An instructive experience I want to share :)

I want to share a short-story about an event which was a very instructive experience for me, that I hope others will learn from as well.

•

When I was rated in the high 1600s to low 1700s in Blitz, I played plenty of games regularly, took no real breaks, and became more and more tilted, burned-out, and tired as time went on.

When I closed my account for the first time— for around 3 weeks to 1 month— I played almost no Chess (Only a tiny bit on Chess.com), thus taking a lengthy break.

When I came back, my Blitz-rating skyrocketed to slightly above 1900 (I believe 1916) in a very short amount of time - and I felt so much happier, healthier, and refreshed as a result.

•

That was when I realized that you shouldn't work *hard*; you should work *well*: Working too little is a way more efficient method than working too much - in terms of health, time, and enjoyment.

I wanted to share this story to say this: If you are ever stuck in something— be it a physichal sport, mental sport, project, or another activity as well— think about taking a break from it for a few weeks, then you might just get un-stuck ;)

•

Kind regards - Shadow1414.

i would usually just cry myself to sleep

I guess it's subjective.

I believe in the saying "No pain , no gain" . When you really want to achieve something great , you need to put the necessary hard work. It's worked for me in chess , studies and music. When it doesn't, I check where I've gone wrong , improve on that specific area and try again.

For example, in chess : When I started out in mid-2020 , I just went all out with my chess improvement process ( had lot of time because of the lock-downs ) . I played numerous games with my brother OTB and online , watched opening videos and studied the theory and went through GM games (both from databases and Agadmator videos). Honestly , it did pay off , I got to the ratings I'd set for myself at that time , gained experience and got better at chess.

>I realized that you shouldn't work *hard*; you should work *well*
I feel this is slightly incorrect , as I've said before ( you made a thread about it 4 months ago) , you need a balance of both hard work and smart work. "Work hard, smartly"

Also, I feel you're taking an incorrect correlation between tilt and work ethic.
When I take a break, I take it to get over the tilt , doesn't mean I wanna reduce my work ethic when I come back.

>When I was rated in the high 1600s to low 1700s in Blitz, I played plenty of games regularly, took no real breaks, and became more and more tilted, burned-out, and tired as time went on.
How much time did you put into studying the game ? Playing games alone, isn't enough. Also, blitz, bullet (speed chess) ratings tend to fluctuate a lot and heavily depends on your mood.

Ironically, I played 50 games in the Winter Marathon and gained 115 points. But yeah, I did lost like 60 points afterwards because I played too much.