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Learning Tips for the Top 8 Learning Challenges

On Friday, I issued the 30-Day Learning Challenge for June, and you responded incredibly: more than 2,600 people have signed up, and the list is still growing!

As a thank you for joining me, I thought I’d write a couple bonus learning articles this month (in addition to what I’m creating for the Sea Change Program) — this one on tips for learning specific things, and another in a week or two from now. Today I’ll look at your top eight most common learning challenges.

Before we dive into specific learning challenges, let’s talk about some general ideas for this challenge:

  1. Set a specific time for your daily learning session. Block off 10-15 minutes (or more if you have it) and set reminders so you don’t forget.
  2. Focus on learning just one thing this month. Yes, I know, you have 10 things on your list. But for now, it’s better to stick with one.
  3. Find some free learning resources on the Internet to start with. No need to go crazy and buy a course or a bunch of books/DVDs yet. There are amazing free learning resources if you look for 5 minutes.
  4. Make yourself retrieve the information you’re studying. Don’t just read or watch videos — actually use it. Quiz yourself. Put it into practice. Do this regularly so you’re forced to retrieve it before you forget.
  5. Don’t be afraid of hard work. The best learning is difficult. If you only do the easy stuff, it won’t be meaningful learning and it won’t last long.

Now let’s dive into specific learning challenges!

Meditation

What a wonderful thing to learn! Here’s what I’d suggest:

  1. Find a really simple meditation technique if you’re just starting out. Simply sitting and counting your breath is a great way to start.
  2. If your mind wanders, try to notice the wandering. Gently return to the breath.
  3. A tip from my teacher, Susan: When you notice your urge to get up from meditation, don’t follow the urge, just sit there. The second time you have the urge to get up, don’t get up. The third time you have the urge, go ahead and get up. This helps you to notice urges and not need to act on them.
  4. Don’t be afraid to really work to concentrate on your breath. A lot of people allow meditation to be a time when they just sit and think quietly, which is fine, but if you really want to learn meditation, practice concentration. Put some effort into it!

Languages

I’m no master of languages, but I’ve attempted some learning and I’ve talked to people who are much better at learning languages than me (Benny and Tynan, for example). Here are a few things I suggest:

  1. Practice every day. If you can get into the habit of practicing for at least 10-15 minutes a day, you’ll get better even if you suck at it at first.
  2. Make yourself use the language. Don’t just listen or read, and don’t just repeat language tapes — actually find ways to use what you’ve learned. Talk to a language partner (you can find ones online), use it throughout the day whenever you get the chance, take online quizzes.
  3. Use the Anki flashcard system. It’s free, there are lots of language flashcard sets available on the Anki site, and its spaced repetition is the best method for learning available. Do your flashcards daily, even if you suck at first. You’ll start learning inevitably.

Programming

I’ve done a bit of learning with programming (dabbled in Python, PHP, Ruby, Javascript, all are good for beginners), and though I’m far from any kind of knowledgeable programmer, I’ve put in my share of beginner learning. And I’ve actually made some (very simple) working scripts and apps!

Some ideas:

  1. If you’re a beginner, start with a resource like Codeacademy. There are actually numerous courses online, all great — just make sure that they’re having you apply the knowledge they’re giving you, not just reading or watching videos. That’s why I like Codeacademy — they make you write actual code right away.
  2. Once you get past this stage (where you learned the basics of the language), you’re going to need to make some working programs. This is the hardest stage by far, because you know the basics of the language but not how to actually make a program work. Find some super simple projects to work on — a little beyond “Hello world” but nothing too hard. Just implement one feature of that project, and get it running. Then another. Force yourself to the knowledge you’ve been exposed to, not just read/watch some more.
  3. Internet searches are your best friend. Stuck on something? The answer is online — just do a search. Stack Overflow is a great place to find the answers to your question — it’s probably already been answered, so search before asking. But don’t be afraid to ask for help.
  4. After you make your first simple program, make something a little harder. One at a time, learn how to create a user database, how to make a login, how to display on a webpage, etc.

If you’re more advanced than this beginner stage, you don’t need my advice!

