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Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?
Let's say you have very limited time to learn and that you are not doing much learning in your day job. How do you decide what to learn? What is your process for picking up topics to learn (other than "this is interesting")?
- StevenForth 10y agoFascinating question. Every year I develop a learning plan covering major themes (some of these have been going on for more than a decade), specifics inside the theme, how I think I will learn, whose help I will need (person or community), how I will pay back this help or pay it forward, what evidence I will have of the learning ... I also try to make sure that there are at least a few things each year that cross two or three themes. I have a long-term theme on pricing and this year I am spending a lot of time studying platform business models, so I have a set of specific actions that combine the two: organize a one-day event on platform business models, lead the pricing session at this event; advise at least one client on a platform pricing model (I still do some consulting as it help me to learn and share what I am learning); write some blog posts on pricing in platform business models; stretch goal - build some tools to help design platform pricing models and share them.
- ruralocity 10y agoI created a Trello board with a backlog of things that might interest me, then pick things out of it as time allows, opportunities present themselves, etc. I described the process at http://aaronsumner.com/posts/2015/12/personal-research-board.html http://aaronsumner.com/posts/2015/12/personal-research-board...
- moron4hire 10y agoI keep my notebooks. I scribble notes in them all the time, and then when I have downtime I look back through them. It's great for recapturing ideas, but it's also great for avoiding retrodding the same paths again. I am prone to forgetting I've done certain small things before and then I lose time on re-implementing the early parts of it. For example, I've rebooted this one project 4 times without even realizing it: a solar-system wide cross between Moon Lander and Asteroids with a simple, multiplayer mining economy.
- noir_lord 10y agoGenerally I look at the stuff I do day to day and then honestly critique myself for where I'm weakest and then learn from that. Since I'm the only dev and I have to do back end and front end I realised that I was weakest on the front end (particularly JavaScript) so I made a concerted effort to learn JavaScript properly since apart from picking it up organically for years I'd never really studied it. The funny part (to me at least) is that while I'm never going to like JavaScript I dislike it a lot less than I used to once I understood the underlying structure better.
- lalwanivikas 10y agoWhat resources are you using to learn JavaScript? Any advice for people just starting on this path?
- noir_lord 10y agohttps://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS and the associated videos where excellent. Javascript: The Good Parts (though this is a bit full on if you are really just getting started). Reading the source of popular libraries as well in a good IDE so you can jump around and get to where stuff is defined/created.
- voltagex_ 10y agoDon't underestimate "this is interesting". Couple it with a goal (like building a personal site, doing some home automation, building a NAS) and make sure you take notes (if not a blog). You'll learn heaps in no time.
- mhurron 10y ago> Don't underestimate "this is interesting". That's pretty much me. Someone will say something, or I will see something somewhere and a little bit of looking it up to find out what was being talked about might pique some interest and off we go.
- vijayr 10y agoThis doesn't work at all for me. Something seems interesting to me (and my problem is, a lot of things interest me) and I start reading up on it, somewhere along the way there is something else that is referenced, which also seems interesting, so I read up on that...and so on. Pretty soon I've deviated far from where I started. Interestingly, this doesn't happen in my day job :(
- altern8tif 10y agoAlso known as the "cool-new-framework rabbit hole" or also the more common "Wikipedia rabbit hole".
- Bootvis 10y agoOther than that: 'This is useful' ;) I believe something can be useful when I need to know it or when it is a good basis for other more applied topics.
- beilabs 10y agoI'm someone who has decided not to learn new language or framework that comes my way. If there is something that can speed up my workflow, I learn it. If it improves my applications speed without much time to implement / learn then I work on that. For new shiny Javascript libraries I really have held back to see what the winner will be; backbone used to be the go-to lib, ember (tried to learn but it changed a lot in the early days), angular (decided not to invest any time into it). There are 24 hours in a day, don't try and learn everything, just try and be productive with the tools you have and the ones that will get the job done for you. My time these days are spent learning Nepalese, React and trying to build a business in Nepal....keeps me busy.
