<p>
</p>
<p>My son almost always got to bed before midnight. Most “need it the next day” assignments are busywork and sometimes you just have to do a little triage and take the hit of a few lost points for late or missed homework assignments. Of course it helped that he never ever had to study for a math or physics test and that he usually had near 100% or over (with “extra credit”) on tests to offset lost points on homework.</p>
<p>My son had a different problem, trying to graduate in 3 years and, after having made that decision, also finding out that he could be a viable candidate for top-20 colleges. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I do not recommend this strategy to anyone, no matter how brilliant and determined. My son worked all day long 7 days a week almost continuously for nearly 2 years, holidays and vacations included – when others had their downtime, he was working on classes with different scheduling demands, online and college classes and his community service project.</p>
<p>Downtime was 45-60 minutes here and there every other day or so as needed, watching one television show or playing a game on his iPod Touch. His social life folded into his companionship with his fellow EC teammates and his peer tutoring, plus occasional family gatherings where his friends and cousins could relax together for a few hours.</p>
<p>He became incredibility efficient with his time, but was very burned out by the end of his final semester and slept 12-14 hours a day for the first few weeks after HS graduation. </p>
<p>We had planned a gap year for him to explore his own interests at his own pace before we started the acceleration process, but I think it really him reset his clock for his next round of over-reaching. At the moment, he’s at Brown taking 4 math/physics/CS classes and an optional 5th class that everyone recommended against. Apparently, no permanent damage was done. :)</p>