Drawing/painting

I’ve also dabbled in drawing, though I really suck at it. That doesn’t stop me from making suggestions!

  1. Sketch daily. Bring a pad around and sketch simple things you see.
  2. Watch a free online tutorial each day, and actually practice what you learned in the tutorial.
  3. Work on the basics: how to draw lines, circles, eyes, then faces. Practice the basics every day until your pencil control gets pretty good.
  4. Post your daily sketches online somewhere. You’ll be amazed at how motivated that makes you, and how much progress you’ll see over time.

Musical instruments

OK, I’ve never really learned to play anything, except piano as a kid (not very far). I’ve only dabbled in guitar, but my kids have taught themselves to play, so I’m obviously highly qualified to give out advice:

  1. Again, there are tons of online video tutorials. Watch one, then actually practice it!
  2. Learn three chords to start with: G, C and D. There are a billion songs with just those chords. Once you’ve learned how to do them, find a song that uses these chords and learn to play it! Using the knowledge will help solidify it.
  3. It takes a ton of practice to get even a little competent. That’s OK, keep at it! You’ll find it getting easier over time. When you do, learn a new chord and a new song.
  4. Play for your friends/family. Tell them you suck, so they don’t expect Stevie Ray Vaughan to show up in their living room, but playing for others makes you focus and really try to learn something.

HTML/CSS

I taught myself basic HTMl and CSS, and Zen Habits is a WordPress theme I coded myself. OK, it’s not that advanced, but the basic skills I learned have helped me a ton with my online projects. And it’s not hard to learn!

  1. Again, for absolute beginners, Codeacademy is a great place to start. They walk you through the basics while you actually put what you learn into practice as you learn.
  2. Build a basic site. Find a tutorial, and actually put a site online.
  3. Learn how to use your browser’s developer tools, and look at the HTML/CSS of really simple sites you like. Rip them off.
  4. I started with a free WordPress theme, put up a live site, and just kept making changes to the CSS until I liked the style. Then I learned to change the PHP tags of the theme until it was structured the way I wanted. Then I deleted a bunch of things (backing up my files first) until I had only the most basic things. Many themes these days use advanced PHP functions to make the site work a certain way … I recommend starting with the simplest themes you can, without a lot of custom functions required to make it work, because those are easier to understand.

Sports or martial arts

I don’t know anything about martial arts, and I recommend a teacher for that. But some of the things that apply to sports would apply to martial arts as well, I would think. What do I know about sports? Not a whole lot, though I’ve taught myself to be fairly OK at basketball, and I’ve taken up running, cycling, triathlon, Crossfit, and strength training at various times in the last decade.

Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Find some good online videos with the basic mechanics, even if you already know a bit about the sport. I’ve been watching basketball shooting mechanics videos, and it has shown me some things I’ve been doing wrong.
  2. Take what you learned in the videos and actually practice it. Do some drills. If you can, record a video of yourself practicing so you can watch the video and see where you’re going wrong. If necessary, post the video to an appropriate online forum for your sport, and ask people to tell you what you’re doing wrong.
  3. Play an actual game (or spar, if you’re doing a martial art). Don’t just do drills, but play in an actual game against opponents, even if it’s just a casual pickup game. Playing in a tournament or league is even better — it’ll force you to really practice, and you’ll learn much more. You’ll also find out where you’re weak and then you can work on those areas more.
  4. Be patient. The basics take awhile to master. Having a coach who can not only teach you drills and other techniques, but watch what you’re doing and make suggestions, is always a plus. But you can start out by yourself, trying to get some basic competence at the fundamental skills. That takes a lot of practice, but after awhile, you’ll start to get some muscle memory going, and it’ll be a lot easier. It’s like learning to walk: you’ll be shaky at first, fall down a lot, but eventually you won’t even need to think about it.