- S4M 10y agoWhat made you decide to learn React and not any other framework you mentioned?
- stonemetal 10y agoI use "This is interesting" to give it about three or four days. After the "this is interesting" stage, things that fall into the "this might be useful" bucket get a couple of weeks. Then it is either getting used, or it is getting put on the back burner indefinitely.
- haffi112 10y agoI keep a list of things that interest me with sublists about interesting observations I make about each item on the list (I use workflowy for this task - no affiliation). The observations can be anything from ideas, to blog posts, books, online courses or articles about the subject. When I want to learn something new I pick an item from the list and work on it (usually some idea I came up with). My preliminary research efforts often help me realise an idea or it gives me a chance to compare two different learning sources. I also try to create something using what I learned. Through craft I feel like I draw more from the learning experience. The outcome can also be that I need to find better references or that I simply want to learn something else. The most difficult thing is getting started. I find it useful to be systematic about it by explicitly devoting time to it. Once you have a system in place you like it eventually becomes a habit. Also note that it is helpful to break tasks into small subtasks. Having a feeling of accomplishment leads to a more positive experience of the learning process which further leads to increased learning drive. Note that my process is not much more sophisticated than "this is interesting". However, instead of acting on some hunch in the moment I act on observations which I gather over time.
- heartsucker 10y agoI pick a project I want to complete or a cause I want to contribute to. Then I look at the smallest step I can take to work toward that (learn the basis of a new language, protocol). Then I iterate (learn a framework, tool). Then I try to close a bug or release the project to the wild. This usually leads to comments on a PR or someone opening bugs with the project, and then I have to learn something new to fix it. I think it's much easier to learn things when you have a goal because you have to learn tiny nuggets of knowledge that are useful. I find learning something without the context of how to apply it to the real world is very difficult, so I generally don't just go out and learn things (tech-wise) without a legitimate usage in mind.
- sidcool 10y agoThanks for asking, I have been struggling with the same problem for some time ow.
- brightball 10y agoUsually if something is interesting it's because you're thinking about it in the context of a problem that you need to solve. Basically, it's interesting because you see the potential value. That generally is what drives what I learn. I'm about to start getting deep into BPM2 and Activiti because it looks like it will solve an organizational problem that I'm currently observing, just as an example. Otherwise it's not really connected to anything I would be doing otherwise (although there are a few potential use cases if I understand the system the way I think I do).
- mapcars 10y agoI just feel it.
- agentultra 10y agoUsually I'm pursuing something. Along the way as I gain experience and encounter difficulties I put my head up and look for solutions. I don't always find what I'm looking for but it gives me hunches. When those hunches collide I get ideas and from there it becomes pretty clear what I know and what I need to learn in order to progress. I'm presently learning predicate calculus and formal specifications of software systems. I came to it by hunches: software engineering should be more like engineering because companies like Yahoo! Japan are building earthquake notification systems on OSS infrastructure and the keynotes at Blackhat suggested it was a requisite for this industry to move forward. It turns out the math is beautiful and it helps me design better software and I'm only just getting started. It has also added new things to my list of things to learn such as the refinement calculus as well as alternative modelling systems like Event-B.
- selmat 10y agoHave you list of good resources for these math topics?
- gd2 10y agoI should do better, because I've been random in deciding what to learn But some combination of: found good teaching materials, people I'm in contact with are learning it, and this could pay off big.
- mysticmode 10y agoI learn things by setting a purpose. Eg: For a web project, I need to learn new programming technologies. I have a very sensitive mind. I can't concentrate on multiple projects at the same time. For example: If I'm working in a day job, I can't work on a side project efficiently, I can't concentrate on both my office work and side projects. If I do, My employer could easily figure that I'm churning out. So, If I want to work on a project.. I'll make sufficient money then I quit my job and spend next coming months fully-fledged on my project.
