Mark Cuban's advice may be relevant: http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-...
Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
21–30 of 70 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#22I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
I understand what you're saying, but the internet is the most enabling technology in history for learning.. to not use it at all because you might misuse it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and doing yourself a serious disservice.
Avoiding procrastination is about discipline - if it's a problem, address the root cause, don't just chop off the leaves (sorry for the terrible analogy).
Compare it to say, quitting smoking. If you want to quit smoking, do you ban yourself from entering all places that sell cigarettes, and cut off contact with all your friends who smoke? Of course not! If you truly want to quit you ought to be able to go anywhere, do anything, talk to anyone, and still not smoke. It may not be pleasant but being able to do that == being able to truly control the problem.
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#23 I think it's important to pace yourself.
Secondly, I think it's perhaps important for some to be
involved in multi-disciplinary pursuits.
Look around for inspirations.
Celebrate your successes.
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#24Plenty of good advice here.
I would like to add that although motivation is good but its fickle, it might ditch you for days if not weeks, so its better to have discipline when you want to get something done. Like, finishing the project you started couple of months back. Discipline is very hard in the beginning but once you get it, it will be very very helpful and easy to finish/achieve goals.
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#25I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
> I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction.
Maybe- maybe not. For me, it was getting a 'third' place- somewhere that isn't work and isn't home. Work is for work, and home is for play.
There's a nice 24 hour diner (sans wi-fi, so I'm kinda in accord with you here) between me and work where I can have a serving of toast while clacking away on my laptop.
So my M-F schedule is work from 8-5, personal work from 5-7ish, and then home (or bar staggering) from 7 on.
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#26This "Ask HN" might interest you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9823985
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#27I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
I understand what you're saying, but the internet is the most enabling technology in history for learning.. to not use it at all because you might misuse it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and doing yourself a serious disservice. Avoiding procrastination is about discipline - if it's a problem, address the root cause, don't just chop off the leaves (sorry for the terrible analogy). Compare it to say, quit…
This is only my personal take on things. For me, the internet is like water...you can find it anywhere...especially the library. In one hour at the library I can download all the webpages I need onto a usb stick. Generally, I go 4-5 months without having the net at home, 2-3 weeks with having a connection just to update my system and download a bunch of youtube videos ;-)
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#28I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
> I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Maybe- maybe not. For me, it was getting a 'third' place- somewhere that isn't work and isn't home. Work is for work, and home is for play. There's a nice 24 hour diner (sans wi-fi, so I'm kinda in accord with you here) between me and work where I can have a serving of toast while clacking away on my laptop. So my M-F schedule is work from…
Totally agree this is the way to go. Unfortunately, I'm a little too undisciplined and I need to take stricter measures on not having access at home.
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#29I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
I understand what you're saying, but the internet is the most enabling technology in history for learning.. to not use it at all because you might misuse it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and doing yourself a serious disservice. Avoiding procrastination is about discipline - if it's a problem, address the root cause, don't just chop off the leaves (sorry for the terrible analogy). Compare it to say, quit…
>If you want to quit smoking
Just poison your whole pack! But seriously, for those who don't want to deal with fixing their lack of discipline right now, I highly recommend SelfControl and its counterparts on other platforms. Block the procrastination-inducing parts of the internet like reddit and HN, keep all the important parts it's impossible to learn without, like StackOverflow.
(Restrict it for less and less each day, and maybe you'll find yourself weaning yourself off like cigarettes. I haven't made it that far yet.)
Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?
#30I'd say get rid of the Internet at home. That's the number one distraction. Personally, I can't read more than a paragraph online without jumping to another page...so just kill that beast. Here's an example...I have all the documentation I could ever want right on my hard drive, but I might spend a few frustrating hours surfing the web trying to figure out something out instead of looking at what I already have. Some…
I get what you're saying. Think of what I'm going to write as an addition to your comment for the person who asked this, and other interested parties. If you're into a project, you can do it locally on your computer without the Internet, by downloading the required documentation and 'technical prerequisites' needed for a minimum viable model of your project. Be it programming, book writing, video editing, etc. If you're patient enough to control the urge to look up the Internet real quick to skim through the breaking news, watch some viral video, scroll through twitter mentions or even HN discussions, then it's ok to stay connected, else you might want to temoporarily plug out the ethernet cable or disable the internet in a way that'd make it a little hassle for to turn it back on again. This way, you have no excuse for not starting the project and chances are you will begin. (I know the usefulness of the internet, but it's important to do these sort of stuff if you are distracted easily but want to get the job done) :)