How I Earned Honours grades While Having A lIFE

The worst piece of advice I’ve received was from a tutor. She advised us to put everything we have into our degrees before considering anything else. When I told her about my side hustle on YouTube, she said concernedly: “You have too many hobbies, Robin. Focus on finishing your degree first. You’ll have all the time in the world to do that after graduation.”

A few years later, I received a DM from a family friend: “Do you remember Dr. H?” She wrote, “She’s showing your videos in our tutorials! And said that you were in her class a few years ago!”

Since receiving that terrible piece of advice, I graduated my B. A. with Honours grades without sacrificing my passion projects. In retrospect, I would even argue that my passion project was precisely the reason why I excelled in my studies. In this post, I want to make the case for having a life outside of college. Here are some lessons that allowed me to keep pursuing passion projects while excelling in college.

1: Understanding Study Time Inflation

We all know what inflation means in economic terms: as the supply of money increases, its value decreases. The same can be said about how much time we put into studying: the more time you put into studying, the less valuable that time becomes.

I witnessed this inflation first-hand during the November exam season. My friends routinely dedicated 5+ hours every evening to study in a group, but these “marathon sessions” were laced with hair-splitting debates, random internet fact-checks and hour-long masterclasses on pop music. Ultimately, they’ve done very little work even after those long hours.

In reality, giant chunks of study time have very little purchasing power in the getting-shit-done economy. They give off the illusion of working-real-hard-until-2-am-in-the-morning, but you’re not doing much at all. You’re only taking time away from doing what you actually enjoy.

2: The Teddy Roosevelt technique

Roosevelt was a gregarious and energetic young man at Harvard. He never said no to social events and dedicated extended periods of time to body-building alongside his demanding studies. But once in a while, he would disappear for an hour or two into the library where he’d tackle his schoolwork with blistering intensity, only to return to his packed social engagements after everything was done.

I took Roosevelt’s routine to heart during my degree. I never said no to hectic night-outs and chatting nonsense at the University pub, but when it came down to my assignments, I allowed no friends, no social media and no music with lyrics into the mix. As a result, I was able to get everything done and I never devoted more than two hours a day to studying.

Studying in this way prevented me from entering the no-man’s-land in academia where I’m half-assing both studying and having fun. By restricting my study time to no more than two hours a day, the urgency forced me to put in 100% and as a result, I can also put 100% into my time for having fun & working on passion projects.

3: Let your passion fuel your studies

Let’s face it. University work is boring. You could be studying for your dream degree, but there will still be parts of your studies that you despise.

I have loved literature and philosophy ever since I was a kid, but studying these subjects under the bureaucratic hell-hole of academia sucked all the joy out of these disciplines. So, I swallowed the bitter pill and framed University work as just that: work. The chief aim now is to spend as little time as possible on assignments so I can engage with literature/philosophy on my own terms through reading the books I like, chatting with friends and writing/talking about it on the internet.

When we start prioritising life outside of college, it’ll open us up to better study techniques because we can’t wait to move on to other things. For example, I like to reverse-engineer my study schedule based on assignments & exams. Instead of reading through the whole required reading list (most titles are completely unnecessary and unrealistic to cram into a busy semester), I would only read the pieces that are relevant for writing the best essays. In this way, I can use the time I saved to read what I truly enjoy and make unexpected connections. And the quality of ideas is usually better because I’ve customized my reading list to my temperament and taste.

Also, this is the best thing you can do if you are considering post-graduate studies. As you move up the academic ladder, there will be less and less direction and prescribed readings. For someone who hasn’t really explored what truly interests them outside of their coursework, original research is almost impossible. So, allow yourself more time to step outside occasionally, and use your extraneous passions to fuel your assignments.  

In summary:

·      Be aware of study time inflation

·      Restrict your study time and improve the quality of focus instead

·      Let your passions outside your studies fuel your ideas