Want to be better at Leetcode. Does this apply?
How to Learn Stuff Quickly
61–65 of 65 posts
Re: How to Learn Stuff Quickly
#62I must say it's worth mentioning that as you build up a library of knowledge and experience in your mind, learning new things become more transitional than exploratory. Picture spoken languages for example. At first it's daunting and most languages have their quirks but overall after a few you find your marks easily. The effort becomes a memory concern where cheat sheets are how you transition or learn quickly into a…
On the topic of the effort being a memory concern and related to the spaced repitition comment in the article, I've found the app Anki to be great for learning a new programming language. There are pre made flashcard decks for many languages at the community ankiweb.net site or if you're good at scraping you can create your own from the docs pretty easily.
Re: How to Learn Stuff Quickly
#63Focus on the high level abstraction
When learning something new, I’ve found it’s helpful to hear the top experts engaging with one-another about the topic. Not to hear what they think, but to hear how they think, and in particular, the level of abstraction in which they’re working.
Re: How to Learn Stuff Quickly
#64Speed is not usually a problem, at least for me. The real problem is _retention_. That is, specifically, being able to recall what I learned if I stop using it regularly for as little as even a couple of months. If anyone has some _real_ tips on how to improve that, please share.
Don't bother trying to remember details, especially about software: When you next need them, they will likely have changed. Instead, learn how to efficiently look up the current information when you need it.
Actively look for relationships between what you're learning and what you already know: Does the thing you're learning solve a problem that you're familiar with? Is its mechanism similar to something from another field? Does it achieve a similar result in a novel way? etc.
Write down these insights somewhere, and figure out some way to habitually review them. The details of this habit probably don't matter too much, as long as it's something comfortable for you to keep up long-term.
Re: How to Learn Stuff Quickly
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm studying data science at engineer level (so the top level in my country), probabilities, neural nets, tons of maths, I'm 48. > You still can, but it takes much more effort and deliberate protocols to follow. is absolutely true, words for words :-)
>> You still can, but it takes much more effort and deliberate protocols to follow. >is absolutely true, words for words :-) Do you follow a specific protocol or method for learning these days? And compared to when you were learning something when you were younger, do you find it more challenging (even with the protocol)?
My general health is not very good and age has effect. Basically, memorizing is much harder. I need about 3x more time to memorize. Moreover, in the past I could memorize some stuff "by heart" but now it's almost impossible so the consequence is that I have to understand every single bit of information I learn. That needs a lot of work. So I need to work a lot more and plan a lot more than when I was young. Moreover, when I was young I was a top 10% student and without too much work. Things have changed and I had to realize and accept it :-)
Being older has its advantages : when working with young students, I can influence groups to go in the good direction (before I was more of a follower). Also, since I've chosen to study again, I'm 100% clear on what I do. This translates to studying very seriously (I'm not distracted by the web, tv, etc. except HN of course :-) ). The professors have also lost a bit of their charisma, so I don't fear them any more.
The life/studies balance is a bit tough sometimes but fortunately my family is very supportive. This is really important because when the work load is high (say, work 12 hours/per day for several days), the kids, my wife start missing me. I also most often refuses socializing 'cos it takes time and energy. All in all, they show a lot of patience.
The hardest part for me is the stress of the exams. Before I was (over) confident in my ability to succeed, now I'm not at all, so it's stressful. Also, I sit in front of my courses for long hours and it has real effects on my muscles. It's difficult to maintain physical activity when under pressure.
So my protocol is simple : I work 5 days a week, about 10 hours per day. Saturday is off, no matter what. Sunday I work only 7-8 hours. I do my best to be in bed before 11pm; I start working before 9:00. I do my best to have a 40 minutes walk 3-4 times per week. I try not to spend time in front of my computer when not needed (I don't spend hours tuning emacs or Debian any more :-)). I try to read 15-30 min. before sleep. The rest of the time is for family, preparing diner, dishes. So basically, I don't have personal leasure time anymore (but since I like studying, it's not much of a problem).
All in all, it's doable if you can afford to stop working the time needed (2 years in my case). But you need lots of discipline and a supportive family 'cos your brain has definitely aged...