months.

I do drink a little and use a little THC (legal here in Colorado), but try my best to limit myself to just a few beers a week and one (sometimes two...) days using THC. I try to do these things on my weekend when I don't have to be in school the next day and just have to work the weekend job. I do wonder if cutting out one or both entirely would impact things much though.

Just curious if anyone has gotten through similar experiences and come out "on top." I fully realize that the reality of these things may very well just be that it is the way it is and I just need to get through it.

Thanks in advance.
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Unfortunately, to give advice there's a whole host of questions which really require answers based on your epigenetics and health status -- low mental energy can be the result of many things, some of which may respond to supplementation but even the supplementation has to be a rifle shot not a shotgun.
 
I guess I am wondering if anyone has had any success with supplements, diet, lifestyle modifications, etc for increasing mental energy and focus. I realize it is an unfortunate reality of university that the workload kind of takes over one's life, but I am struggling with my mental gastank. The will to do the work and read and watch videos and whatnot is all there, it's just that I run out of gas and at that point the information on a page in front of me just looks like gibberish.
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I would try the following (without knowing anything else about you) - ditch alcohol completely for awhile. Generally, speaking your carb tolerance goes down as you age (without countermeasures to counteract the gumming up of your mitochondria) - dopamine levels respond to the 3 minute cold shower in the morning after a warm shower (cheap and quick) -- boost your Vitamin D levels (always confirm via blood work) and boost your B12 levels (again based on appropriate blood work). The other big bang for your buck supplementation is magnesium.

Beyond that, you would have to get into specific testing.
 
Denys Carthusian said:
I would try the following (without knowing anything else about you) - ditch alcohol completely for awhile. Generally, speaking your carb tolerance goes down as you age (without countermeasures to counteract the gumming up of your mitochondria) - dopamine levels respond to the 3 minute cold shower in the morning after a warm shower (cheap and quick) -- boost your Vitamin D levels (always confirm via blood work) and boost your B12 levels (again based on appropriate blood work). The other big bang for your buck supplementation is magnesium.

Beyond that, you would have to get into specific testing.
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I haven't had a blood test in a while, but I do take vitamin D, magnesium, and a B supplement as well.
 
Boris Bachmann said:
Caffeine. A lot of caffeine. Finding the right place to study and developing the discipline.

I think the booze and THC isn't helping you, but I get it.

Training's tough - I'm older than you and a hard training session can pretty much wipe me out for the rest of the day. Anything beyond things I can autopilot through are rough after a hard squat workout.

It's harder as you get older - I have zero doubts about that. Part of it is my tolerance for BS is exactly ZERO at this stage of the game - I don't want to waste time and energy on things that I can't see directly applying to my work and interests. I can usually find an application though if I have at least a little interest in the subject at hand. I'm still good about memorizing things in my field - some of that is just experience and wisdom making it easier to integrate the new into already existing schemata, BUT it doesn't get easier w. age.

"Make It Stick" was a pretty good book, I thought. There are others on the subject, but it's a good one if that's helpful at all.
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Yeah I also feel the wipe out after a tough training session. I typically would save mine for afternoon, knowing that I won't get as much done in the evening, but alas.....academia often requires I DO get things done in the evening. Caffeine though....if I have just a little too much I crash and that can make things worse.
 
bluejeff said:
Yeah I also feel the wipe out after a tough training session. I typically would save mine for afternoon, knowing that I won't get as much done in the evening, but alas.....academia often requires I DO get things done in the evening. Caffeine though....if I have just a little too much I crash and that can make things worse.
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I can tell you from my own genetic testing that I process caffeine at a medium pace. I have relatives who process at a fast pace. Leaving your caffeine metabolism speed aside, there's a complex interplay with neurotransmitters that can be difficult to untangle.
 
bluejeff said:
Greetings SF community.

I am a 40 year old working on an undergraduate physics degree. While I find the material and much of the mathematics quite interesting, the sheer volume of it in the timeframe I have to learn each semester often feels overwhelming. I want to start homework the evening after classes, but often times if I exercise in the afternoon, I lose mental energy and it becomes very hard to focus. Many days it's hard even if I don't work out.

