I was watching this kid's youtube a few months ago, a guy called james sholz (sp?) that during the lockdowns streamed himself studying from his dorm for 12 hours a day for over a year, every single day.

Was wondering if anybody else ever gone full monk mode like that?

I admire that kind of discipline idk if I could do that. When I was younger I had to gain 15 pounds for meps to enlist because I was underweight and a twig. I gained 30 pounds in 8 months, was probably puberty gains though since I was 20 and a very late bloomer. Would workout on my own in the mornings every day, then work at mcdonalds, then workout with recruiters and a group hard 3-4 evenings a week. Was constantly hurting and sore. Eating tons of mcdonalds chicken patties on salads and ice cream at night. Went from gassing out running a 1/4 mile to being able to run 13 miles non stop. Had a 23 minute 3 mile run before I even left for boot camp. That is as much of monk mode I have ever done.

I'm gonna try a version of monk mode starting right now. Gonna do that tomato italian thing, study/work 50 minutes then a 10 minute break, set timers, do it 10 times and then exercise and eat dinner, then dishes / clean whatever up, then journal some plans for the next day, things to accomplish etc, then relax and bed. Gonna try that every day and see how long it lasts. I'm on 3 mg nicotine I only use once every hour and 15 minutes too so I am kinda foggy brained on edge irritated from quitting nicotine.

How do you keep motivated and disciplines doing something like this?

Edit: I remember the only time I ever hit a home run in baseball. I was in college at 24 and had this math professor that had such a thick accent nobody at all in the class could understand her. half the class withdrew after 2 classes and switched, I made the mistake of thinking it would get better. I had just failed a test and was thinking about it during a game and I went up there to bat and the anger just flowed through me into the bat and I hit a bomb over center field, and we had those 25 foot fences, it went into the road behind the field. People were like wtf. I think I will use some anger to motivate me. Anger about current state of things and how I want to make money to change the situation. idk what else though to use

Edit 2:
Do you think that kid was on psychiatric stimulant medicine? I heard that is the way a lot of people get through hard stuff like medicine or electrical engineering. My degree isnt nearly as hard but I am getting older and my brain is slowing down, I can feel it. I dont want to use drugs though, was just wondering if my goal is too high? Will have to just give my 100% and see.

I went full monk mode and now I'm basically a monk (SRS).

Monk mode triggered a spiritual awakening and here I am three of four years later a completely different person.

No but I’m taking baby steps. Alcohol free, and starting to be porn free. I really think porn screwed up my brain brah

Porn is a weapon. They make it free and available because it is a weapon. It is supposed to be illegal in most places in the US still. The obscenity laws are still there, they just never get enforced.

https://www.news24.com/News24/Porn-t...hoice-20020330

Yea. It’s killed my libido, my productivity, my reward circuitry, and actual sex life

minimalist monk mode

i was thinking about it

Thats not good. Maybe try to get mad at the people doing this to us and use that anger as strength to resist their poisonous weapon? Idk. Maybe DNS level content blocker for your internet? I know my catholic friend told me about one blocker program they use, but I forgot what its called

It did the same to me

It's like caffeine you know it's a drug that brings you down but you can't stop

Thanks man. And yea, I’m very mad

I use cold turkey for my desktop, it’s super good. For my phone i use Freedom, it’s okay. Will hit 21 days no porn or masturbation on Monday. No joke, I think it could take my brain 2 years to recover. The hyper stimulation was so bad for me and ruined things with actual women

I went full monk mode for 3 years to self teach a trade. Probably the dumbest and smartest thing I did in my early 20s. On one hand I was just a NEET that didn’t need to go that far, on the other hand I learned a skill that changed my life and truly learned what patience and work ethic can do for you

As stupid as it might sound and super cliche, balance is truly the key. There are 24 hours in a day. Assuming the average sleep is 8-10 hours, that leaves you with 14-16 hours of awake time. Two ways to split this, working and not working. For those who work the typical 8 hours you now have 8 or 6 hours to do what you want or need to do. How you optimize or split that is up to you. Can either do the full 8 or 6 hours doing what you want. 3 things for 2 hours or 4 things for 2 which leaving two hours for each activity seems like the best way to optimize and enjoy what you're doing. Less and you feel like not enough time and any longer it may feel like being monotonous or boring.

In his example of studying 12 hours a day, no doubt he divided it up. To truly study 12 hours a day and for "years" there's no reason why he would still be considered a student and hasn't graduated or why he isn't employed or by this time an "expert" in what he is studying. The other thing most often forgot is what works for one person doesn't automatically work for everyone. He may be that 1 in a millionth person whose mind is the way that it is and 12 hours of studying benefits him, for what ever benefit that is.

While it is impressive, there are in so many other ways that he is limiting himself. Life would be far more enjoyable for all if we varied our interests more and stopped going to the extreme with the things we do like. Social media, gaming, sports, etc. Rather than all of the free time going to one, finding a way to split time for each even within a single day is far more rewarding. I'm now now sure where I am going with this but I feel like the gist is there.

Monk mode IS for people who don't have the ability to balance their life brah.

Eh, still comes across as just switching to one side of the extreme. Would be the same as someone going from unemployed to every waking moment working. Both of those are not healthy and leave a lot to be missed out on in life. Unless you have the desire to actually become a monk then dedicating your time in that way just isn't productive. I could spend 12 hours a day counting leaves on trees or counting cars at an intersection, what good would that do me or anyone else? Personal happiness, sure, if that is what truly made me happy. But ask anyone who spends that amount of time on one thing day after day for YEARS and I'm sure somewhere they'll admit they wish they could do things differently.

Back in the day you could research on the misc for 12 hours

Yes I highly recommend it, one thing I would do different is no music from a phone, so some sort of offline mp3 player

Also stay outdoors/woods as much as possible