Learning is a fundamental Meta skill. If you want to learn multiple things along your life, learning how to learn is the best thing you can do.
Learning can be a goal in itself, and for me it mostly is. But I have multiple interests and I get distracted easily, so for me it is essential to systematize the process to ensure that I can make tangible progress.
The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge.
The main thing that slows me down when learning is that I always reach for the low-hanging fruits instead of directly attacking the big topics. I fear getting into depth into the activity that I’m trying to perform, so instead I get distracted by learning trivialities around that topic because they’re easier to grasp. I find project-based learning a great way to combat this, as it forces me to face the hard topics to advance on the project.
When learning new things, it is important to clearly define goals and create a plan of action to structure the learning process. Having a clear vision of what and how I’m going to learn can help in achieving the end goal.
A systematic approach
The approach to learning that I have developed for myself along these years is roughly the following:
- Define the goal of the learning (why am I learning this? what value does it bring to my life?)
- Create questions should you should be able to answer later? (those questions will serve as guides for the learning)
- Do a quick breadth search on the material around that topic. Collect the best resources and create a sketch of the learning roadmap. (don’t overthink it: it should take less than 2 hours)
- Define a 1-3 months long project to practice and learn the target skills. The most important thing here is to have a clear definition of when the project is done. Some examples: Homelab, Zettelkasten CLI, Zettelkasten exporter.
- Start actually doing things. A mix of theory with practice in a project usually works best. Use the questions and the project goals as guides, and consume the highest quality resources first.
- When you’re done with the project, you can either take a new one or decide that you learned enough about that topic and then consider your learning “done”. It is important to solidify your understanding and make sure you document the process before walking away. Getting proper closure on a subject is very important before moving to a new one.
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