4 ms·

Embrace a project-oriented approach. The project can be an app, a paper, or an article. Define what you want to do. Then start working on that. Embrace a top-d

Embrace a project-oriented approach. The project can be an app, a paper, or an article. Define what you want to do. Then start working on that. Embrace a top-down approach. Learn only on a need-to-know basis. When you need to know something for the app or the paper, learn that. Don't touch anything else. Make a list of stuff that you find interesting. Always keep the completion of the project in your mind, and nothing else. Project-based learning/research works the best. Also allocate some hours per week for goal-free learning. Read/do whatever you want. But, keep it limited.

atomicnumber3 3y ago
This is my strategy too. It always pays off in unexpected ways. Things I never thought I'd end up learning, then turn into things I never thought I'd end up using even once I'd learned them.
iman453 3y ago
Could you share some examples of articles/paper projects you undertake? Do you always publish them or keep them for yourself?
- __rito__ 3y ago
  For the last ~3 years I worked for companies. No proper publication. But some articles here and there [0]. My Master’s thesis [T]. A (trivial) game to learn Ruby [1]. There are a lot that are not published anywhere. I have left my full time job this month, and now pursuing full time research independently hoping some papers + job exp. + GRE lands me a PhD in a good research uni. When you are working, try to make sure that the job aligns with your long term goals. Then learn a lot from work. Learning at work is effortless. [0]: https://www.kaggle.com/code/truthr/learn-jax-from-linear-regression-to-neural-networ?scriptVersionId=91121887 https://www.kaggle.com/code/truthr/learn-jax-from-linear-reg... [T]: https://zenodo.org/records/7840239 https://zenodo.org/records/7840239 [1]: https://ritog.itch.io/silly-dragon-target-game https://ritog.itch.io/silly-dragon-target-game
  - iman453 3y ago
    Thank you. That’s very helpful. My day job is pretty basic stuff so I’m trying to learn things on the side, but have the same worry that the day job is where the main learning opportunities would be, so I probably need to find a better gig. Thanks, and good luck on your PhD search.

atomicnumber3 3y ago

This is my strategy too. It always pays off in unexpected ways. Things I never thought I'd end up learning, then turn into things I never thought I'd end up using even once I'd learned them.

iman453 3y ago

Could you share some examples of articles/paper projects you undertake? Do you always publish them or keep them for yourself?

__rito__ 3y ago
For the last ~3 years I worked for companies. No proper publication. But some articles here and there [0]. My Master’s thesis [T]. A (trivial) game to learn Ruby [1]. There are a lot that are not published anywhere. I have left my full time job this month, and now pursuing full time research independently hoping some papers + job exp. + GRE lands me a PhD in a good research uni. When you are working, try to make sure that the job aligns with your long term goals. Then learn a lot from work. Learning at work is effortless. [0]: https://www.kaggle.com/code/truthr/learn-jax-from-linear-regression-to-neural-networ?scriptVersionId=91121887 https://www.kaggle.com/code/truthr/learn-jax-from-linear-reg... [T]: https://zenodo.org/records/7840239 https://zenodo.org/records/7840239 [1]: https://ritog.itch.io/silly-dragon-target-game https://ritog.itch.io/silly-dragon-target-game
- iman453 3y ago
  Thank you. That’s very helpful. My day job is pretty basic stuff so I’m trying to learn things on the side, but have the same worry that the day job is where the main learning opportunities would be, so I probably need to find a better gig. Thanks, and good luck on your PhD search.