I have been “learning” for over 150 days in a row. I started on a whim, but now have a solid habit and it’s clearly a priority during the day for me.
When I started I was annoyed with myself that I would be stressed about making it to the gym, but if I tried to sit down and learn a new skill or new programming language I would always last just a few days. If I was really motived I would last over a week. But now with over 150 days I think I can do a quick reflection on what got me to be consistent.
It’s public. I tied my name to this thing and funnily enough I had an old friend google me (hi Sujin if you are reading this). I was extremely embarrassed but mostly just because I was only 15 days in! Putting it out there so that someone actually might find it makes it just a bit more real. Someone might see if I quit. Maybe vanity can take you places when leveraged correctly.
Instead of focusing on the end goal, or even the content I was learning, I focused on building the habit first. I picked Java because it was advantageous for my current role. I picked hyperskill after ~30 minutes of googling for a lesson plan. With what and how finished, I just started. While I write this I am starting to explore for different things to focus on but tweaking an established process is easier than building a new one.
I also got a bit lucky in that I actually picked a reasonable scale to start with. I didn’t shoot for two hours a day or something obscene where I would have to drop other things in my life to make it happen. At just 45 minutes a day, I am always able to schedule it, or hop on and get it done. If I actually get into the zone, the timer cuts me off. In the beginning there were some very long session, but now 45 minutes feels like it goes by super fast and I find myself leaving TODOs for next time so I don’t forget where I was! In fact, 45 minutes a day was so doable, I even managed to keep up the habit over the holidays.
Right now I am in the midst of increasing the volume and finding I am capable of more. It’s a bit annoying to have 2 sessions in one day, but overall its only because work is unpredictable. When things are a bit slower, its very easy to do a 30 minute session in the morning, then 45 minutes in the evening.
I’ll soon start experimenting with hour long sessions and trying to load the weekend with a bit more time to increase the rate of progress. We will see what happens.
I have tried to learn guitar in the past, maybe I should adopt the same approach?