I am not sure how much to attribute this to age at this point, and how much to attribute to the fact that it really is a lot of material (especially for someone who only first learned calculus something like 18 months ago). I just feel like I learn reaallllyyy slowwww. It's not that I can't understand the material; it feels like I need a dozen exposures to the same thing for it to start to stick. In the past I have relied on repetition and practice, but currently have some struggles even getting to the point where I can do that, depending on what the topic is. The pace of the courses also does not allow me to take my time and let things really sink in.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has had any success with supplements, diet, lifestyle modifications, etc for increasing mental energy and focus. I realize it is an unfortunate reality of university that the workload kind of takes over one's life, but I am struggling with my mental gastank. The will to do the work and read and watch videos and whatnot is all there, it's just that I run out of gas and at that point the information on a page in front of me just looks like gibberish.

I also have had to reduce my training volume to something like a third of what it used to be. I've relied on greasing the groove and playing with different semi-minimalist routines, but I feel like school exhaustion is holding me back from much progress, which I've seen little of in the last six months.

I do drink a little and use a little THC (legal here in Colorado), but try my best to limit myself to just a few beers a week and one (sometimes two...) days using THC. I try to do these things on my weekend when I don't have to be in school the next day and just have to work the weekend job. I do wonder if cutting out one or both entirely would impact things much though.

Just curious if anyone has gotten through similar experiences and come out "on top." I fully realize that the reality of these things may very well just be that it is the way it is and I just need to get through it.

Thanks in advance.
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A couple thoughts Jeff.

You sound like a full time student, but you may be taking too many courses. When I was a full time student, it was 12-18 hours. For most of my science courses, I could not take more than 3 4 hr courses. Some of them were 5 hrs, but usually it was 12-14 hrs MAX - it was pretty much understood that 16+hrs of science was just not a good idea. So - see if you are over-scheduling yourself. This would include upper level mathematics as well. If you are unable to keep up with your course load, you may even need to drop to part-time. This has its own "issues" of now needing to work, but it gives your time more time to absorb ONE thing not ten things.

Second, consider reducing or eliminating the marijuana. I am not "anti" cannabis/cannabinoids, but there is quite a lot of literature that shows it reduces blood flow to the brain - acutely and chronically. However, this blood flow reduction does seem reversible. It has been a while since I looked into this, so things may have changed. Anyways - especially if it is "recreational" and not "therapeutic," it may be time to do away with for a few years.

Much like a food journal, keep a detailed "inventory" of what you do and when you do it, and start looking for "wasted time" - time not spent "recovering" or "studying."

Lastly, you may just need to understand that during this time certain things are going to suffer, and that you will need to accept it and that it is for this "season" in life, not forever.
 
John K said:
A couple thoughts Jeff.

You sound like a full time student, but you may be taking too many courses. When I was a full time student, it was 12-18 hours. For most of my science courses, I could not take more than 3 4 hr courses. Some of them were 5 hrs, but usually it was 12-14 hrs MAX - it was pretty much understood that 16+hrs of science was just not a good idea. So - see if you are over-scheduling yourself. This would include upper level mathematics as well. If you are unable to keep up with your course load, you may even need to drop to part-time. This has its own "issues" of now needing to work, but it gives your time more time to absorb ONE thing not ten things.

Second, consider reducing or eliminating the marijuana. I am not "anti" cannabis/cannabinoids, but there is quite a lot of literature that shows it reduces blood flow to the brain - acutely and chronically. However, this blood flow reduction does seem reversible. It has been a while since I looked into this, so things may have changed. Anyways - especially if it is "recreational" and not "therapeutic," it may be time to do away with for a few years.

Much like a food journal, keep a detailed "inventory" of what you do and when you do it, and start looking for "wasted time" - time not spent "recovering" or "studying."

Lastly, you may just need to understand that during this time certain things are going to suffer, and that you will need to accept it and that it is for this "season" in life, not forever.
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Thanks John.

I am considered full time, but never take more than 12 credits (sometimes plus a lab) at a time. I really wish I could just do two classes a semester, but if I want to do more than just an undergrad (which I think I do) I don't want to be entering my career when I'm 55 or something, if I can avoid that. It really is just kind of a rough spot. I try to take inspiration from other older students (many who are older than me) doing similar or greater workloads, but they seem much worse for the wear than I am.

