Choose Your Hard: How to Keep Going When Studying Feels Impossible
If studying feels impossible right now—you’re not alone.
Maybe you’ve opened your laptop with the best intentions, but your brain just says nope. Maybe you're tired, anxious, or overwhelmed. Maybe you’re stuck in that weird cycle of wanting to make progress, but doing everything except studying. Sound familiar?
This post is a mindset shift I come back to again and again when studying feels impossible, both in my own study life and when I’m supporting adult learners: studying is hard—but not studying is hard too.
Once you see that both paths are challenging in their own way, you can stop waiting for things to feel easier and start making choices that move you forward. And crucially, you can find support to make those choices feel more doable.
This post originated as a podcast episode which you can listen to below or watch on YouTube. Or, if you’re more of a learn-by-reading student, carry on for the blog version based on the podcast script.
Ways to listen:
Listen in the player above
Click to listen on Apple Podcasts.
Click to listen on Spotify.
Studying is hard. Not studying is hard. Choose your hard when studying feels impossible.
Let’s say it’s Thursday night. You’ve just got home from work after a long, draining week. You know you need to study—but you’re knackered, your brain feels fried, and honestly, all you want to do is binge something on Netflix or collapse in the bath.
So you think, “Studying tonight just feels too hard. I’ll do it at the weekend.”
That makes sense in the moment. But what happens next?
You carry a dull weight of guilt throughout the evening. You’re technically resting, but you’re not really relaxing. Then Friday comes and you're already anticipating the weekend study backlog. That tension starts to spill over—and by Sunday you’re stressed, overwhelmed, and still not making progress.
It turns out not studying is hard too.
This is where the mindset shift comes in:
You’re not choosing between hard and easy. You’re choosing between two different kinds of hard.
Example 1: Starting your essay
You know starting early is a good idea. You’ve probably told yourself that dozens of times. But when it’s a quiet Sunday afternoon and you sit down to open that blank document, something in your body resists and studying feels impossible.
Here’s why it feels hard:
You’re giving up precious rest time
The question might feel confusing or vague
You’re confronting self-doubt, especially if past feedback still stings
Starting early often means sitting with the discomfort of not knowing what you’re doing yet
So you delay. You think, “I’ll wait until I feel more ready.”
But delaying has its own costs:
Rising anxiety as the deadline creeps closer
Less time for editing, reviewing, and polishing
Greater likelihood of rushing and submitting something you’re not proud of
Guilt for pushing it off—again
“Yes, it was hard to start early. But it was harder to be stuck in that dread cycle every day, knowing I was running out of time.”
Example 2: Revising early
We all know that revising bit-by-bit is smarter than cramming. But the payoff is so delayed, it can be hard to feel motivated in the moment.
Early revision feels hard because:
It demands effort without an immediate return
It competes with more urgent tasks and life responsibilities
It’s difficult to prioritise when the exam feels far away
So we think, “It’ll be fine—I’ll just start properly a few weeks before.”
Here’s the reality:
You forget what you learned earlier in the course
You don’t have time to revise strategically—you just try to do everything
You panic and rush, leading to poorer performance or burnout
“The hard of slow, steady revision wasn’t fun—but the hard of cramming? That’s panic, poor sleep, and second-guessing every answer.”
Example 3: Emailing your tutor for help
It’s week 4 of the module and you’ve read the assignment brief three times… and still don’t understand what it’s asking. Or you’re struggling to meet the deadline and could really use an extension. But you hesitate.
Why? Because asking for help is hard.
It feels vulnerable. You might worry it makes you look weak or incapable. If you’re carrying imposter syndrome, even writing that email might feel terrifying.
But not asking has its own kind of hard:
You might submit something off-track because you misunderstood the question
You might miss out on an extension or support you genuinely qualify for
You keep struggling alone when help was available all along
“It took me way too long to reach out. But when I finally did, my tutor was supportive and gave me what I needed. I wish I’d done it sooner.”
So… how do you choose your hard?
This is where awareness becomes powerful.
When you hit a decision point—study now or delay, ask for help or push through—take a moment to reflect. You’re not choosing between hard and easy. You’re choosing which hard you’re more willing to carry.
Try asking yourself:
What feels hard about doing the thing right now?
What would be hard about not doing it?
Which hard has longer-term benefits?
What support would make the hard feel less hard?
This shift moves you from stuckness to agency and allows you to move forward when studying feels impossible.
And that brings us to my own story.
My story: finishing my study skills tutor qualification
This year, I finished my training to become a Specialist Study Skills Tutor for adult learners with specific learning differences, like Dyslexia and ADHD. And honestly? It was the hardest academic thing I’ve done in years.
I started the course years ago and finished the initial training and assignments, but the final part—the teaching practice and mammoth portfolio—was where I got stuck.
Life threw a few curveballs. My mental health wobbled. My business needed attention. And as someone self-employed, if I didn’t keep my business running, I didn’t make money.
So I delayed.
“For months, I was choosing the hard of not doing the work. I was overwhelmed, carrying the guilt, and it was messing with my sleep and my stress levels.”
At first, it felt like I was protecting myself. But the more I avoided it, the harder everything became. I remember one moment clearly: I’d booked a massage to try to calm down, and halfway through I burst into tears. The stress of avoiding the work had finally hit my body.
Eventually, I hit a decision point:
Do I walk away, or do I commit?
“Both options felt awful. Doing the work meant months of hustle and pressure. Quitting meant guilt, regret, and letting go of some of the future plans I’d built around this qualification.”
I chose my hard. I committed.
And here’s what surprised me:
The hard of doing the work—staying up late, writing thousands of words, missing out on fun—was still brutal. But it was so much better than the hard I’d been carrying before.
“The hard of finishing was exhausting, but it felt purposeful. The hard of not doing it had been crushing—this constant dread in the pit of my stomach, the sleep I couldn’t get, the guilt I couldn’t shake. That realisation changed everything for me.”
That was the breakthrough:
Yes, finishing was hard. But not finishing—carrying the weight of avoidance, fear and regret every day—was harder.
You don’t have to do it alone
Once I’d made the decision, I asked: What support do I need to make this feel less hard?
I emailed my course supervisor and said, “I’m struggling. I need help mapping out the steps.”
I told friends and family I’d be disappearing for a bit and asked them to check in.
I restructured my calendar and created detailed plans.
I reminded myself that the discomfort of doing the work was something I could handle—especially now that I had support.
“There were moments I cried, and others where I didn’t even have time to cry—I just had to get on with it. But I noticed something: this hard felt cleaner. More empowering. I wasn’t stuck anymore. I was in motion.”
Studying will always involve challenge. But the right mindset—and the right support—can make it feel possible again.
Free tools to make studying feel less hard
To help you put this mindset into action, I’ve created three free tools you can download depending on where you are right now:
Actively studying?
Study Session Planners
Stay focused, motivated and organised during each session—so you make real progress without burnout.
Struggling with essays?
Better Essays Sentence Starters Quick Start
Break through the blank page and build stronger paragraphs—fast.
Final thoughts: empowerment starts with awareness
When studying feels impossible, don’t wait around for motivation to magically show up.
Instead, pause and ask yourself:
“Which hard am I choosing—and why?”
You may not be able to remove the hard entirely.
But you can choose the hard that leads you forward.
And you never have to carry it alone.
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