7 ms·

I tracked my learning performance over two years under a range of conditions, including trying a treadmill desk. I found at 1.2mph my error rate (compared to si

by jph00 14y ago

I tracked my learning performance over two years under a range of conditions, including trying a treadmill desk. I found at 1.2mph my error rate (compared to sitting) was 50% less, and I could comfortably study for 2x as long. The trick is to keep the speed quite low, and have your PC at a comfortable position. I now do all my work this way, with an adjustable desk, which I put in sitting position only an hour a day. More details on my experiment are in this talk I gave last year: http://quantifiedself.com/2012/05/jeremy-howard-on-language-acquisition-performance/ http://quantifiedself.com/2012/05/jeremy-howard-on-language-...

return0 14y ago
Are you referring to studying/reading only? I wonder If I m the only one who likes to read on a tablet while wandering around the house at similar speeds.
- jph00 14y ago
  I only have quantified outcomes for studying flash cards, since that's a fixed measured thing that I do for 70 minutes per day. However I now do nearly all my work at the tread desk, and I've bought a few for some of my staff who also wanted to try them out (everyone who has tried them has liked them and stuck with them full time, so far). Sometimes however for reading I'll go and relax on a recliner - it's nice to have a break from time to time. But if I want to really focus on what I'm reading, I'll look at it on the tread desk.
Scaevolus 14y ago
How much of an effect does missed sleep have on you?
- jph00 14y ago
  Huge. When I'm sleepy my error rate can go up by as much as 300%. It's terrifying to think of what that means in terms of how it must be impacting by work when I see that happen. I often study in the morning before work, and if I can see I'm not performing well, I know to do yoga/exercise/etc before I try to do any productive work. (I found that my study outcomes were nearly always better after exercise, if I started badly)
gwern 14y ago
I found something similar when I set up a treadmill desk at 1mph; I had a few years of typing data in Amphetype, I resumed typing practice on the treadmill, and the difference in WPM or error rate was slightly in favor of the treadmill (probably due to practice effect or motivation): http://www.gwern.net/Zeo#fn51 http://www.gwern.net/Zeo#fn51

by jph00 14y ago

return0 14y ago

Are you referring to studying/reading only? I wonder If I m the only one who likes to read on a tablet while wandering around the house at similar speeds.

jph00 14y ago
I only have quantified outcomes for studying flash cards, since that's a fixed measured thing that I do for 70 minutes per day. However I now do nearly all my work at the tread desk, and I've bought a few for some of my staff who also wanted to try them out (everyone who has tried them has liked them and stuck with them full time, so far). Sometimes however for reading I'll go and relax on a recliner - it's nice to have a break from time to time. But if I want to really focus on what I'm reading, I'll look at it on the tread desk.

Scaevolus 14y ago

How much of an effect does missed sleep have on you?

jph00 14y ago
Huge. When I'm sleepy my error rate can go up by as much as 300%. It's terrifying to think of what that means in terms of how it must be impacting by work when I see that happen. I often study in the morning before work, and if I can see I'm not performing well, I know to do yoga/exercise/etc before I try to do any productive work. (I found that my study outcomes were nearly always better after exercise, if I started badly)

gwern 14y ago

I found something similar when I set up a treadmill desk at 1mph; I had a few years of typing data in Amphetype, I resumed typing practice on the treadmill, and the difference in WPM or error rate was slightly in favor of the treadmill (probably due to practice effect or motivation): http://www.gwern.net/Zeo#fn51 http://www.gwern.net/Zeo#fn51