My Approach to Learning
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin
Never stop learning.
You’ve probably heard it a million times; from your high school teacher, college professor, Bill Gates. It is great advice. You may hear it from someone you look up to and you temporarily feel motivated to start learning the things you were always interested in but never committed to. That Udemy course you never finished, that book you stopped reading, that new programming framework you stopped learning because it got complicated while you were building a web app for a school project (me!). You give up on learning these things because that motivation you feel is temporary. That powerful quote or motivation video about learning is energizing, but that energy is not sustainable. It drains the moment we get into the nitty-gritty details of the topic we’re studying.
Motivation is short-lived and unreliable!
So how can we continuously learn?
Consistency. To learn something well requires iteration.You need to do the same things over and over and over again. This is the best way to learn something well, in my opinion.
Throughout my life, I’ve experimented with various approaches to reach consistency. Consistency in work, in school, fitness and many other things. Many of these approaches failed but one persevered and proved to be very effective. I discovered that by making learning fun, I am more willing to learn! (shocking discovery, right?).
To make learning fun for you, you have to know what type of a learner you are. I discovered that I am a social learner; I enjoy learning and discussing topics in depth with someone. When studying with someone, I find that I absorb and retain information very well. If you enjoy learning socially as well, then the next logical step is to find people who want learn the same things as you do!
How I’ve applied this approach!
Working together on projects with your friends. I first heard about “paired programming” during my time as a technical recruiter in Toronto and I thought it was a great idea! I’ve applied that approach in my current computer science degree and it has been very rewarding. Whether coding for a school project or a personal one, doing it with friends makes it a lot more fun and in turn, makes it easier to learn new programming topics! (Given that you and your friend are both at about the same skill level with that particular programming language/ technology you are using).
Having a “learn-and-hang” (if this term becomes popular, I coined it!) session with a friend or a family member. I enjoy spending time with my brother. We often have interesting conversations. Due to Covid-19 lock downs, we knew we’d be spending a lot of time together since we’re both doing online learning and spending majority of our time at home. We decided to do a weekly 1–2 hour learning session on any topic we find interesting. We would take turns choosing a topic and then both read and discuss it during the session. We’ve learned some interesting and useful things during these sessions!
Changing how I approach learning has led to some very rewarding experiences and I encourage you to try this!