Subject like history or math

I’ve studied various subjects that interest me, but I don’t consider myself an expert (I’ve never gotten a PhD, for example). That said, I will make a few suggestions:

  1. Quiz yourself before you study something — yes, you’ll get a lot of things wrong, but it will make your learning even stronger, because when you get to the answers in your study, you’ll recognize them as things you don’t know and make some solid connections with that knowledge.
  2. Quiz yourself regularly. It helps to take a quiz right after your study session, but also a couple days later, and a week after that, etc. This regular habit of forcing yourself to retrieve the knowledge will be difficult, but will interrupt your forgetting and make the learning last longer.
  3. Again, use the Anki flashcard system. It’s free, there are lots of subject-based flashcard sets available on the Anki site, and its spaced repetition is the best method for learning available. Do your flashcards daily, even if you suck at first. You’ll start learning inevitably.
  4. Join a study group. There are lots of other people studying what you’re studying, and surprisingly, they’re online! This will help motivate you, help you when you get stuck, and deepen your learning because you’ll make lots of connections between what you’re learning and the interactions you’re having with people.

OK, there was some repetition in these different areas, but that’s great! It helps with learning, you know.

I’ll give you another article on learning in a week or two. If you haven’t signed up for the Challenge, do it now!

Zen Habits

Leo Babuata
Chapters
Neither Averting Nor Craving in Each Moment How Taking Care of My Finances Changed My Life Tips for Traveling with Kids My Grand Travel Experiment The Parent I Aspire to Be The Best & Less-than-Best Motivations for Learning The Miracle of Suspending Mis-Belief 7 Strategies for Dealing with Toxic People Finding Motivation on Important But Non-Urgent Tasks Learning Tips for the Top 8 Learning Challenges The 30-Day Learning Challenge The Place Where You Are Feeling Determined to Change Practicing Non-Judgment Hold Your Own Feet to the Fire Don’t Waste Your Opportunity How to Beat Procrastination with Daily Training The Time When We’ll Be Present & Content A Simple, Powerful Self-Compassion Method When Others Frustrate You Your Internet Habits Create Your Reality The Case for Replacing Exercise with Play Leave Yourself Wanting More Fail Faster at Habits The Anti-Bucket List Getting Started with the Discipline Habit The Case for Caring About Your Work Questions of Priority The Futility of Always Pushing Myself to Be More Pare Down with the Declutter Habit You’re Not Doing Life Wrong Getting Lost in Just Doing An Addict’s Guide to Overcoming the Distraction Habit The Source of Contentment Savor Discipline: Merge the Interests of Your Future & Present Selves What You Can Say Instead of “I Don’t Feel Like It” The Things That Get in the Way of Doing The Girl Who Saw Through the Illusions A Gradual Approach to Healthy Eating Unconditional Acceptance of Yourself My Typical Day: How I Get People to Think I’m Productive The Contentment Habit The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books In Praise of Limits The Art of Being My Dad 5 Ideas to Create an Amazing 2015 Essential Zen Habits of 2014 Karate Chop Practicing Slowness & Being Present Overwhelmed by All the Changes You Want to Make My 2014 Successes and Failures Finding the Motivation to Change Your Entire Life When You’re Lonely The Brain’s Fast Mode 5 Questions to Simplify Your Life During the Holidays The Zen Habits Holiday Gift Guide The Four Hidden Habit Skills The Power of Delay Overwhelmed & Rushed? Do a Stress Assess Writer as Coder: The Iterative Way to Write a Book Please Support the Zen Habits Book Are You a Lift or Drag Force? When Resistance Smacks You in the Face When Your Plate is Too Full The Quickstart Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit The Zen Habits Book is Almost Done A Quick Guide to Gaining Confidence When You Socialize The Empty Container The Realization A Guide to Changing Self-Destructive Behaviors Pushing Past the Terrifying Dip in Motivation It’s Not Too Late to Change Bad Habits The Smart