<p>I am confident of my knowledge because I’ve studied and practiced long enough. Tomorrow is the exam. Which is better of the following, given I have the time to practice even more. I would have a good night’s sleep either way.</p>

<ul>
<li>Practice even more.</li>
<li>Do something else, maybe read a fiction book.</li>
<li>Do something else which requires harder mental effort but practically useful, i.e. do my (unrelated) work.</li>
</ul>

<p>The current subject at hand is math, but I am interested in the answer in general.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T12:22:47.770Z
There is a great body of literature that discuss the positive effects of sleep on study-performance (See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_sleep_deprivation_on_cognitive_performance). Personally, I would always go for a good night sleep, even if I would not be so confident. I think that the benefits of studying extra would not outweigh the harms of losing sleep.
 
However, you say you would not lose sleep anyways, so the question you're asking is subjected to personal preference. As long as you sleep well, do whatever you feel is best. I like to not "tire my brain" too much.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-04T10:29:42.077Z
@what The problem with knowing what you need to know is: how do you know? There is this saying, The more you know, the less you think you know. This can also been depicted in an inverted U shape-curve. If you know nothing, you know/think you know nothing. If you know something, you think you a lot, but these are just general ideas. However, the more you learn, the more you know about the existence of details and exception, resulting in thinking you don't know a lot.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-04T18:17:09.340Z
@what I think you are missing the point that I am trying to make, regardless of the scope of an exam being clear. It is a matter of confidence based on what you know. People who have learned nothing, know they know nothing. People who have learned a little will know the general rules and mechanisms and think they can cover pretty much everything. The people that have actually studied a lot, however, will know what difficult situations/exceptions you may encounter. They are likely to be less confident, because they know all these situations and what they may not grasp entirely (also in maths).
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-04T18:19:26.947Z
@what I also want to add that I just wanted to remark this issue lightly and, given the lack of references I give, that it is not exact science. Of course, people that are confident can get good grades. If you are confident enough and you can choose between resting your brain or trying to study every single different detail/exception, I would always choose sleep still.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
<learning>
Should I learn the day before an exam if I am already confident enough?
Zsolt Szatmari
# Should I learn the day before an exam if I am already confident enough?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-02)

I am confident of my knowledge because I’ve studied and practiced long enough. Tomorrow is the exam. Which is better of the following, given I have the time to practice even more. I would have a good night’s sleep either way.

* Practice even more.
* Do something else, maybe read a fiction book.
* Do something else which requires harder mental effort but practically useful, i.e. do my (unrelated) work.

The current subject at hand is math, but I am interested in the answer in general.

**Tags:** learning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There is a great body of literature that discuss the positive effects of sleep on study-performance (See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_sleep_deprivation_on_cognitive_performance). Personally, I would always go for a good night sleep, even if I would not be so confident. I think that the benefits of studying extra would not outweigh the harms of losing sleep.   However, you say you would not lose sleep anyways, so the question you're asking is subjected to personal preference. As long as you sleep well, do whatever you feel is best. I like to not "tire my brain" too much.  
> **username_1**: @what The problem with knowing what you need to know is: how do you know? There is this saying, The more you know, the less you think you know. This can also been depicted in an inverted U shape-curve. If you know nothing, you know/think you know nothing. If you know something, you think you a lot, but these are just general ideas. However, the more you learn, the more you know about the existence of details and exception, resulting in thinking you don't know a lot.  
> **username_1**: @what I think you are missing the point that I am trying to make, regardless of the scope of an exam being clear. It is a matter of confidence based on what you know. People who have learned nothing, know they know nothing. People who have learned a little will know the general rules and mechanisms and think they can cover pretty much everything. The people that have actually studied a lot, however, will know what difficult situations/exceptions you may encounter. They are likely to be less confident, because they know all these situations and what they may not grasp entirely (also in maths).  
> **username_1**: @what I also want to add that I just wanted to remark this issue lightly and, given the lack of references I give, that it is not exact science. Of course, people that are confident can get good grades. If you are confident enough and you can choose between resting your brain or trying to study every single different detail/exception, I would always choose sleep still.  

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