Tech Director | Backend, Ops and Technical Communication at North Kingdom | Ex creative coder climbing up (serverless, IAC) and down (operating systems, c) the stack.
Before having kids I would always be coding. Nowadays extremely rarely outside of work hours, either because I'm with the kids or I'm doing something I couldn't do because I was with them.
But since I realised how little time I would have after having my first kid (no one told me before!) I've always looked for ways to be learning / studying / "working" on interesting problems when I'm doing other mindless tasks. I've tried a bunch of things. Started trying to learn subjects that don't need a computer like mathematics (I have no CS background) or economics. Listened to way too many podcasts or watched OCW courses while doing the dishes. All of that would work for a while but eventually led to a vague general knowledge about a bunch of things which I didn't feel was amazingly useful.
These days I'm just using anki to memorize anything interesting either related to work or whatever I'm interested in at the moment. Have been doing that for a year and can say it's worked wonders for my learning appetite.
So I guess I'm never coding, but always computing :)
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Ok I just looked anki up. I am overly excited about the prospect of this. Much better than wasting my time playing Toon Blast. I needed to get rid of that anyway. 🤣
I do have a couple questions for you. Do you have any tips on what you put in your cards? Is there a specific format that you follow to increase your time investment/comprehension?
The reason I ask, I have only ever used "flash cards" for things like vocabulary (I should have done more...) so the idea of using it for other areas of interest is intriguing.
Tech Director | Backend, Ops and Technical Communication at North Kingdom | Ex creative coder climbing up (serverless, IAC) and down (operating systems, c) the stack.
Augmenting Long-term Memory by Michael Nielsen was a life-changing article for me. It is quite lengthy but well worth absorbing. It discusses the key importance of memory and how it's been looked down upon in education, how to use Anki for totally new knowledge as well as disciplines you're more familiar with. It outlines strategies for using Anki most of which I follow almost to the letter. I could (should!) write a full article on how deeply it has changed my habits and beliefs around memory, but it would probably be a shallower version of that article, so do go read that one.
Around the time I discovered that article I also took Coursera's Learning How to Learn and that was also really useful and motivating for lifelong learning. I didn't find it required a huge time commitment and it has paid off immensely too. Really recommended.
Oh this is so good! Your advice is wonderful! I am going to start at the top.
What you said that really stuck with me was how no one prepared you. I sympathize with you. More than I can put into words. My world was turned on its head, granted in a good way, but still upside down. I think that if people really told the truth about having children, no one would do it 🤣. I am not complaining here either, my kids are my world. I just wasn't completely prepared for the new world.
Your passion for learning is extremely motivating. I am grateful that you have shared what has failed for you. I will actively try to avoid the same pitfalls.
That being said, I have never heard of anki. I am going to look that up, but first, do you have any tips that you would not mind sharing?
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, I really appreciate it!
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Before having kids I would always be coding. Nowadays extremely rarely outside of work hours, either because I'm with the kids or I'm doing something I couldn't do because I was with them.
But since I realised how little time I would have after having my first kid (no one told me before!) I've always looked for ways to be learning / studying / "working" on interesting problems when I'm doing other mindless tasks. I've tried a bunch of things. Started trying to learn subjects that don't need a computer like mathematics (I have no CS background) or economics. Listened to way too many podcasts or watched OCW courses while doing the dishes. All of that would work for a while but eventually led to a vague general knowledge about a bunch of things which I didn't feel was amazingly useful.
These days I'm just using anki to memorize anything interesting either related to work or whatever I'm interested in at the moment. Have been doing that for a year and can say it's worked wonders for my learning appetite.
So I guess I'm never coding, but always computing :)
.
Ok I just looked anki up. I am overly excited about the prospect of this. Much better than wasting my time playing Toon Blast. I needed to get rid of that anyway. 🤣
I do have a couple questions for you. Do you have any tips on what you put in your cards? Is there a specific format that you follow to increase your time investment/comprehension?
The reason I ask, I have only ever used "flash cards" for things like vocabulary (I should have done more...) so the idea of using it for other areas of interest is intriguing.
Thanks again!
Oh, do I have a reference for you:
Augmenting Long-term Memory by Michael Nielsen was a life-changing article for me. It is quite lengthy but well worth absorbing. It discusses the key importance of memory and how it's been looked down upon in education, how to use Anki for totally new knowledge as well as disciplines you're more familiar with. It outlines strategies for using Anki most of which I follow almost to the letter. I could (should!) write a full article on how deeply it has changed my habits and beliefs around memory, but it would probably be a shallower version of that article, so do go read that one.
Around the time I discovered that article I also took Coursera's Learning How to Learn and that was also really useful and motivating for lifelong learning. I didn't find it required a huge time commitment and it has paid off immensely too. Really recommended.
I am so thankful that I asked. You delivered on much more than I could have expected.
I will be tearing into that essay today and taking avid notes. Thank you so much!
I will also look into the Coursera course. I stumbled on that a few years back but I never got fully into it. Sounds like I need to take it again.
Thanks again!
Oh this is so good! Your advice is wonderful! I am going to start at the top.
What you said that really stuck with me was how no one prepared you. I sympathize with you. More than I can put into words. My world was turned on its head, granted in a good way, but still upside down. I think that if people really told the truth about having children, no one would do it 🤣. I am not complaining here either, my kids are my world. I just wasn't completely prepared for the new world.
Your passion for learning is extremely motivating. I am grateful that you have shared what has failed for you. I will actively try to avoid the same pitfalls.
That being said, I have never heard of anki. I am going to look that up, but first, do you have any tips that you would not mind sharing?
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, I really appreciate it!