The less i cared about stuDYING, the easier it got
Bad study sessions make me feel guilty. If I couldn’t concentrate, I’d assume I was being lazy and stupid. If I didn’t understand something immediately, I’d start thinking I wasn’t good at it. Then I realized I could just… study. Not understanding a chapter doesn’t mean I’m ass. Nor getting a low score doesn’t require a whole new identity or existential crisis.
I started treating studying more like brushing my teeth. Sometimes I do it properly, sometimes I rush it, but either way, I just do the thing and move on with my day.
Since I stopped making every study session a referendum on whether I was a productive person, I got much better at doing it. It’s ok to eat while studying or watch while studying.
I think it’s just that we are being so hard on ourselves we forget we are people with a life, too..