Learning something new is simultaneously exciting and scary. By definition, there’s a lot of unknown. Depending on your personality and the task at hand, you may naturally lean more one way or the other on the exciting vs scary spectrum. I know for myself, the idea of learning is always exciting, and the actual process almost always scary. This is something I’ve had to navigate while pursuing my CS degree. I’ve had to learn to learn, and I truly believe it’s a skill one can get better at with practice. There isn’t a right way to go about it necessarily, but there are some tips and tricks that will help make it easier. I’m going to spend some time looking at common blockers to learning. Then, I’ll transition to some tools and techniques that will set up a learner for success. Since I’ve been working on a CS degree, this post will focus more specifically on learning new technology, but a lot of the content can be applied to any area of learning. Let’s dive in.
Roadblock Ahead!
Let me know in the comments if you can relate to this… You’ve just had a conversation with someone who landed a new job or created a new product. You ask what the secret was and they said “Just learn xyz. It’s so easy!” You’re pumped. You get the adrenaline rush thinking about the possibilities. You start outlining a plan, ready to hop online when you get home that night and begin learning. You start reading more about it, maybe even begin some course work, and a question pops in your head. “Can I do this? Am I capable?”
This is your first blocker. Your brain starts spitting out all the reasons why you won’t be able to rather than feeding off the positive energy you’ve had up to this point. Know that it’s normal. With anything difficult, doubt will surface at some point. Don’t let yourself lose the fight before its even begun. Press on and continue your research or push through the rest of that class you’re taking. The time to evaluate if you’re capable is not at the first moment of doubt, because you’re not in the place to provide a fair assessment of your capabilities with the content in front of you. It’s still too new!
Ok, so you’ve pushed through that first blocker. Well done! That’s the first step. The next harsh reality is you’re starting to realize just how much you have to learn. You’ve finished your research or you’ve gotten through that first intro course and realized you’re staring up at a mountain from the base. You can’t see the peak. Only the line of clouds obscuring the rest of the mountain is visible, and it looks formidable to even reach that point. This is your second blocker. You think you may be capable, but you start asking, “Is it worth it? Do I really want to invest the time, energy, money, and everything else I’d have to in order to learn this tech?” These are important questions to answer, because it’s where you’ll find a deep sense of motivation if your answer is yes. Make sure you have conviction when answering these questions, and then write down what led to that conviction. Know your WHY.
At this point, you’re grinding. Some days feel like you make significant process towards the peak of the mountain. Others, it feels more like your foot slipped and you scraped your knees on your way towards the bottom. It’s easy to get back up when you’ve only been knocked down once, but how about the 10th time? The 100th time? If you’re on a learning journey that’s going to take an extended amount of time, you’ve reached your next obstacle. It’s called motivation. You lose it at times. But you have to know that learning is not a linear path to the top. There is bad with the good. When you have a string of bad days in a row, the motivation to get back up again is going to be at an all time low. When the finish line is still in the far off distance, but the starting line is too, this is the worst time to throw in the towel. You’ve already invested so much and you know you’re capable! You can do this. Take a day off, reflect on your why, and get back in gear.
How to Learn?
I mentioned this in the intro, but it’s worth repeating. There’s no RIGHT way to learn. Also, what works for someone else may not work for you. Take the following tools and methods with a grain of salt. Figuring out how to learn is a process – one that requires some trial and error. Enjoy the process.
Stick to a Schedule
Maybe I should have titled this section “Be Intentional”, because I really don’t mean that you should study at the same time every day. That’s not realistic for most of our lives, trying to juggle work, family, and other obligations. I have found what helps me best though is to make a schedule at the beginning of the week. I pencil in when I’m going to be able to work on school. That way, I know how many hours I am going to get in. It may be too many or too little early on in the process, but it gets more accurate as you get further into the work that you’re doing. The best part about this is it removes the guilty conscious from time spent not studying. If I know I have the appropriate amount of time blocked off for school, I can spend the non-school time being present in my current activity, rather than worrying about if I should be studying. It also helps motivate me during the time I’m spending on school because I know every hour I waste is another hour I’ll have to make up elsewhere.