I've been wondering about the marijuana, and how much a single night's use per week could be affecting me. I would not be surprised if it is.
 
bluejeff said:
I am considered full time, but never take more than 12 credits (sometimes plus a lab) at a time. I really wish I could just do two classes a semester, but if I want to do more than just an undergrad (which I think I do) I don't want to be entering my career when I'm 55 or something, if I can avoid that. It really is just kind of a rough spot. I try to take inspiration from other older students (many who are older than me) doing similar or greater workloads, but they seem much worse for the wear than I am.
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I would encourage you then to understand that this is a time of life that may "suck" but will pass in (hopefully) a year or two.
bluejeff said:
I've been wondering about the marijuana, and how much a single night's use per week could be affecting me. I would not be surprised if it is.
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Science has its limits when it comes to personal applicability. I would suggest stopping for 6 months and seeing if any mental health things improve, or at the end of the 6 mo and returning to weekly use, if any mental health things get worse. Based on that, you could conclude whether stopping had any positive or negative effects, and if reintroduction had any negative effects. Of course, during this time you wouldn't want to, say, start drinking more to "make up" for the lack of MJ, or start a crack habit... Something about confounding variables....

Blah blah blah, I'm not a licensed mental health professional I'm a mechanic, so this should not be construed as medical advice, please consult your physician before engaging in physical activity and/or using or stopping drugs blah blah blah, and it is better to seek a fully licensed and local mechanic for all your aeronautical needs, not take recommendations from strangers on the internet. It is also not recommended to take candy from strangers, unless they are attractive and you can use it to start up small talk for reasons. But that is not diet advice, please see above disclaimer and replace "mental health" with "nutritionist or dietician."
 
bluejeff said:
I am a 40 year old working on an undergraduate physics degree. While I find the material and much of the mathematics quite interesting, the sheer volume of it in the timeframe I have to learn each semester often feels overwhelming. I want to start homework the evening after classes, but often times if I exercise in the afternoon, I lose mental energy and it becomes very hard to focus. Many days it's hard even if I don't work out.
Click to expand...
One must prioritize. Aim for minimalist training and accept that your fitness, which we know is substantial, is going to take a hit. Get your degree then reassess your priorities. Swing a kettlebell, do one or two strength movements. That’s enough.

-S-
 
"Two Awesome Hours" is a good book, but the gist of it is this: None of us are at our best all day. On a good day, and even with life optimized, two awesome hours is about the best we can hope for. Think through what time of day (or in which sequence of events) you are really at your best mentally, and spend that time wisely. Sometimes I spend myself spending it unwisely (social media) and realizing that was a costly choice compared with what I could have accomplished. Also, I notice that my schedule doesn't jive with when I tend to be at my best -- namely, the 2nd hour after waking (after coffee), and the last hour of my work day. That last hour of my work day I'm usually feeling like I need to be doing 3 or 4 things at one time - time with family, training, preparing dinner, and getting that last hour of work done. So I try to sometimes spend it getting some awesome work done and then make sure I get time for the rest in somehow too. Or sometimes I just decide that the work will wait until tomorrow and let other things be the priority.

Also: any chance you have sleep apnea? I had a fair amount of difficulty concentrating for several years until I got that tested and addressed. I'm more like my old self now, in terms of mental prowess, such as it is :)
 
From pure observation in the 60-70s, it was pretty much a given that marijuana would slow your brain to some extent. It seemed you could tell heavy users early in a conversation. Of course I imagine what you are experiencing is the result of some combination of factors. I would suggest consider experimenting with some short simple meditation to give your brain a rest. As others have said, you could very well just be dealing with mental overload.
 