- DavidSJ 10y agoWhen in doubt, learn more math.
- dominotw 10y agoI read 2 college textbooks on linear algebra, abstract algebra last year and managed to finish most of the exercise questions. It was never useful to me and I remember zero content from either of those now.
- m0rganic 10y agoTake that knowledge in linear algebra and put it to use by learning how machine learning algorithms work.
- dominotw 10y agoNot really interested in machine learning.
- thedonald123 10y agoWhich textbooks?
- dominotw 10y agoGilbert Strang - linear algebra A First Course in Abstract Algebra - rotman
- soared 10y agoAny suggestions for statistical analysis? I'd be like confidently do math, rather than just do math.
- jobigoud 10y agoThis also converges with my comment about giving more priority to learning things that will help me learn even more things and faster in the future.
- cubano 10y agoI'm not really convinced if its even possible for me to learn something that I'm not interested in. [edit] By learn, I don't mean simple regurgitation of the facts or some superficial thing, I'm talking about extended study and efforts.
- codecurve 10y agoRead. And I don't just mean books (although they are a great place to start). Read technical blogs, read documentation, read other people's code. Seek out challenging reads that seem overly ambitious and use them to find out what your unknown-unknowns are, then use that knowledge to steer your learning.
- tedmiston 10y ago^ This year I bought the subscription to Safari Books Online (https://www.safaribooksonline.com https://www.safaribooksonline.com), which offers unlimited access to many books (every O'Reilly book) and some video courses. Though it's not cheap, I think it's the best investment I've made in my own professional development.
- codecurve 10y agoJust to add to this, pick up an Amazon Kindle. There's almost no-where you can't read when your entire library fits in a pocket or a rucksack. I've been travelling for most of this year and my kindle comes second to only my laptop on the list of essentials.
- tedmiston 10y agoI actually haven't bought one yet because I was under the impression code rendering was still less than ideal (e.g., lines wrapping to fit the Kindle screen where they shouldn't in code). Is that still an issue?
- hoodwink 10y agoYes, this is an issue on the Kindle device, but reading textbooks in the Kindle app on the iPad is gamechanging. The speed with which you make highlights, leave notes, and bookmark is great for learning. I can then access the book from my computer for quick reference and/or convert my booknotes to Anki flashcards. This being said, I also own a Kindle Paperwhite and use it at least an hour a day for reading non-technical books. I can't recommend that device enough.
- narag 10y agoMostly what I anticipate I will need for the job. For my own pleasure I choose tools whose proponents talk with a reasonable voice. I dismiss any technonology when I see people that: * Says that the rest of the world is doing it wrong and they will fix the situation with this "change of paradigm". * Presents their products as a "social movement" that's "challenging the industry as we know it". * Promises 10x productivity. * In general, bases their success on attacking others. Specially if they say things like "everybody knows exceptions are like cancer". * Uses grandilocuent names to call a two thousand lines library. * The resulting code looks like gibberish. The most likely a child can understand it, the better. It it's directed at the elite programmers, bad. * Doesn't put enough care on tooling. Edit: OK, it's a very negative answer, but it's effective. It quickly discards 99% of shiny new things.
- DenisM 10y agoIs Haskell bad on your book?
- narag 10y ago"My book" doesn't tell what's bad, but things like how the community surrounding a tool is. You can't expect a problem will be solved if it's not even acknoledged. Also let me insist that these are heuristics I apply to what I use for my own consumption, usually to create private tools that will make my life easier, or just to learn something satisfying. That said, I bet you know Haskell better than me. The fact you singled it out asking about it makes me suspicious it shows at least one of the red flags :-) If that's right, I don't care how good it is.
- DenisM 10y agoActually I don't know Haskell beyond the most basic examples. I singled it out because it was one of the cases where "Promises 10x productivity" may be, well, the least outlandish. But it does come at the cost of "change of paradigm". For me C# is at least twice as productive as Objective-C, so I suspect there more where that came from. I'm on the lookout for another 2x boost. But the farther down that road you go, the more isolated you become. It's a bit of a balancing act between individual productivity and being able to hire and work in groups, or to find help. Perhaps
- lazyant 10y agoIntersection of what looks like fun, that I can be good at, and good career or money-wise.
