Am I taking notes the wrong way? My perfectionism is making learning exhausting..
I’m new to a subject that I have absolutely no background in, and I’m struggling with how I should approach learning.
I’m the type of person who likes to write everything down. During lectures, I find myself constantly trying to capture every detail, and because of that, I sometimes realize I’m not actually paying full attention to what the lecturer is saying.
The thing is, the instructor has already provided us with textbooks that contain all of the lecture content. Logically, I know the information is already there, but I still have this overwhelming fear that if I don’t write everything myself, I’ll miss something important or won’t remember it.
My perfectionist mindset is making this really stressful. I feel like I have to create the “perfect” set of notes, even when I’m literally copying information that’s already in the textbook.
Has anyone else dealt with this? Is what I’m doing helping or actually hurting my learning?
If you were in my position, how would you approach lectures? Would you focus on listening and understanding first, then use the textbook afterward? Or is there a better strategy?
I’d really appreciate hearing how people who have overcome this kind of perfectionism study effectively.