Autism

A headache is a good indicator that maybe you need a short break from what you are doing. Its easy not to feel your bodys signals when youre busy and it takes a little practise learning to spot them earlier. I can often go without noticing im hungry when I get engrossed in something.

Information retention; I have noticed that I have terrible short term memory, but really good long term memory - except for peoples names, I could know you for a year and still forget your name.

Learning a language and drawing are two things that id say information collection are not really that helpful compared to just practising them. To learn japanese, speak it, hear it. To learn to draw, draw stuff. The theoretical lessons will compliment the practise hours you have already put in, but theory without practise wont make you learn them more eificiently - until you have experience to associate it to, the theory wont mean anything on its own.

Do the questions at the back first, by which i mean use any practice or questions at the end to help you do a more deliberate search and study of the reading

Unless I'm careful I find I obsess about things, and it isn't sustainable. Either overload or burn out on it. Nowadays I try to pace my obsessions, do a bit at a time and enforce breaks, sometimes a few days or even weeks. It allows me to think about the subject, lock things down and make links. Sometimes less is more.

Leitner box work well and because it need you to space your sessions it should help not getting overwhelmed by them. And since you need to chose precisely what you want to learn it make you part the subject.

If you don't want to try leitner box, defining what you want to learn should help you not trying to learn too much at once.

For me the problem is that every time I go to learn it becomes an obsession. Once I start reading something I won't stop and switching to something else is very hard.

Well I moved to the Arctic to be away from distractions