Law of Diminishing Returns
The concept of diminishing returns is one that is applicable in the process of production. If applying any extra inputs into the production of a good will lead to a decrease in the amount produced, then the law of diminishing returns has taken over. This law, besides being applicable to costs, also applies to studying. This especially occurs when students read without breaks or any rest in order to boost their grades. For purposes of explaining this, the variable input in the case of studying is the amount of studying done, while the fixed input is the brain capacity.
Economies of Scale
At the beginning of a study session, students are fresh. At this point, all the studying is beneficial and will in fact increase the knowledge of the student. This is a case whereby there are economies of scale as there is a positive relationship between the inputs and output. After a few hours spent studying without a break, there is less absorption of the information from the books read. This amount continues to diminish until finally, the brain can absorb no more. From this point onwards, the amount of reading is not worth the little knowledge achieved.
Loss of Focus
In order to know that one is at a point of diminishing returns, there are symptoms such as loss of focus. In this, one can barely remember what they read a few seconds ago. In addition, it feels like the reader has to struggle more than before in order to get a point, sentence or even a single word to register in their brain. It is through these that one knows that their study has reached a point of diminishing returns, that they should take a break or find better ways of studying.
This phenomenon is similar to a case whereby the cost of production increases. At the beginning of studying, the resources required for output (knowledge) are minimal. The few inputs used produce maximum results. After one achieves the maximum marginal returns, they begin to experience diminishing returns. One needs to study harder and struggle more to gain knowledge, that is, a high degree of inputs goes into producing minimal output. At this point, the cost of production is too high and therefore it is time to stop the production or find other efficient mea.
