Recently I have been doing some math again. Mostly exercises for a class I’m auditing on combinatorial limits.

One thing I forgot about math is how most of the time spent doing math is spent feeling very frustrated: why can’t I get this problem? I’m an idiot. Come on, get it! Etc.

All the while, your brain is working through the problem somewhere on the boundary between consciousness and unconscious thought.

An important part of your job is to quiet your mind. To manage your emotions so that your responses don’t completely disturb this semi-conscious, meditative processing state.

Not something that is talked about much when people talk about what it means to do math!