Entry 15-01.24.23 in Book Two: The Fifteenth Year of the Third Millennium of the Common Era

A Very Sincere Question:

But first some background. I’ve been doing the studying thing for a while now. Not enough, obviously, but I still have 30 days before the exam. But I’m in a teeeny bit of a pickle. Last night is a great example. I woke up at 6 am; started studying at 6:30; did 4 hours, took a break, did another 4 hours, took another break, and then did an hour or two of writing practice. 6pm rolls around and… I physically can’t keep my eyes open anymore. So I take a nap… that goes until 7:45 pm when I am awoken by a phone call from my wife as she’s leaving work. When she gets home, we hang out and watch TV together until about 1:30 am. SO with the exception of the nap… I’ve had an 18 hour day! And yet… when we get to bed… I can’t sleep! I figure… this is lunacy. I’ve had a long day, I’m just gonna lie in bed and watch TV until I drift off. Yeah… I didn’t “drift off” until 5am! That definitely forestalls any 6 am studying I may have planned. But I woke up at 1 pm (so roughly a full 8 hours) and tried to start studying. Somehow? I was still too sleepy. Just… tried to watch video… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Tried to read outlines.... zzzzzzzzz. Tried to… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So my question is two fold.

(1) Should I try to keep my body on a strict temporal regiment? Should I wake up and study at 6am (no matter what), not take a nap, and go to sleep at the same time each night (no matter what) to try to force my body into some kind of rhythm OR should I listen to my body and stretch my studying as long as possible, go to sleep when it is tired, and then go right back to studying when it wakes up.... no matter what time it actually is when any of that happens?

(2) I accept and acknowledge that it is my responsibility to help around the house, do chores, and work on Honey Do Lists… it is also my duty and my privilege to spend time with my wife… it is also true that my wife can be and will be very understanding about my study needs. My concern is… how do I appropriately and sensitively tell her (at least on certain days) that… I’m not going to do anything but study and maybe eat. Because… if I can figure out the physical aspects of this whole mess… then I need to really zero in. I mean… if physically possible… there are a few days coming up where an ideal situation would be (wake at 6, 4 hour video, breakfast break, 4 hour video, work out break, 4 hour video, 2 hour practice exam) study. I just… emotionally, I don’t like the idea of being distant; and as to honor, I don’t like the idea of simply not helping out around the house. So I guess… I could just tell my wife “NO, wife, I shall not spend time with thee nor lend assistance of a domestic capacity. This is the day the Lord has made and I shall rejoice and study until my eyes hath dissolved.” I could say that… but I wouldn’t feel good about it. That’s why it seems to be a bit of a pickle.

Frankly, my first question is the most important but I’m open to advise on both issues.