3 - learning

• Pomodoro - head down no distractions (focused mode) for 25 mins.
• Brain needs time to put focused mode into long term storage - so actually taking a break and thinking of something else - or nothing - for a while may actually be a good thing. I wonder if mindfulness comes in here?
• Exercise - it's key. And I think maybe listening to those podcasts all the time isn't actually the best idea in the world. Just when does my brain get downtime?
• Need to practice, and need to not look up the solution. That is how you get the content into your long term memory. So the next time I'm trying something, just do it, and then look for a solution if I can't work it out. Easier said than done when a quick SO post will probably solve the issue. Still, one to think about.

Chunks

How the brain groups new material into blobs of cohesive information. You need to relate the new info to other data so that it will all be retained. Just learning isolated facts doesn't mean you will be able to use the info later.

• Focussed Attention
  • no TV, no smartphone, no interruptions. You want as much of your focused working memory to be involved in the task as possible.
• Understanding
  You need to actually understand the material, rather than thinking that discreet pieces of information will magically weave themselves together into a chunk. One effective way, especially when you're learning new stuff, is to test / recall the info after you can have just learned it. That way you will find out whether you really have understood it or not. Close the book and test yourself!
• Practice. Part of this is gaining context. IE the attention & understanding parts get you the chunk (what it is), the practice gives you the bigger picture of when to use the particular chunk.

Procrastination

When you're thinking about doing something you might not enjoy (learning a new hard skill, doing a tricky piece of work, going to the gym, whatever) then your brain activates the pain response. This can then lead to a (learned) response of procrastination - which gets you out of that painful moment. Obviously it's fleeing and not going to really work long term.

Chunks are a sort of energy saver (e.g. once we know how to drive, we don't have to focus on it). In the same way, procrastination as an automatic response can be a very dangerous chunked habit to get into.

Also:

1. Break any problem up into small pieces. Lots of benefits here, helps to structure your thoughts, but the main one is that then the task doesn't seem so daunting
2. Schedule time in, a little bit a day adds up (esp for tasks you don't really want to do)

Habits

1. Cue Every habit starts with a cue. Cues are basically neutral, it's what we do with them that make the difference.
2. Routine. Typical brain response. What you do after the cue has happened. E.G going to Facebook, eating chocolate etc.
3. Reward. Habits form and continue because we get an immediate reward. Procrastination gives immediate sense of wellness as we don't have to think about the thing we don't want to
4. The Belief. Habits have power because of your belief in them. To change a habit you have to change your underlying belief.

Process not Product.

If you focus on the product (e.g. creating some massive feature), then you can get turned off & procrastinate as your brain again has the fear / pain pathways activated. Better to focus on the process, e.g. I'm going to work on this for 25 minutes. Like today when I did a spike on a refactor and ended up basically implementing the functionality required. Still needs tests though ;) You need to push those immediate negative (procrastination anyone?) feelings to one side - get stuck into the process.

Learning Tricks - Visual system

Our brains, for some odd reason, didn't evolve to remember theoretical software techniques, lists of phone numbers etc. They did evolve to remember where the really nice berries that you saw last month were, or how to get home after 2 months scavenging around. Tapping into the visual system is a good hack for trying to remember things.

They gave the example of trying to remember F = ma .. the visual queue was a Flying Mule in the Air. Sure it's mental, but that's the point I guess. Also talked about Spaced Repetition Systems (like anki).

Memory Palace

Finally talked about the Memory Palace, which is an idea I'd come across but haven't practised yet.

1. Get a place you know really well (like your house). This is actually tricky having moved around so often, I guess you want somewhere that will never really change but that you can visualise well..
2. Place the objects / ideas / people you're trying to remember in the memory palace, but make them ridiculous. For example, if you have to remember to get eggs, imagine an huge ostrich egg on a pedestal in the middle of the table.
3. Practice practice practice.

Study Groups

Not really so applicable now that I'm not in uni, but they can be an effective way to keep you on track. They point out that the Focused mode is quite able to skip over glaring errors, whereas the right brain can help to show you the bigger picture and can help spot macro level errors in your thinking. Also points out that when you're totally certain you're right, that can be the most dangerous time. To quote Feynman.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool