
Ask HN: How do you manage your learning? - raju
Hi everyone,<p>I know a lot of articles and discussions have appeared on the art of reading on HN. But I had had this issue for a while now, and was hoping someone out there could help me out.<p>So for starters, I started to learn Haskell late last year from the Real World Haskell book. Being a new-comer to functional programming its taken me almost a month to read and digest 150 pages or so. Smack in the middle of January I landed a new assignment that involved a host of new (Java) technologies, so I had to drop Haskell for a while to catch up on those. I then had to review a book for a author friend.<p>This has been a regular cycle. I start something with great enthusiasm, I am thoroughly enjoying myself, only to have hit a situation where I need to drop it to learn something else. I have half a dozen of so books covering management, finance, self-help on my shelf right now, and I see no way of catching up.<p>I am sure several others out there have the same predicament. I don't have a problem learning, rather I would learn something new everyday. Its just commitments that keep getting in the way.<p>So the question is how do you manage your learning process? How do you find time to read, learn, digest all the varied interests that catch your eye (be it new languages, frameworks, technologies, other areas of interest, hobbies what-have-you).<p>Any suggestions will be welcome.
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DanielBMarkham
Segment your time into tactical learning (in your case Java), strategic
learning (for you, Haskell), and brain-recovery time (cheap fiction,
meditation, whatever)

Trying to learn different languages at the same time, unless you are a Jedi,
is going to be tough. But you could probably find some good functional
programming with Java type books that would dovetail nicely into your Java
work.

I actually split into three pieces, tactical, strategic, and Out-there
learning. I find good ideas come from weird places, so my Out-there time
includes philosophy, religion, history, and social sciences.

My Out-there stuff is done during morning workouts. Tactical stuff is done
during work or in the evenings. Strategic and fun stuff during weekly airline
flights.

You are what you read (and watch), so the most critical thing you can do in
your life is actively manage what you consume, even if it means learning how
to enjoy and digest what others would consider boring stuff.

~~~
raju
Great idea! Quick question - It seems you find a way of doing all three during
the day, is that correct? Also, and this may sound like a silly question, how
do you divvy up the hours, how do you know how much time you can/should allot
to each category?

I see from your profile that you are interested in all sorts of things (to
mention a few Technology, Philosophy, Startups, Movies [I like these too]).
Are these all in the Out-there learning category?

~~~
DanielBMarkham
I don't divvy up the time. I just try to find time for each category.

It's a mistake to think of yourself as some kind of content consumption
machine -- leads to splitting up your hours into 3-minute increments. Some
folks love that kind of anal-retentive life. I find it gets in the way of
being a human.

So I have these major kinds of reading goals that I think about when having
some extra time. It's a general guideline. Kind of like using a compass
instead of a stopwatch (apologies to S. Covey for the ripoff)

Most of these are in the Out-there category, but not all. I've found, for
instance, that lots of philosophical concepts dovetail with software
construction -- philosophy of language, of knowledge, of abstractions and
generalizations, etc. No matter the topic, I've found there is usually some
tangential relationship to strategic learning goals.

One of my current Out-there books is "Dummies guide to Songwriting" I've
always been curious as to how a few guys can get together and make some
wonderfully creative musical material. Who knows? There could be a lot of
material in there applicable to my next startup effort.

------
RiderOfGiraffes
I set aside an hour a day (on average) to "do stuff" that is of direct
relevance to a project I want to complete. If I'm learning a new language, I
have a small project to perform a small but non-trivial task. Then I make sure
I spend about an hour a day on that.

Same goes for my reading. I allow 30 minutes a day specifically for reading
about new stuff. That's usually last thing at night, plus a 5 minute mental
review as I have my shower in the morning.

It's the consistency that counts. Small amounts of time consistently invested
grow over time.

~~~
raju
I should try that. I tend to be single-minded, so if I have to review a book
thats all I do, and hence loose traction on anything else that I have on the
plate (this usually does not include non-tech reads/learning, but I have found
that when learning a new language/technology/framework I need more focus). But
I think keeping a small achievable task everyday should keep me from losing
ground when learning something new.

Thanks everyone.

------
grouchyOldGuy
I completed my BS degree several years ago. I carried a full-time school load
and worked full-time. I got 90% of my school work done on the weekends. During
the week I was too tired from work to do much more than the absolute minimum
required of me for school. Not having a wife and kids helped too--no
distractions at home.

Different people have different ways of coping. I am a morning person, so it's
not difficult for me to get an extra hour in the day by getting up an hour
early, but some people can't function like that. If you live in an "active"
house, you may find it easier to set your alarm for an hour or two after
everyone else is asleep, and get up and get some studying in (if your
biological clock will let you). I find that four hours sleep is all I require
for the short-term, so I could get up and get a little more work done and then
get back to sleep. I sometimes do that when I have insomnia anyway--why toss
and turn for an hour or two if I can get up and read for a while?

First thing to do is a little self-analysis? Are you the kind of person who
can get a little bit of work done in various bits and pieces of available
time, or do you need a sizeable chunk of time to set aside? Are you better in
morning, afternoon, evening, or late night? Do you need as distraction-free a
place as possible, or can you put up with household noise while studying? I
bought a nature sounds CD set a while back, and putting one of those on while
wearing headphones helps me to concentrate. Another thought would be a white
noise generator (or pink, brown, etc. type of noise) to help block out
distracting noises.

I've found that especially when learning something technical (programming
language, data networking, etc.) the more different ways that I can approach
the subject, the better. Reading is a passive activity and only activates
certain parts of the brain. Writing is an active activity and activates
different parts of the brain. I'll read a little bit of material, then re-
write it in my own words to "burn" it into as many different neural pathways
as possible. I also create mind-maps, limericks, stories, etc. to create as
much mental diversity as possible for remembering the material. It helps.

~~~
raju
Thanks grouchyOldGuy.

You bring up a few good points. I have noticed that since I had to break away
from a task for a few weeks at a stretch (like my Haskell learning) coming
back to it means spending a few more days revising what I had learned! I like
your suggestion of writing things down to leverage other parts of your brain.
I do some mind-mapping, but probably not enough.

About me, I live by myself, so if I don't want to be disturbed, I put the
phone off, and I am in complete solitude. I do have a full time job, which
does take up a (fixed) number of hours everyday.

Thanks for the advice.