- tedmiston 10y agoBy whoever's giving away the latest free t-shirt https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/content/alexa-developer-skill-promotion https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-sk...
- asimuvPR 10y agoI look forward in time and try to imagine myself knowing/doing something new. Whatever pops in my head us what I go for. Always live in the future and build towards it.
- tedmiston 10y agoSometimes I just browse StackShare for what's trending or if there's a more highly rated competing tool for something I use regularly. http://stackshare.io http://stackshare.io
- tedmiston 10y agoSomething I've always wanted is "a Netflix queue for tech I want to learn" Ideal features would include: - a regular review of the things you've listed to see if they're still relevant and to help you prioritize - a way to see what's trending amongst everything you've listed (ex. I have three front end web frameworks on my list but React is collectively popular, so perhaps I should start there) - it could notify you if a new (good) book / blog post is published on a topic you're interested in - you could compare with your friends to see if someone you know has learned it recently or to sit down and hack together - it could share a common list of subtasks across users -- for example, starting with Django Rest Framework might consist of: (1) doing the python tutorial + (2) doing the Django tutorial + (3) doing the DRF tutorial
- 3adawi 10y agosomeone please do this!
- akerro 10y agoWhy don't you do it?
- bryanrasmussen 10y agowell I want this and I don't do it because I'm already deep in doing other stuff (I bet the parent comment has the same reason). And even if I wasn't doing the stuff I already am doing I have a backlog of stuff, some of which would be highly innovative, that I am not doing that I should find the time to dust off and begin working on again. Asking someone to do something is really just saying - I'm too busy, if someone with the requisite skill is looking for something to do please consider this an upvote!
- tedmiston 10y agoI can relate. In the case of this project, I'd pushed it off because I thought others wouldn't be too interested. Nothing like a little HN community validation :)
- shrugger 10y agoI try and learn things bottom-up. I don't know if that's a good way or not, but that's how I've always done it. It has seemed pretty natural to me to sort of explode things into pieces and pick it up small bits at a time, gradually composing all of the knowledge that I need to be able to complete the thing I'm working on/learning about. Is there a better way?
- m0rganic 10y agoYou need to pick something you can sink your teeth into but unfortunately that doesn't satisfy your first requirement (limited amounts of time). Learning things of value normally takes time and lots of dedication.
- shekhargulati 10y agoI am doing a series called 52-technologies-in-2016 https://github.com/shekhargulati/52-technologies-in-2016 https://github.com/shekhargulati/52-technologies-in-2016 where in I learn a new technology, build a small app, and blog about it every week. I maintain an Evernote where I write down all the interesting topics or projects I find. I go through the list and randomly pick any topic that excites me that day and then work over the weekend to publish something. This helps me keep in continuous learning loop.
- mrleinad 10y agoThis is a great idea! Thanks!
- fbr 10y agoSounds cool, how much time do you spend every week?
- shekhargulati 10y agoIt depends from 5 hours to 15 hours depending on the topic. On Saturday I learn a topic by reading documentation or watching videos tutorials by their creators(if I can find) or if I have a book then I read first few chapters. Sunday, I start with building something and then documenting the process in the blog by end of Sunday.
- vinitagr 10y agoI decide based on what i need to build next, and that came from what i want to build, at some point in the past. Also i have "This is interesting" moments, from time to time.
- pknerd 10y ago> How do you decide what to learn? Work on my own idea. Another option; work on freelance projects. Earning could be a good motivation to learn new stuff. At least it is for me.
