Replaying one awkward sentence at 2 a.m. isn’t learning. Take the lesson, then let yourself sleep.

Going over a bad moment feels like diligence and usually is not. Learning takes one pass and produces a change you could describe out loud, while replaying takes twenty passes, produces nothing new, and happens at the hour when your judgment is at its worst. The repetition is an attempt to make the discomfort safe, which rerunning the tape cannot do.

When it starts up late, write the single lesson on paper so it is stored outside your head, then let yourself stop. If the loop keeps running, get up for five minutes and do something dull. Sleep helps next time more than the thirty-first replay.