Reading….
It has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
In elementary school, when a new reader arrived at the start of the year, I would hide it in my room and read long after lights-out. In sixth grade, summer meant trips to the base library every other day, returning with six or seven small novellas and devouring them all.
When my daughter was born, I began buying books for her and raising her to love the library and choose her own stories. I’ve always been a tactile reader who loved the feel and smell of a new book. The Kindle changed that habit by letting me carry a whole shelf in one device, and I eagerly gobbled up everything I could.
Coursework, however, felt different. It lacked the plot and escape of fiction and required a different kind of attention. Learning—especially subjects I’d struggled with as a child, like math—became a deliberate journey. In IT, reading is unavoidable; the field is intricate and data-driven, and while some concepts came naturally, others required steady, piece-by-piece effort.
Earning my ACEDS certification meant practicing daily and taking the material in manageable chunks. My Legal Project Management course was fascinating and at times intense.
I usually learn best by writing.
Sometimes that means handwriting notes; other times it’s dumping my thoughts into a Word document until the ideas settle.
This will often get me through the brain freeze, unless the freeze is caused by Carl the Saboteur telling me I am NOT smart enough to be reading *insert smart material here*.
Carl is an ass, but most times he is there for a reason, even though there are times I do not know what the reason is.
It’s in those moments that I need to sit with someone who I can legit word vomit to and work through that doubt with.
Then there are times where I just have to stop, and it becomes a “tomorrow problem”.
I mean, your brain needs a break too.
If you wouldn’t mind, I would love to hear your tricks and tips for getting through the brain freeze when reading/studying, so please share in the comments and we can all make our own cheat sheets.
Until next week…
The Midlife Reframe 