Create a Learning Environment
Distractions are a killer to productivity. Even if you have your time set aside to work on school, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be productive. Your phone, your computer, your family… All of them good things, can be a hindrance to your learning. Set up an environment for yourself where you can be free of distraction and get into a zone. This probably means turning your phone on do not disturb. It probably means leaving your computer turned off while you’re reading or learning from a textbook. And it probably means investing in some noise cancelling headphones and a door that locks if you’ve got loud children running around the house. Whatever it is, do it so that your time set aside for learning is actually used for learning.
Resources to Learn Tech
Let me be the first to tell you, it’s overwhelming trying to pick the right content to actually learn from. In today’s world, there are so many courses and books and tutorials claiming to be the best. It’s both a blessing and a course. My suggestion would be to try a few different methods. You won’t know what works until you try it. Also, don’t look at the ones that don’t work as a failure. Instead, look at it as successfully removing clutter from your mental desk. You no longer have to consider that type of content when you’re trying to learn something new in the future. I chose to go back to school because I felt it best matched what I needed for my professional goals, but it also worked well with my personality. I benefit from the accountability of paying for a course. I’m less likely to lose motivation, and I know that about myself. Going back to school is just one way to go about learning new tech though, and it’s probably the most expensive, so let’s look at some others.
There is a ridiculous number of online platforms with really high quality content on any number of subjects. Off the top of my head, I’ve used LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight, and Udemy. I’ve also heard of Coursera, Learning Tree, and Udacity providing good content. I’m not here to list them all… Google can do that for you. I mostly wanted to introduce them to you as an option. I personally think they’re helpful as an introduction to a topic, but I’ve never left one of the courses feeling like an expert in the topic. It would have required me to put in a lot of my own time to master the content. The benefit is most of these platforms are relatively affordable, especially compared to university courses. Look at the reviews for the content on the different topics you’re interested in and give one a try. Maybe these platforms are right for you.
I feel silly mentioning this, but people forget that books are still a viable option to use when you’re trying to learn something! You have to be careful in the world of tech that the content you’re reading isn’t dated, but there are so many topics where books do a great job introducing you to the first 80%, and then you can use online resources to catch up on the latest tech in that space. When I really need to dive into a subject area, a physical textbook is still my preferred method of learning. They’re generally organized in a way where you can linearly work your way through the content, building brick by brick upon your knowledge base. I had never programmed in my life, but the first course in my CS degree used a C++ textbook I still reference today. I enjoy being able to go at my own pace and test my knowledge with the exercises at the end of each chapter. Books aren’t for everyone, but don’t rule them out until you’ve tried them!
Finally, often overlooked is the knowledge base of your friends and peers. The best first step may be to go to someone who is in the position you want to be in and ask them how they got there. Most likely, they won’t sit down with you for the required hours to learn the content, but if you’re lucky, they may be willing to mentor you. They can help you formulate a vision for what you want and create a plan for how to get there. After all, they’ve already been down that road, so they should know better than anyone what pitfalls to avoid and resources to latch on to in order to succeed. Check in with them often as you’re on your learning journey. Tell them what you’re working on. What do you enjoy and what do you find really difficult? This type of information will help refine your vision, which then boosts your motivation. Finally, remember to thank those that walk along side you. Buy them coffee when you meet up, and share the success with them as you get a new job or create a new product because of the skills you’ve picked up with their help.
Wrapping It Up
Get your cliché barf bags ready because there’s one incoming, but I’m going to say it anyway. Learning is a life long journey. There it is. I’ll pause to give you time to recover.
It’s true though. You’re never done. At least you shouldn’t be. Learn to embrace the process and find joy in it. I’m in my final course before graduating with my CS degree, and the single biggest benefit I’ve gained from this degree is the confidence that I can learn anything. Through 15 courses, I’ve had to pick up a myriad of technologies and apply them to projects, almost all of them new. It has taught me that learning is a skill. It’s something that can be practiced and honed. It’s not always fun, but it’s almost always rewarding. There’s no better feeling than seeing the rewards of your efforts, whether that’s being able to better participate in a conversation, getting a promotion at work, or helping out a peer with something they’re stuck on.
Best of luck trying out some of the tips and techniques mentioned above, and happy learning.
