• Welcome to the Speedsolving.com, home of the web's largest puzzle community!
    You are currently viewing our forum as a guest which gives you limited access to join discussions and access our other features.

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community of 40,000+ people from around the world today!

    If you are already a member, simply login to hide this message and begin participating in the community!

Cubing & School [Time Management]

cmhardw

Premium Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Messages
4,115
Location
Orlando, Florida
WCA
2003HARD01
YouTube
Visit Channel
I was in college in 2003 and also in 2005, the years of the World Championships, and at the time I prioritized cubing over school with the caveat that I could not let my grades slip. In 2003 the world championship happened shortly after school started, so I did the bulk of my practice during the summer. In 2005, worlds was further into the school year, so I had to practice and do homework and balance my time. I generally averaged 3-4 hours of cubing most days, went to dinner, then did homework until I went to bed. I would study with my girlfriend, and I usually saw my friends at dinner. If plans came up with my girlfriend or friends, then I wouldn't practice that night. Being flexible is very important for your friends and those close to you.

I still did well in school, but I also podiumed in both Worlds which was very important to me at the time.

I did not take a cube to class, and I did not practice while I did homework. I allotted the time between the end of class and the start of dinner as my training time, and after dinner was homework time with no cubing allowed.

Now I cube far less than I used to, maybe 0.5-3 hours per week. It's easy to balance schoolwork and cubing since I don't need much time for cubing right now. It was the same back when I was working (I went back to school about 6 months ago).

My recommendations are:
1) Don't prioritize cubing too highly. Employers think cubing looks neat on a resume, and it for sure catches their notice, but having the skills gained from your classes and your major if you're in college are far more important to your life post-school.
2) Do not cube during time that you should be working.
3) Do not do work during the time that you set aside for cubing.
4) Practice with intention, don't just idly solve.
5) Set daily practice goals if you're serious about improving or if you have a big competition coming up. Set weekly practice goals of you're trying to maintain your speed or if you don't have a competition any time soon.
6) Don't cube so much that it gets in the way of your school/work grades/performance.
7) Be flexible for schedule changes.
 

youSurname

Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2015
Messages
112
I'm in uni. Bring my 3x3 pretty much everyday, mainly for slow solves on the bus. Either that or FMC or practising my comms for 3BLD. Occasionally I pull it out in between classes. I also bring it everywhere: shopping centres, car trips etc. Back when I was pushing sub 20 I used to race escalators, now I just do it for giggles. I've got a lot of free time, so I'll do times or occasionally learn new algs. I find the best time to learn alg sets in during long breaks so I can learn 2 or so a day. Lately I've been learning 3 style, so I do that whenever loud Cubing is unacceptable.

My advice for managing time is to cube whenever you'd otherwise be unable to do much, for me this is my long bus trips to and from uni. Of course, if you're serious about improving, set aside some time for it. I do a half hour or so each night. If this isn't practical, set repeated daily goals. Currently mine is to do at least 1 successful BLD solve a day. That way you can fit it whenever is best.
 
Top