How to maximise investment of time (London)

I’m not very good at sitting still.  If I have to read anything (book, newspaper, textbook) for more than a few minutes, I’ll nod off.

The other thing I’d discovered from when I was still in primary school, maybe aged 10, is that late afternoon is my sleepy time of day.  I later learned that this is related to one’s biorhythm.  Late afternoon is definitely my biorhythm trough.

During my first year in London, I had to cover two years’ worth of A-level work for three subjects in one year.  

One of the three subjects had the official label of English Language and Literature.  The English Language part of the subject was easy enough: Reading Comprehension (Q&A), Précis writing, Essay writing.  The Literature part was a killer: nine texts — HG Wells (more than one story), Duchess of Malfi, Vanity Fair (very thick), The Ancient Mariner (very long), King Lear, To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf), just to name six that I can remember 43 years on.  All this to read, and remember chunks of to quote in the answers.  All in one year.

My English friend had given some good advice about the strategy: “Make sure you pass your A-level exams.  Once you get into university, you’ll be all right for four years until your final exams.  If you don’t pass your A-levels, you’ll be stuck on that rung.  So don’t go and work part-time, just focus on studying and passing the exams.”

I came up with a routine to beat my biorhythm trough and my being distracted by temptations (watch TV, cook some food):  change my sleep pattern around.

I’d get home around 5pm from classes, eat dinner, set the alarm for midnight, and get into bed.

There were only two television stations at the time, going off air at 11pm, so there were no telly programmes to watch after that.  It was too late (and quiet) in the night for me to go and cook in the kitchen, so I couldn’t sneak off for that either.

There was nothing for it but to sit at the table and knuckle down to those literature texts — and the other two subjects.

Because it was so quiet at that time of the night, I’d be totally focused, and achieve two hours’ worth of work in one hour, so between midnight and 4am, I’d get eight hours of work done.  I’d get back into bed at 4am, sleep until 8am, then go to college for my classes. If I was on a roll and didn’t feel sleepy at 4am, I’d carry on until 8am, then get dressed and go for my classes, which means 16 hours’ worth of work in effect (midnight to 8am = 8 hours, at double the rate = 16 hours).

I got two distinctions for my exams.

on a roll:  

(informal) experiencing a prolonged spell of success or good luck

(London, 1977–8)