How can I actually review old notes without feeling overwhelmed by past thoughts?

You're touching something real here—that vertigo of meeting your own earlier self. I see this often. People write prolifically, then avoid looking back because there's too much, or it feels contradictory, or they've changed. The temptation is to purge everything and start fresh. Resist that. Instead: set a small, regular rhythm. Maybe one morning a week, spend twenty minutes with notes from exactly one year ago. Not all of them. Just that slice of time. You're not looking to agree with past-you or build continuity. You're looking for the thread—what questions were alive then? What did you *almost* understand? The point isn't to organize a museum. It's to notice evolution. Some notes will feel foreign. Good. That's growth. Others will hit you fresh, as if you're reading them for the first time. Keep those. The ones that truly feel dead—obsolete, wrong, small—those you can let go. But gently. Acknowledge them first. Your past thinking got you here.