- fbr 10y agoI've recently started this method: - create a list of all the tools/products/whatever you use at work - rate them from 1 to 5 (5 you are an expert on this topic) - then pick the most important one for your job and try to increase your grade The grade is totally subjective, but still it helps. For the "next big thing" I take a look regularly to the thoughtworks radar [1]. That's a nice overview. [1] https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar
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- jobigoud 10y agoIn addition to what others have written, I give an increased priority to things that will help me learn other things in the future. If I have two topics on the top of my list, and I expect one of these to provide new mental tools, or meta insights about learning or cognition, I'll pick that one. I also give a higher priority in general to techs that will cascade into improving my speed on future projects in the most generic way. For example I consider that learning how to automate something is never a lost cause, even if I can do it manually at the same speed, because it increases my knowledge about automation, which will be useful down the line.
- DonPellegrino 10y agoI pick some technology that has the following characteristics: - A complete paradigm shift. I want something that will force me to rethink how I approach problems. I want to force my brain to develop new pathways, so to speak. - Something will at least a minimum of documentation and community online. I've had to abandon dreams of learning some really awesome language before (ATS) because there was simply no resources and that would make my progress too slow. - Something that could be fun to use in a side project. I need to be able to find occasions to use it. I learn best by doing rather than by only reading. If I can't think of an application, then I won't be able to become proficient, so I'd rather learn something else. - And finally, it has to be something fun that feels like falling in love with programming all over again. EDIT: I usually don't pick more than 1 technology to REALLY LEARN per year, so I don't make these decisions lightly.
- yankoff 10y agoI think the key here is to have long-term goals. I am trying to at least roughly understand where I wanna be in future (1, 5, 10 years) in terms of my skillset, abilities and knowledge. Then topics I learn should be aligned with those goals. There are definitely too much interesting things, but before I jump into something new I ask if it really helps me to get where I want to be in the future. There are sometimes exceptions to this, when I just want to learn something for fun, do it as a recreational activity.
- crispyambulance 10y agoI am surprised that no one has mentioned consultation with a MENTOR. Really, if you "don't know what you don't know", you need some type of trusted guide who understands your aptitudes and motivations and can recommend a path of study or provide some clarity of thought. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fumbling around in the dark and discovering stuff on your own, but if you're asking this question, it means you're resource-constrained and need some clear goals to work towards. This is where a mentor or at least a colleague can help out a lot. In addition to providing guidance, a mentor can critique and analyze the direction you're taking. "Todo" lists are perfectly fine tools for mastering some narrow focused topic or for achieving completion of a small project, but they're not a strategic tool. Deciding what to learn next is very much a STRATEGIC question, and those kinds of decisions benefit greatly from dialog with an expert who cares about your success.
- burger_moon 10y agoA mentor would be an amazing source. Unfortunately where I work there aren't any people that would fit that bill. Finding a mentor outside of work is difficult for many reasons. From what I've found this is a pretty common problem.
- DenisM 10y agoIt's fairly difficult to find someone who cares enough to mentor you. They can't buy stock in your person, they are busy with things in their life, they don't have much power over you so they can't quite be sure to get even a short-term payoff. It might work if the pupil is willing to just do the bidding of the master to relief him from his chores, so that the master has incentive to spend effort on pupil's education. I surmise so few students want to play this role that there is no cultural norm to draw from, the concept is too alien. It's a pity, too. There ought to be a way to transfer knowledge and skill from one generation to another.
- crispyambulance 10y agoIt is difficult and most people will have only one or two mentors in their life IF they're lucky. But I think you'll find that those who mentor others don't see their efforts as directly "transactional". They mentor others because they're expressly passing on the knowledge they've gained to the next generation. It is an altruistic act.
- Walkman 10y agoI usually learn what I need for my job.
