For the past two months, I’ve been learning about SQL, databases, React, and Python – all web development stuff.
There are times when things have come easily, and other times…. not so easily. On those days where things just don’t click or I can’t focus, man do I get so frustrated.
Like just the other day, I was learning how to query from my postgres database and for a whole hour, I was fiddling with one line of code. I was getting so frustrated and discouraged. Just one line of code!!! I gave up.
And then today, I listened to an Andrew Huberman podcast on how to study and learn. I’ll leave the podcast link here:
He talks about the learning process and gives super helpful tips for how to study and learn more effectively.
So many things to mention and we can go off on a tangent, but the one thing he mentioned at 21:00, which is related to this stressful learning, is that feeling strained (I won’t use stress since this is in his words) when you’re studying is a good thing.
He explains that the strain you feel when trying to focus and learn will act as a cue to your nervous system that it needs to change or that neuroplasticity needs to take place. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to new experiences and learning, and it’s central to learning.
He also mentions that if you didn’t feel that strain, then your nervous system wouldn’t need to adapt, and you wouldn’t truly be learning.
So feeling some strain is good. There’s definitely a balance to how much strain you feel. If something is too difficult, you feeling strained and stressed all the time won’t help you learn. That’s something I struggle with because I often try to consume more than I can learn in one sitting.
A reminder
Dr. Huberman reminded me that feeling strained is normal and good. If I feel too much strain or stress, then that’s where I need to take a step back. Maybe readjust my focus by either narrowing down the topic of focus or the amount of material I’m trying to learn.
This is also a reminder for those of you who are learning something new – if you feel strained, I think that’s normal and good. If you’re overly stressing to the point where you can’t focus or take in the material you’re learning, take a step back. Readjust your focus. Break down the problem even more to where you can absorb what you’re learning. Again – this goes for me as well 🙂
Happy Studying!
P.S – if you’re looking to improve your studying, go to a coffee shop. There’s a little something called the coffee shop effect that I think really helps with studying and getting work done.
