Ask HN: How do you manage self-study?

1. For me it's hard to stay motivated learning a new technical topic if I can't connect it to some plausible future where my life would benefit from the knowledge. If I’m not addressing any pain points then the drive to study just won't be there.

2. Realize that there’s going to be an overwhelming amount of resources and tactics you can use to learn the topic. But they’re all not created equal and some may get you to your desired destination faster than others. This is highly personal; not every method of learning works for everyone (ie: I dislike learning theory through videos and lectures, highly prefering technical books instead).

3. Find a group of people that's at least slightly above your knowledge level in the topic and learn through osmosis. While I was able to pick up the foundations of infosec on my own it wasn’t until I was learning with others, especially while preparing for certification exams, that I got to learn more of the intricacies of the topic. Learn with others that have a similar drive as you.

4. Set weekly goals and dates in the future that you really need to test your knowledge to see if you understand the material. Security certifications, while I was a bit rebelious against at first, served this purpose for me perfectly. I’d set weekly goals to learn material based on a courses' syllabus and every few months there was the ultimate test to show I actually grokked the topic, which huge burst of hedons along with it (if I passed, which has been a 3-exam streak for me so far).

So let's back up. What's your motivation here? Why do you want to know stuff? Is it to excel at your job? Is it to just be a well rounded individual? Is it just because you love learning? Your goals should dictate your focus - figure out what you're trying to do and focus on that. There's only so much making time - optimize for maximizing it with a narrow focus on valuable subjects.

If you want to make more money in your career, focus on things that will do that. If you want to be respected at your job, that's probably a different skillset you need to focus on. Understand what you're after; it's much easier to learn if you have a goal in mind, and it's much easier to set a goal when you know your motivations.

Second, what is this about what you should know? In what context? According to whom? Is your knowledge deficient at work? Do you not know how to act around people you want to be romantic with? Are you making mistakes at work? What external force is determining what you should know? Is it imposter syndrome?

I think getting to the bottom of your motivations and this feeling of not knowing enough or not knowing the right thing might be more beneficial than learning tactics for studying things. If you use good study techniques on the wrong thing, what's the point?

I've found that being able to visualize tasks I want to complete and breaking them into small chunks so that I can see progress is what's been helpful. I use a personal Trello board to keep track of reading/studying and notes. Even if it's watching a series of videos on youtube, having them in a checklist and have a clear place to keep notes has keep me more focused and organized over the past few years.