Get That license! Setting Up a Study Space (i.e., Move The Guest Bed Out of Your Office



You tell yourself you’re going to take this seriously. This is your future. Your new career. Your ticket to a job where you can say things like “let me check your policy language” and mean it. So you create a study zone.

By “create a study zone,” I mean you shove some laundry aside, maybe light a candle, and open your laptop while sitting cross-legged like a wise monk who’s about to be spiritually humbled by coverage forms. I have a huge company supplied  curved monitor, twice the size of my first TV.  It dwarfs the desk  my wife got me and completely repainted to make it hip and functional years ago, when I would drag my bodyshop work home.                

You gather your supplies:

  • Three different highlighters (in case the knowledge responds to color)

  • A legal pad you won’t use

  • Snacks labeled “for focus” but used for emotional support

  • A water bottle you’ll forget to drink from

  • A entire two liter bottle of soda..

You click into the first module. You adjust your posture like a serious person. You even say out loud, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

And then—boom.

“Risk is the uncertainty concerning financial loss.”
“Peril is the cause of a loss.”
“A hazard increases the chance of a loss.”

You’re not even one slide in and you already feel like you’re trying to read the insurance section of the Rosetta Stone. You’ve highlighted the whole page. Your notes just say “???”

You start second-guessing every sentence. What is risk? What is loss? What is anything?

You  think haven't I been working with insurance companies and adjusters for years? Why don't I know anything?

You check how much time has passed. It’s been 22 minutes. You’ve retained nothing and eaten all your “focus snacks.” The laundry on the chair in the corner is judging you. The progress bar now says 3%, but your soul is at -11%.

You close the laptop.
You open it again.
You stare at it.

Welcome to the study grind. Only 97% to go.

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