Hey, you made some mistakes. You knew enough to know they were wrong and fix them (or attempt to fix them). I was kind of going along with you like, "ah man, ye

Hey, you made some mistakes. You knew enough to know they were wrong and fix them (or attempt to fix them). I was kind of going along with you like, "ah man, yeah, sucks." Everyone gets frustrated, call that mental sweat. I am in a daily competition with my peers at a very competitive university in the bay area. Stats are posted after every exam and most homeworks--so you see exactly how you compare to everyone else. It can get distracting if there's no perspective. As far as your colleagues go, I'd bet some non-trivial percentage of the perceived skill gap is illusory. It's easy to think someone else is smarter/faster; it's even easier to let others think that you're the one that's smarter/faster. https://youtu.be/RU_GBcdxT84 https://youtu.be/RU_GBcdxT84 For me, the best way to level the field is to ask questions. I often find people don't know as much as they let on (unhelpful). Or the person does know a lot, (helpful) then I'm picking their brain. I like to think of this as sharpening against others instead of competing. What I do to maintain optimal performance/memory/recall: Prioritize sleep. I shifted my day to the left. I wake up at 5 and I use my "best brain hours" on priorities. I am a night owl, but giving that up seems to have helped my memory/study habits. I practiced these two things without knowing: spaced-repetition and active recall. Learning about them prompted me to begin a more structured approach. If there's something I need to learn well, I want to pile as many sleep intervals on top of it as possible. I don't know if there's science for this, but I feel as though more sleep on a topic helps me consolidate the memory. Slow is often fast, but fast is helpful too. If you're going to make a fast pass over material, then let it be just that--a fast pass. Then make a slow pass. Try not to build up "pressure." Sometimes anxiety can set in and it is a drain. I also think it may even distort the perception of time. So, you may not even be spending as much time trying to grok something as you might think. Set a timer, and do twenty (or whatever) minute intervals. My goal is to always work until I surprise myself. A hurt ego favors downtime and often wastes time. Have a plan in place for when you do get frustrated. When you're rolling up on gridlock, have a couple little side streets you can detour on. That is, maybe try to have some related topic to work on that's in a similar domain. This way, you're still moving forward; getting another win can boost confidence and might give you some inspiration. Yeah, like I said in the beginning I had expected it to read something like, "...and I can't get a job..." I am in classes with students who think being in the mean or below it means they'll _never_ get a job. I know we're likely at very different places career wise, but damn I'd like to be the slowest coder at a firm ha, you know? Been working my ass off to become a good engineer and contribute. Another thing that helps me is maintaining a beginners mindset; I try to not be offended by something I don't know or have forgotten. It's hard, but not carrying that weight means I can focus better.