I tried doing learning the boring way and it worked in Dublin

> Tiny progress is still progress.

That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where evidence stopped feeling new.

Part of me wanted the fancy version with all the tools. The better version was boring: one notebook, one reminder, and a willingness to be clumsy with the first draft for a while.

This is probably obvious to veterans here, but it clicked for me only recently. explainers got easier when I stopped treating every attempt like a final exam.

The detail that surprised me was how much a family dinner changed the outcome. Same plan, different setting, completely different energy.