- deathtrader666 10y agoMetacademy has been made just for something like this. https://metacademy.org/ https://metacademy.org/
- exDM69 10y agoI've got a TODO list of things I want to learn that's populated enough to keep me busy for years to come. I just wish I had more time to act on it. The items on my list are half concrete tasks and half topics to learn. The subjects are very diverse, I have a broad range of interests. Here's a few from the top: 1. Learn enough classical mechanics to do a stable n body simulation 2. Build a piece of furniture with mortise and tenon joinery 3. Implement a prototype compiler for that GPGPU/shader programming language I've been dreaming about for years 4. Get an Indian fighter kite and learn to fly it 5. Implement a multiple revolution Lambert problem solver to plan the badassest Kerbal Space Program mission ever 6. Write a simulator for gyroscopic motion and compare the results with my toy gyroscopes. That's enough to occupy my Saturdays for the next five years. Both, the sunny and the rainy ones.
- hoodwink 10y agoThis is basically what I do. Whenever a cool idea comes into my head, I put it into my list app. I have a list for projects (e.g., build a piece of furniture), skills (e.g., woodworking), topics, and business ideas. I then review these lists periodically and when the time is right, they naturally move into my "Active" list in one form or another.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- bebopsbraunbaer 10y agoThoughtWorks tech radar
- bebopsbraunbaer 10y agoThoughtWorks tech radar
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- jqm 10y agoBack up and ask why you should want to learn. People sometimes assume we should all be learning everything but the reality is we can't and we won't. So we need to focus. I've seen a lot of people that flit around and start this and that or take an online class but then never build anything with the technology. After a year or two they are pretty much no better off for the effort than if they had used the time to drink beer at the beach. So my philosophy is now to spend a small amount of time investigating. How useful is this to myself or an employer? How interesting it? How much time and effort is going to be required to learn this well enough to work it? If it's more than I'm willing to put out or the thing has limited use or interest then I don't even bother. I know it's there if I want to come back later. But if I'm not going to learn it to the point it becomes a useful tool I generally don't bother starting. I have found that half efforts are about half the effort of a full effort but they don't produce half the results. So they are by in large a waste of time and energy.
- extrapickles 10y agoI pick a part of a computer I don't know it works and try doing it myself. Everything from making a cpu from 74 series logic to writing a toy compiler. If you don't have much free time, just researching how to implement various parts of a computer works is good as actual implementation takes a large amount of time (eg: the cpu required learning basic electronic skills). Now that I've gone through a basic computer stack, I'm doing that bits that interest me in more detail.
- williamkennedy 10y agoI love the answers here. My system is pretty simple. I keep a list on Evernote every time I find a new resource to learn from. I only consider the resource (usually an online course/book) is going to help me be better at my job or help with a current hobby project. Then when I am bored at home later looking for something to do, I can refer back to this list and pick up from there. Usually, I find these resources when I am looking through Stackoverflow for answers. If I find I don't understand something or judge a Stackoverflow answer, I would find a Lynda.com course or something similar to add to the list.
- captn3m0 10y agoI started reading Passionate Programmer yesterday, and it talks about this. The idea is to either pick a relatively new technology that you can bet your career at and to pick a dying tech that might survive for a while (like COBOL). Picking the first gives you immediate coolness points, but learning the latter guarantees you won't accidentally become obsolete. Another categorisation (especially for languages) is to pick a paradigm that is different from your day job. Picking a functional language is the most common example.