Way to Stick to Habits My Most Effective Learning Tools What I Do When I Fail How to Put Your Writing in Public The Productive Sprint The Biggest Reasons You Haven’t Changed Your Habits Seized by the Thunderhold of Fear What to Eat for Fat Loss The Heartbreaking Cruelty of Comparing Yourself to Others A Brief Guide to Overcoming Instant Gratification How to Get Motivated After a Vacation 7 Strategies for Facing Your Internet/TV Addiction How to Breathe 7 Discipline-Mastering Practices 7 Rules That Keep My Life Simple An Education in the Majestic Sierra Nevada The Lies Your Mind Tells You to Prevent Life Changes How to Believe in Yourself Don’t Waste a Moment How to Find Your Life Purpose: An Unconventional Approach How to Be Great Making Yourself Work Inhabit the Moment How to Master the Art of Living The Delusional Fantasies We Live With Each Day Living the Simple Life How to Be Prepared for Anything Turn Toward the Problem The End of the Day Philosophy The Painful Beauty of Impermanence How to Change Other People Pursuing Happiness When It’s Already Within You The Quickstart Guide to a Decluttered Home Parental Zen: How to Keep Your Cool as a Parent Looking for Love How to Stop Your Habit Changes From Getting Derailed Why We Have Regret The Essence of Fatherhood: 6 Simple Lessons A Call for Revolt: Advertising is the Anti-Minimalism The Frustratingly Slow Pace of Making Changes My Struggles with Eating Boring Food The No Procrastination Challenge Creating a Lovely Morning A Father’s Manifesto: Raising Young Men Who Respect Women Turn Inspiration Into Action Coming Back From a Setback The Gift A Guide for Young People: What to Do With Your Life No Excuses: Minimalism with Kids How to Make a Marriage Work Love Notes Flavorless: My Month of Food Boringness The Letting Go Ebook, Free The Miracle of the Self-Compassion Habit How I Tackle a Big Writing Project The Habit Action List The Reality of This Moment Confidence in Your Business 10 Ways to Do What You Don’t Want to Do On Making It Through Tough Journeys The Hard Stuff Often Matters Most What to Think About During Exercise You’ll Be OK The Most Important Two Minutes of Your Life A Call for Compassion for the Defenseless The Cure for Your Distraction Syndrome You’re Not Worse Than Other People Being Mindful of Your Stress What if You Didn’t Have to Worry About Yourself? The Universe of a Single Task Simplifying Is Painful Becoming Emotionally Self-Reliant How I Cleaned House & Simplified My Work Life The Busy Person’s Guide to Reducing Stress My Month Without a Smartphone What I’ve Learned as a Writer What the Exercise Habit Did For Me Fear is the Root of Your Problems This Moment 36 Lessons I’ve Learned About Habits The 3 Do-What-You-Love Conundrums How I Conduct My Business Constant Task Switching The Habits of Five Amazing Founders The Incredible Importance of Sleep for Habits & Motivation What Really Motivates Us to Stick to a Project? I Tried to Quit & It’s Too Hard! Unwired: A Month With Limited Internet, & Now No Cell Phone Procrastination is a Mindfulness Problem Letting Go of Judging People Don’t Scratch the Itch Become Happy in the Face of Physical Misery How Repetition Can Kickstart a Habit Zen Productivity When You’re Feeling Self-Doubt & a Lack of Motivation The Child That Holds Us Back Stateless Mindset My Month of (Almost) No Internet 12 Changes for 2014 Essential Zen Habits of 2013 The Fear of Being Alone The Calm Approach Things Every Man Should Own Family Gatherings: The Ultimate Mindfulness Training Ground Letter to an 18-year-old on the Career Path Less Traveled A Method to Find Balance 16 Surprising Lessons from My First 50-Mile Ultramarathon The Simple Fitness Habit Holiday Challenge Struggles with My Morning Internet Fast Surrender, Mindfulness & Entrepreneurship How I Learned to Stop Procrastinating, & Love Letting Go Finding Focus When You Run Out of Ideas The Necessary Art of Subtraction Jealousy & Suffering How Creativity Works, & How to Do It Self-Discipline in 5 Sentences Make It Your Job Developing Selfless Compassion Lyrical Learning, & Why We Learn Habits Wrong A Month Without Sugar Why I Read (+ a Dozen Book Recommendations) 12 Indispensable Mindful Living Tools Burn Down the Farm My Most Minimal Travel Setup Yet The Exquisite