Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#31

Post by NY_hudson » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:03 AM UTC

mkagenius wrote: post #24

Plenty 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.

I think this is true. It is a question of what you are filling up your mind with. If your thoughts are full of what you are working on, then you stay focused. But, when you wander it is hard to regain that discipline. Sometimes it is good to take a detour and focus on things related and try to finish them off first...that can help get you back on track.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#32

Post by chestervonwinch » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:06 AM UTC

ratsimihah wrote: post #15

chestervonwinch wrote: post #12

Recognize that you can't be motivated all the time. Recognize when you are. Then attack! I've never retained anything when I'm trudging through material just to get through it.

Good suggestion. If you just do nothing, there must come a point when you feel so guilty wasting your time that motivation will come naturally. If it doesn't, so be it. What's the point of anything, anyway?

Don't do nothing! Do anything but that!

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#33

Post by hueving » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:48 AM UTC

staunch wrote: post #21

Mark Cuban's advice may be relevant: http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-...

Why do people take advice from him? He had one successful business that seemed to be all lucky timing (selling before the bust). At this point he just gets attention because he has money. He doesn't have any useful skills anymore because he hasn't done anything for years.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#34

Post by wkcamp » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:51 AM UTC

You seemingly answered your own question. That is to stop beating around the bush.

Let me tell you my brief story--I taught myself how to program originally because I was all hyped up from the movies (the black screens, binary numbers, etc) and thought it would be the "cool" thing to do. Well, the hype died--quickly.

I waited and waited for that adrenaline rush/motivational burst to sporadically come into my life. Nothing came of it.

So I was disappointed. To learn you can not just rely on motivation (though it certainly helps), but rather you must rely on your discipline. Teach yourself to follow guidelines, set small goals and gradually increase them. This process will enhance your learning potential exponentially.

Just discipline. That's all it takes. You have to power through that, even if it seems so hard.

On another note, I read Hacker News and read many articles on subjects I want to learn to rejuvenate me if I feel disappointed or, unmotivated. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#35

Post by bojanstef » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:53 AM UTC

Discipline.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#36

Post by sheepmullet » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 4:59 AM UTC

davnicwil wrote: post #22

NY_hudson wrote: post #17

I'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, do you ban yourself from entering all places that sell cigarettes, and cut off contact with all your friends who smoke?"

Yes, actually that's a great way to quit. Find out what triggers you and avoid it. Changing your environment is incredibly beneficial.

"It may not be pleasant but being able to do that == being able to truly control the problem"

Who cares about controlling the problem? It's not a drug addiction where a single relapse can ruin your life. If a simple environment change allows me to spend 2 hours learning each night instead of on hackernews... Well that's a win.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#37

Post by justinzollars » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 5:00 AM UTC

If you have to ask this question you are in trouble.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#38

Post by dtft » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 5:01 AM UTC

NY_hudson wrote: post #17

I'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…

Great advice here. If you can't seem to bring yourself to get rid of Internet, you can use a tool to blacklist websites for a certain period of time. I personally use https://selfcontrolapp.com/

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#39

Post by wutbrodo » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 5:05 AM UTC

rhgraysonii wrote: post #5

For me it has always been having a project to apply it to. In college that was always my problem. All thought/review/quizzing, never 'building a thing'. Figure out WHY you want to learn what you think you want to learn and contemplate until you have something you could build (even if its a 'pointless' toy application or library) and do it. An example: I wanted to learn more about the innards of git. So I built Gkv (…

This is completely OT but just FYI, the "Contributor Covenant" link at the end of your README.md is broken.

Re: Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?

#40

Post by NY_hudson » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 5:07 AM UTC

jeremonda wrote: post #30

NY_hudson wrote: post #17

I'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…

right...that's exactly it...more is not always good. In fact, I've read that the human mind is primed to value new information regardless of whether it is better than what one already has.