Tsumego at weird moments

[Ferran]

I want to do tsumego. Which should be easy enough, but. I have some very weird scheduling; my chunks of time are very limited in normal hours, and I used them for 101 different things, or either late (and mentally tired) or short (2-5 minutes here, a couple extra chunks there...) and mostly unpredictable.

Also, when I try doing tsumego there's a sudden wall. From going "well, duh!" to "hmm... yes" to "Oh, damn!" in a couple of pages. When I'm fresh, those pages shift a little; not much, but predictably so.

So, my questions are:

* Is it a good idea to do tsumego when mentally tired or is it just asking for bad habits?
* Should I try to cram a problem in those weird chunks of time, or wait until I can do several on a row?

Thanks, take care.

[Bill Spight]

So, my questions are:

* Is it a good idea to do tsumego when mentally tired or is it just asking for bad habits?
* Should I try to cram a problem in those weird chunks of time, or wait until I can do several on a row?

Thanks, take care.

The second question is easy. If you have enough time to do a problem and you want to do one, why not?

The first question has some relevant research, which is counterintuitive. There is no such thing as mental tiredness, there is only physical tiredness. If you are physically tired you need to rest, but you can do problems while you are resting. If you want to.

[jlt]

If you are tired, lie down in your bed and do 2-3 tsumegos: you'll fall asleep very quickly, 100% efficiency guaranteed.

During the day, 5 minutes is enough to practice a few tsumegos. You don't need to do hard problems, tsumegos that you can solve in 30 seconds are useful exercises.

[bogiesan]

Several highly portable Tsumego books and iPhone apps are available. You open one up whenever you get a chance.

[Knotwilg]

From experience

* Is it a good idea to do tsumego when mentally tired or is it just asking for bad habits?

If it's an app or a book where it's easy to press the solution button, then yes being mentally tired will make you press it sooner. If the solution is not just a click/flip away, then you will give up sooner but you will still have practiced reading.

* Should I try to cram a problem in those weird chunks of time, or wait until I can do several on a row?

The real muscles work with progressive overload. The brain works in more mysterious ways. I'd think doing one whenever you can is - if anything - even better than doing several in a row.

Finally, there is no "best" way. There's what works for you and you'll have to figure that out, not so much in terms of results as what keeps you going.