I'm at my sharpest mentally first thing. I can focus and there are few distractions before work.
Whether doing some revision/ course work before a full day of seminars, etc., is viable I don't know.
 
bluejeff said:
Im pretty sure I don’t? I tend to sleep on my side and am generally pretty good about not mouth breathing
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Good, yeah, you're probably fine there, but here's a quick screening: STOP BANG quiz

On the Two Awesome Hours idea -- you're a lot like me in Forum use, perhaps similar in how you use it and the value it provides to you. So you might think about when you come up with a really awesome and thorough post (as you do often!) -- what enabled you to be so clear-thinking and productive at that particular time? Nutrition, rest, caffeine, time of day, etc..? That may guide you in the right direction. Sort of like how a training log can help you see patterns where training is working well or not working well, maybe keep a "brain log" for a few weeks and see if you notice patterns that help you build better brain function.
 
Lots of great ideas here already. I thought I would share my experience in case it helps you in any way.

I also went back to school at a non-traditional time in my life. I went for the engineering track. In addition to the engineering courses, I had to take more advanced calculus than what I learned the first time around. I, like you, struggled a bit with the mental energy required. Much of what you describe rings true to my experience. Tbh it ranks up there as one of the more difficult experiences in my life. Maybe this sounds bit melodramatic but this feels true to me even reflecting on it years later. I would mainly offer words of encouragement. You will finish. You will succeed. You will get through it. Just keep pushing forwards. When you get to the point where it looks like gibberish on the page take a 15 minute break and clear you mind. Then come back and keep going. Honestly, I think this is just how it goes. Younger students are just able to ignore how s***ty it feels better than older folks. Always remember, we are our own worst self-critics. I'm sure you are doing better than you give yourself credit for.

As far as the cannabis goes, it sounds like you know it's not necessarily helping you. I am also someone who uses cannabis (legally of course) and I experienced somewhat of the same thing during school. Personally, I found that it does inhibit my ability to process and retain math based knowledge. On the flip side I find that it enhances the creative part of my thinking process and the portion responsible for "big-picture" thinking. So during engineering school I found that I had to cut out or reduce dramatically the THC usage during the semesters. If you choose to go this route, remember it doesn't have to be a permanent change. You can always go back if you find that doesn't help you or makes stress levels worse.
 
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Three things:
- do your best to sleep well
- supplement: basic one for health, like creatine (I like mixing it with coffee and drink it when fasting in the morning), magnesium, fish oil.
-train less. Also add more simple activities (short walk, I steal that from Eric). By somehow you can remember thing more easily after/during a light walk
 
Thanks for supportive input everyone.

Anna C said:
you might think about when you come up with a really awesome and thorough post (as you do often!) -- what enabled you to be so clear-thinking and productive at that particular time? Nutrition, rest, caffeine, time of day, etc..?
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Honestly….the stuff I write here about fitness topics and whatnot is stuff that comes pretty naturally to me. I think a big part of my struggle is that I want to learn things that haven’t come naturally to me in the past.


Ben Strong said:
Lots of great ideas here already. I thought I would share my experience in case it helps you in any way.

I also went back to school at a non-traditional time in my life. I went for the engineering track. In addition to the engineering courses, I had to take more advanced calculus than what I learned the first time around. I, like you, struggled a bit with the mental energy required. Much of what you describe rings true to my experience. Tbh it ranks up there as one of the more difficult experiences in my life. Maybe this sounds bit melodramatic but this feels true to me even reflecting on it years later. I would mainly offer words of encouragement. You will finish. You will succeed. You will get through it. Just keep pushing forwards. When you get to the point where it looks like gibberish on the page take a 15 minute break and clear you mind. Then come back and keep going. Honestly, I think this is just how it goes. Younger students are just able to ignore how s***ty it feels better than older folks. Always remember, we are our own worst self-critics. I'm sure you are doing better than you give yourself credit for.

As far as the cannabis goes, it sounds like you know it's not necessarily helping you. I am also someone who uses cannabis (legally of course) and I experienced somewhat of the same thing during school. Personally, I found that it does inhibit my ability to process and retain math based knowledge. On the flip side I find that it enhances the creative part of my thinking process and the portion responsible for "big-picture" thinking. So during engineering school I found that I had to cut out or reduce dramatically the THC usage during the semesters. If you choose to go this route, remember it doesn't have to be a permanent change. You can always go back if you find that doesn't help you or makes stress levels worse.
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Thanks for the encouragement, I truly appreciate it!
 
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