Habits of the Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee 3 Little Tricks to Deal With People Who Offend You My Healthiest Travel Routine Yet Startup Founder Megan Casey’s Habits of Priorities My Pursuit of the Art of Living A Month Without TV or Video The Way of No Debt Letting Go: How to Live With the Loss of a Loved One The Way to Be Ramit Sethi’s Entrepreneurial Habits The Time to Shut Down The Pain & Beauty of Life Changes 8 Creativity Lessons from a Pixar Animator Zen Mountain: Leave It All Behind Overcoming the Social Costs of Being Different Finding Quiet and Mindfulness Through Food My Failed Month of ‘No Sitting’ The Thinking Habit That Changed My Life Liking Healthy Foods is a Choice Unschoolery: My New Blog on Unschooling My Advice for Starting a Business Creating Your Habit Environment Travel Lessons with My Family Easier Decision-Making: Conduct Experiments Simplify: Let Go of Your Crutches The Fear of Being Found a Fraud The Flexible Mind Declutter Your Life A Month Without Coffee The Healthful Vegan Diet Living the Quiet Life The Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully Why Fear of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life The Habits of Happiness How to Keep Habits Going During Travel A Year of Living Without The Key Habits of Organization I Failed Vegan Guide to San Francisco The Futility of Comparing Yourself to Others A Secret to Dad Greatness Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything The Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now 6 Steps To Being More Creative How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems Working with the Obstacles in Your Path 9 Rules for a Simpler Day The Little Book of Contentment The Obstacle is the Path 5 Lessons in Contentment from Billionaires Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger Smile in Each Moment A Guide to Practical Compassion 6 Steps To Healing Yourself The 7-Day Vegan Challenge Why You Should Write Daily Achieving Without Goals Flowing with the Stresses of Kids (or anyone else) Habit Mastery: Creating the New Normal Defeat Distraction: Refocusing with Purpose Expanding the Envelope: A Method for Beating Anger A Guide to Practical Contentment The Practice of Work Mind & Vacation Mind, Simultaneously How to Eat Real Food Without Spending Hours in the Kitchen Quitting Your Habits The 38 Best Methods of Successful Exercisers How To Make It Impossible To Fail The Not Knowing Path of Being an Entrepreneur How to Change Your Life: A User’s Guide Getting Your Family On Board with Life Changes How to Stick to a Habit When Life Falls Apart Zen Mind in the Middle of Chaos & Stress Create a Sacred Space in Your Heart Meditation: The Most Fundamental Habit Creating the Genuine Connections We Long For Tremors of Psychitude: One Little Trick to Find Purpose and Motivation Create the Habits of Being Lean, in 7 Years Walled-in: Life Without Facebook The 7 Habits of Calmness The Four Habits that Form Habits Advice to My Kids My 10 Essential Email Habits The Daily Checklist Sticking to a Habit: The Definitive Guide The Meditation Diet: How I Lost 60+ lbs. by Savoring The Power of Habit Investments Discomfort Zone: How to Master the Universe The Most Successful Techniques for Rising Early Do Less: A Short Guide How to Savor Life What We Lack in a Hyperconnected World Simplify the Internet 12 Rules to Live By The New Rules of Fitness for 2013 52 Changes for 2013 The Unprocrastination Month, and the Relaunch of the Sea Change Program Essential Zen Habits of 2012 The Other Person is Never the Problem The Do Plan, or Why We Know But Don’t Do 28 Brilliant Tips for Living Life The Clutter-free Holiday Guide The Little Trick to Make Any Moment Better Tim Ferriss vs. Leo Babauta Showdown: On Whether Goals Suck The Work You Love is Waiting For You The 7-Step Method to Find Focus for Writing The Buy-Nothing Holiday Survival Guide Challenge: Buy Nothing Until 2013 How to Learn Anything Shaken By Life’s Beauty, Shaken Untrack: Letting Go of the Stress of Measuring 15 Great Excuses Not to Form the Fitness Habit How to Make Health Insurance a Bad Bet Why the Fitness Habit is More Important Than the Plan The Willingness to Think Differently Create a Superhealth Community A Vegan Tour of NYC