I am falling behind

[unicornduke]

The ASL class is intense, four hours a day with breaks but between my normal responsibilities around the house and working before and after class, I am really tired and also not keeping up with the studying required. I watched two of the six videos covering today's content. Looking over the class syllabus, we were expected to look that material over last night after we took our exam. 

I spent part of yesterday laying in bed, letting my brain drift because I keep getting headaches from concentrating too much. They go away after not focusing for a bit so I know they're just focus related. I've also found going for a walk or going outside can help clear it out, so given how cold and windy today is, I'm going to do my workout after class instead. 

ETA: I also have a 14 inch laptop screen which is super not helping things. I might try switching to my second monitor and finding the webcam I've got laying about to see if that helps maybe. 

Comments

[graydon]

It might-maybe also be a "consume a potable fluid" headache. (Brains use up a lot of energy which means metabolic byproducts which means more working fluid helps.)

Also, four hours a day of active language instruction plus self-study is full time; two (and somewhat) full time things is plausibly too much.

Bigger screen might help; might be time for an eye exam, too.

[unicornduke]

Yea, I've been trying to drink when I can but I think I need two cups of water, I usually only drink one before lunch and one after, not much different than normal, but if I'm using my brain more, it makes a difference.

It is a lot of stuff to get done, it's working because my job isn't super busy right now, but even two or three hours of stuff to get done around class is hard.

It's on zoom and with 10 people taking the class, the powerpoint and having the instructor bigger so I can see her sign and still be able to see other students for partner activities, the screen is just too small to see things well. My eyes are fine, it's all small. So I'll switch out the monitors now that I'm on lunch break and we'll see if it helps.

[reedrover]

Learning a new language is a lot of processing power, especially as an adult. And you’re working, too? I’d be passed out at 8pm every night.

[unicornduke]

Well, that is my normal bedtime but I'm struggling with falling asleep because my brain is tired and my body is not mostly. The weather is really cold outside right now, so I haven't been going for walks and I've had some stomach problems so not really motivated to work out. Thankfully work isn't super busy so I only have 2-3 hours of work which is easy enough to fit it around class.

But I think my stomach issues are on the mend, so I'm going to do a good long workout this afternoon and hopefully that will put my right to sleep!