This is down the road a bit but my sim partner and I studied an hour before and an hour after ever sim session then went out or played video games and watched movies the rest of the time. The instructors said we were one of the best groups (we were both CFI's). Alot of other groups were running profiles and flows for hours and hours every day and still had trouble. The tendency is to overdo it and while it's certainly better than not taking it seriously there is a middle ground in there somewhere. Just my observation.

Systems is cake as long as you pay even a little attention. They want you to pass if you have a class date and will set you up to do so.