Learn Hardcore German: Im Lerntagebuch lege ich kleine Ziele für die nächste Woche fest und überlege, wie ich sie durchhalten kann, ohne dass ich mich damit unter Druck setze. - In the study diary I set small goals for the next week and think about how I can stick to them without putting myself under pressure with them.

in dem Lerntagebuch → im Lerntagebuch
Case: in can take dative (location) or accusative (direction). Here it’s location: in the learning diary, so dative: dem → im.

Why not in meinem Lerntagebuch?

Im Lerntagebuch is neutral and could mean “in the learning diary” in general.
In meinem Lerntagebuch would specifically mean “in my learning diary.”
So it’s a stylistic/meaning choice, not a grammar rule.

Why is Lerntagebuch written as one word and capitalized?

German forms a lot of compound nouns by joining words together:

lernen (to learn) → lernen → Lern- (as a noun-forming stem)
das Tagebuch (diary)

Together: das Lerntagebuch = “learning diary / study journal.”

All nouns in German are capitalized, so Lerntagebuch must be written with a capital L.

What is going on with lege ... fest? Why is fest at the end?

festlegen is a separable prefix verb:

infinitive: festlegen (to set / define / determine)
stem: legen
separable prefix: fest

In a main clause with the verb in second position, the finite verb comes second, and the prefix goes to the end:

Ich lege kleine Ziele fest.
- lege = 2nd position, conjugated
- fest = at the end

In infinitive or participle forms, it’s written together again:

Ziele festlegen (infinitive)
Ich habe kleine Ziele festgelegt. (past participle)

What is the difference between Ziele festlegen and Ziele setzen?

Both are common, but they have slightly different flavors:

Ziele setzen = “to set goals” – very common, neutral, close to English.
Ziele festlegen = “to define / determine goals (more clearly, more firmly).”

In this context, kleine Ziele festlegen emphasizes the idea of clearly defining or deciding on specific small goals, often in a somewhat planned or systematic way, which fits a Lerntagebuch.

You could say Im Lerntagebuch setze ich mir kleine Ziele, which is also natural German, but it sounds a bit different stylistically and adds mir (to myself).

Why is it für die nächste Woche and not something like für der nächsten Woche?

The preposition für always takes the accusative case.

Masculine: für den Tag
Feminine: für die Woche
Neuter: für das Jahr
Plural: für die Wochen

Here, die Woche is feminine, accusative singular:

für die nächste Woche = for the next week (accusative after für)

Für der nächsten Woche is ungrammatical because für can’t be followed by dative.

In wie ich sie durchhalten kann, why is kann at the end?

The word wie introduces a subordinate clause here (not a question):

main clause: Im Lerntagebuch lege ich kleine Ziele fest und überlege, …
subordinate clause: wie ich sie durchhalten kann

In a subordinate clause with a modal verb (like können), the word order is:

Subject: ich
Objects/adverbs: sie (the goals), durchhalten (full verb)
Finite verb (the conjugated modal) at the end: kann

So:

… wie ich sie durchhalten kann.

In a main-clause word order, you’d have:

Ich kann sie durchhalten. (verb in second position)

The dass/wenn/weil/ob/wie-type conjunctions push the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.

What does sie refer to in wie ich sie durchhalten kann, and why is it sie?

sie refers back to kleine Ziele.

Ziele is the plural of das Ziel.
The 3rd person plural pronoun in the accusative is sie.

So:

die Ziele → ich halte sie durch = I stick to them.

It’s the same sie you would use for “them” (people or things) in English.
It’s not “she”; it’s the plural they/them form.

What does durchhalten mean here? Is it just “to hold through”?

Literally, durchhalten is “to hold through / to endure,” but idiomatically it often means:

to keep going,
to stick with something,
to follow through / not give up.

In this sentence, Ziele durchhalten means:

to stick to the goals
to keep them up / follow them consistently

So wie ich sie durchhalten kann = how I can stick to them (the goals).

Why does the sentence use ohne dass instead of just ohne + infinitive, like ohne mich unter Druck zu setzen?

German has two common patterns with ohne:

ohne
- zu
  - infinitive (no finite verb, no subject change)
- … ohne mich damit unter Druck zu setzen.
ohne dass
- full clause (finite verb, explicit subject)
- … ohne dass ich mich damit unter Druck setze.

Both are grammatically correct here, and the meaning is almost the same.

Differences:

ohne dass-clause feels a bit more explicit and formal:
ich is repeated, the full clause is clearer.
ohne … zu is a shorter, more compact structure.

The writer chose ohne dass to keep the full sentence structure with ich, probably for stylistic or clarity reasons.

Why is it ich mich damit unter Druck setze and not ich setze mich damit unter Druck in that order?

In a subordinate clause (introduced by dass, weil, wenn, etc.):

The finite verb goes to the end: … unter Druck setze.
Before the verb, pronouns usually come earlier than heavier phrases.

Order in the clause:

Subject: ich
Reflexive pronoun: mich
Prepositional phrase: damit
Object phrase: unter Druck
Verb: setze

So:

… dass ich mich damit unter Druck setze.

If you turned it into a main clause, the natural order would be:

Ich setze mich damit unter Druck. (finite verb second, rest follows)

So the subordinate-clause order is basically the same elements, but with the conjugated verb moved to the end.

Why do we use the reflexive pronoun mich here?

The expression is jemanden unter Druck setzen = “to put someone under pressure.”

Here, the person putting on the pressure and the person under pressure are the same:

ich setze mich unter Druck
= I put myself under pressure.

Because the subject and the object are the same person, German uses a reflexive pronoun:

ich → mich
du → dich
er/sie/es → sich, etc.

You could also say ohne dass ich mich selbst unter Druck setze, adding selbst to emphasize “myself,” but it’s not necessary.

What does the idiom unter Druck setzen mean, and why unter?

Literally:

unter = under
der Druck = pressure
setzen = to set, place

jemanden unter Druck setzen = to put someone under pressure (idiomatically: to stress them, to pressure them).

unter here is part of a fixed expression. Grammatically:

jemanden (accusative object)
unter Druck (prepositional phrase showing the resulting situation)
setzen (verb)

So: jemanden unter Druck setzen = to cause someone to be in a state of pressure/stress.

Why are there commas before wie and ohne dass, but not before und überlege?

Comma rules here:

Comma before wie
- wie ich sie durchhalten kann is a subordinate clause (introduced by wie).
- Subordinate clauses are separated by commas from the main clause:
  - … und überlege, wie ich sie durchhalten kann, …
Comma before ohne dass
- ohne dass ich mich damit unter Druck setze is another subordinate clause, introduced by ohne dass.
- Again, subordinate clause → needs a comma before it:
  - …, ohne dass ich mich damit unter Druck setze.
No comma before und überlege
- lege ich kleine Ziele … fest and überlege, wie … share the same subject ich and are connected by und.
- In modern standard German, connecting two verbs with the same subject using und does not require a comma:
  - Ich lege … fest und überlege …
- You may see a comma in very long or complex sentences for readability, but here it’s normally left out.