A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

You may object that it is stressful being under the timer. But researchers have found something fascinating and counterintuitive. If you learn under mild stress, you can handle greater stress much more easily.

you calmly put forth your best effort for a short period—the process.

Learn to focus on process, not product.

dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.”

just thinking about it seems to hurt.

We procrastinate about things that make us feel uncomfortable.4

willpower is hard to come by because it uses a lot of neural resources. This means that the last thing you want to do in tackling procrastination is to go around spraying willpower on it like it’s cheap air freshener.

(An important side note here is that a key difference between creative scientists and technically competent but nonimaginative ones is their breadth of interest.22)

A good rule of thumb, when you are first learning new concepts, is not to let things go untouched for longer than a day.