FWIW one might be able to find their own optimum by carefully listening to their body. In college when I overdid math I had a very distinctive buzz in my head (like the brain "shorting out"), that signified I am done for the day.
Remarkably, the same material that stupefied me just prior to "shorting out" would become crystal clear the next morning. I think the brain needs to be pushed up to a certain limit before it considers the material important enough to be worth of serious "structural changes". The pay-off is non-linear.
The difficult part is that you might be tempted to quit because you're "tired", even before you actually hit the wall, but then blowing past the limit in a fit of zealotry just destroys motivation without any extra benefit. The balance is hard to find. The best I came up with is try to observe my performance diminishing and use that as an "objective" signal. Easier in some areas than others.
The Dunning-Kruger paper is really about the value and difficulty of self evaluation, not the "stupid people don't know they are stupid" that the internet memes it about.
And this is nicely actionable. When learning a new task, it can be very valuable to consider how to evaluate success.
Remarkably, the same material that stupefied me just prior to "shorting out" would become crystal clear the next morning. I think the brain needs to be pushed up to a certain limit before it considers the material important enough to be worth of serious "structural changes". The pay-off is non-linear.
The difficult part is that you might be tempted to quit because you're "tired", even before you actually hit the wall, but then blowing past the limit in a fit of zealotry just destroys motivation without any extra benefit. The balance is hard to find. The best I came up with is try to observe my performance diminishing and use that as an "objective" signal. Easier in some areas than others.