- mdip 10y agoI'll bite: Let's say you have very limited time to learn ... I think that is probably the case for all of us. Personally, I recommend you apply some time to "optimizing learning". I have been improving my ability as a speed reader for 18 years (not the "read every word faster with eye exercises/gimmicks but strategic skimming/scanning)[1]. My strategy allows me to eliminate books that would result in wasted time in a couple of hours and rip through large volumes (with a very specific method of note-taking) in anywhere from a weekend to a few weeks (depending on depth of topic/my current ancillary knowledge level more so than the length of the work). That may not be the best approach for you, but the nice thing about focusing on optimizing your learning is that it allows you to focus on a topic in addition to getting better at learning in general. ... not doing much learning in your day job. This is one of those areas worth optimizing as well. If your job is dead-end, single-focus, and "not brain work", you should start looking elsewhere as soon as you can. In programming, there's often opportunities to study the corners around the area you're specializing in. If it's possible with your current workload, try to increase this as much as possible. What is your proces for picking topics to learn (other than "this is interesting")? You hit the main one, but the list is as follows in priority (which falls well below the first "this is interesting"): - Is it something I can use right now on a problem I want to fix for myself. - Will it give me a greater understanding of the craft that I have chosen as "my life mission" or "my career". - Is it something that is narrowly related to my career, but far enough away from it that I'm unlikely to encounter it in my day-to-day job. - Could learning this reward me financially by using it to create a sale-able product based on the knowledge I've gained? I put this at the bottom because I make a good enough living currently and I enjoy my job enough that if I were to have a side-income that replaced what I currently make, I'd still not want to leave my current job so the choice would likely be to sell the side-business, support it in my spare time (a non-starter) or do the side-project full-time. The result of the above bullet points led me to get into embedded/IoT-related devices. There are too many things I'm interested in solving to even list that relate to the embedded space. It involved researching and learning C++ (again), which I had a long-expired background in, and also served to give me experience in a language I have occasion to use in my day-job. It's unlikely (but plausible) that I'd be developing something in the embedded space in my day-job, but if an opportunity presented itself, I'd be prepared. The solutions I'm working on could certainly result in a product I could sell. It hits all points. [1] "Speed reading" has a bad reputation as of late, though a few articles have pointed out the idea of skim/scanning as it relates to speed reading. It's a very useful way of increasing the speed at which one can learn from a book, allowing multiple "reads" of a text at varying speeds/intensities. It is, however, something that took me 10 years to get good at and I think that's one of the reason the gimmicks are getting such a bad reputation. They promise an unrealistic increase in reading speed using an unrealistic set of techniques in an unrealistic time frame. Reading is a complicated mental operation and requires focused practice to increase both speed and retention/learning and in my case involves a strategy coupled with multiple reads of a text with a lot of note-taking. It is mentally exhausting for me when I execute and it was a very long process to get to the speed/retention I have today, but it works wonderfully.
- moshiasri 10y agothere is no one particular path way or a one size fits all solution, it depends on your choice and your requirements, instead of asking what to learn next, you should ask yourself should you really learn a particular thing today, or is this a scene from a different chapter of the book and should be done later. i just have one simple saying about the subject selection which i wish to learn "when you have removed a subject which is not a immediate requirement , what ever remain not matter how difficult it is, must be learned".
- rshetty10 10y agoMost of things I want to learn revolve around the things I work on the job. If you are trying to solve a particular problem, I try to find all the possible better solutions I could use to solve that problem and learn each of those things along the way. For ex: If I am working on react and we are using Flux as the state management library, I try to explore other better alternative such as Redux, Mobx etc. I also keep track of various things which come up when learning something and in-turn learn those topics.
- chris-aeviator 10y agoI'm using the Getting Things Done methodology for exactly this. You'll be entering it as any other goal you want to achive, split it down in smaller tasks and (most important) regulary review your list and decide what to do next ( to postpoem it, start with the first task, break it down to smaller tasks, …). In the end it will be your belly deciding (it will takeover no matter what system you'll be using) and you have a nice overview of what to do for your new technology goal.
- gauravgupta 10y agoI usually end up seeing new submissions on Hackr.io - Gives me a fair idea about what's trending and I learn a few among those. http://hackr.io/latest http://hackr.io/latest
- detaro 10y agothis kind of advertising is not appreciated.
- alsumo95 10y agoIt's interested to learn Ruby.
- tmaly 10y agoI pick a larger long term project, then I start working on it in pieces learning each aspect I need to complete the larger project. I do not always know what each piece is going to be, but I find taking this approach to be worth while. When I an commuting, I sometimes listen to podcasts from experts in the subject area I am trying to learn. At my day job, I have little time to learn, so I have to make a concerted effort to always be learning outside of work.