Learning how to learn again
July 29, 2018 3:43 PM
Help me learn how to study, practice and actually accomplish new things
My life's been in quite a rut lately. And I want to break out and try new things and learn new skills and so on. But ever since graduating college and working in a mindless data entry job for the past 10 years, I feel like I've lost the ability to learn anything. There are lots of things I'd like try and do, but there seems to be a huge gap between my desire to do them and a seemingly overwhelming confusion on how to actually go about it. I have no clue where to even get started or how to break a problem down into manageable steps to work on getting closer to my goals. How can I start to do this again?
My life's been in quite a rut lately. And I want to break out and try new things and learn new skills and so on. But ever since graduating college and working in a mindless data entry job for the past 10 years, I feel like I've lost the ability to learn anything. There are lots of things I'd like try and do, but there seems to be a huge gap between my desire to do them and a seemingly overwhelming confusion on how to actually go about it. I have no clue where to even get started or how to break a problem down into manageable steps to work on getting closer to my goals. How can I start to do this again?
Learning how to learn is one of Coursera's most popular courses for a reason. It's short, 3 hours or so, but packs a punch. Before deciding to go back to school I worked through all the exercises and took notes, and found it very helpful in getting back into a student mindset.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2018
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2018
Seconding setting a concrete goal with a time limit. You can plan backwards from there.
"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:03 PM on July 29, 2018
"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:03 PM on July 29, 2018
Some of it depends on what kind of stuff you want to accomplish, I think. Put yourself back in that environment as much as possible. Take physical classes, take online classes, join clubs. You have more 'muscle memory' in the brain for learning than you think. As you get back in a learning groove, you'll be able to branch off as you like. Whatever you want to do, there's probably something already pretty 'classroomy' out there.
What I've been doing the last few years has been making lots of 'positive' new year's resolutions. I make lists of goals for body, hobby, mind, etc. So like, this year's 'body' was to try the Couch to 5K running program - which is pretty regimented, and held me to a schedule. I have a cooking list of challenging recipes to try (learning to cook in general started with a 2011 resolution). And last year I did the Popsugar reading challenge to get me reading books again, which had pretty much fallen to the side.
And, this sounds stupid, but I watch a lot of Youtube videos from groups like Buzzfeed where people try stuff. There's tons of 'I did X for a month' or 'we tried weird thing Y!' Most of the time it's not something I'm particularly interested in, but seeing other people do stuff makes me want to go do stuff, and makes me feel like going to do challenging stuff is a normal thing to do.
posted by Caravantea at 5:21 PM on July 29, 2018
What I've been doing the last few years has been making lots of 'positive' new year's resolutions. I make lists of goals for body, hobby, mind, etc. So like, this year's 'body' was to try the Couch to 5K running program - which is pretty regimented, and held me to a schedule. I have a cooking list of challenging recipes to try (learning to cook in general started with a 2011 resolution). And last year I did the Popsugar reading challenge to get me reading books again, which had pretty much fallen to the side.
And, this sounds stupid, but I watch a lot of Youtube videos from groups like Buzzfeed where people try stuff. There's tons of 'I did X for a month' or 'we tried weird thing Y!' Most of the time it's not something I'm particularly interested in, but seeing other people do stuff makes me want to go do stuff, and makes me feel like going to do challenging stuff is a normal thing to do.
posted by Caravantea at 5:21 PM on July 29, 2018
If you enjoy being in school/college, I'd take a class: online, at your local community college, etc. I'm a teacher but I also love being a student. Having a formal setting, deadlines, and what not has helped me get back into learning mode. This doesn't work for everyone but was perfect for me.
posted by smorgasbord at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2018
posted by smorgasbord at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2018
I'm going to suggest the opposite tack from the above posters: set yourself a goal to make a quick, shitty version of whatever it is you're interested in. You'll learn a lot, you won't be fighting the fear of failure / making something imperfect, you'll have a prototype and might discover you'd like something different instead or you actually hate that medium / area and would prefer to do something else or collaborate. Play with it. Do the elementary school craft project version of it. Try things.
Obviously, this works better for some things (drawing) and worse for others (painting the walls in your rental). But it sounds like you're feeling a lot of resistance toward starting hobbies, and doing something fast and inexpensive is a good trick to power through that initial inertia.
posted by momus_window at 6:56 PM on July 29, 2018
Obviously, this works better for some things (drawing) and worse for others (painting the walls in your rental). But it sounds like you're feeling a lot of resistance toward starting hobbies, and doing something fast and inexpensive is a good trick to power through that initial inertia.
posted by momus_window at 6:56 PM on July 29, 2018
Seconding Learning How to Learn - Dr Barbara Oakley is just the most amazing person and I alternate between wanting to adopt, marry or just be cheery best besties with her. An amazing woman who can motivate you despite yourself.
If the "what to learn" is holding you back -- does it really matter if you learn Welsh, macramé or javascript? Resolve today to pick a short course that interests you and start it, right there. Learn to love learning again and you'll be on your way.
posted by humph at 2:36 AM on July 30, 2018
If the "what to learn" is holding you back -- does it really matter if you learn Welsh, macramé or javascript? Resolve today to pick a short course that interests you and start it, right there. Learn to love learning again and you'll be on your way.
posted by humph at 2:36 AM on July 30, 2018
Lately I've gotten a lot of learning in through auto and home repair issues. Tackling them myself requires me to pour a fair amount of effort into learning relatively basic things about the task at hand, and the building that up to being able to deal with the specific problem at issue. And there are lots of resources around, from books to internet forums.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:19 AM on July 30, 2018
posted by craven_morhead at 8:19 AM on July 30, 2018
A tip on self learning (as opposed to classroom): it is far more important to do things than to do them well. If you're having trouble coming up with a coherent plan then get going with an incoherent one.
If you want to learn to paint get some paint, brushes, and a canvas and create some really amateur paintings. Soon you'll want to know how to mix paints to get a particular shade, or how a professional gets perspective right.
If you want to learn woodworking, build a really bad spice rack. Soon you'll want to know how to really square corners and why your stains come out uneven.
Basically doing something, anything, will lead to specific questions. Follow up on them and they will lead you to much larger questions and bigger answers.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:12 AM on July 30, 2018
If you want to learn to paint get some paint, brushes, and a canvas and create some really amateur paintings. Soon you'll want to know how to mix paints to get a particular shade, or how a professional gets perspective right.
If you want to learn woodworking, build a really bad spice rack. Soon you'll want to know how to really square corners and why your stains come out uneven.
Basically doing something, anything, will lead to specific questions. Follow up on them and they will lead you to much larger questions and bigger answers.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:12 AM on July 30, 2018
Oh, and a quick anecdote on how improving skills went for me.
30 years ago I was a pretty poor student who squeaked out of college. I stayed away from any sort of formal studying for 28 years after that, and especially toward the end my cognitive abilities had deteriorated quite a bit. I was lucky to remember a zip code for the time between reading it on the screen to writing it on an envelope.
I decided to rejuvenate myself by studying a part of my field that had blossomed since my time in college. When I was younger I didn't have the discipline to sit down and really study, but it turns out that age has it advantages. Reading helped, but it was flashcards and massive repetition that successfully pounded new information into my brain.
Over a period of months my brain did come back. Eventually I felt like I understood enough of the basics to start college extension courses and I almost felt cheated by how easy they were. It took me a month to realize that people were actually having trouble in the classes. When I went to help them it became clear that I wasn't particularly smart, it was just that they were young and inexperienced. Their interaction with the class was spending the night before cramming and trying to finish the homework. In short, they were me 30 years ago.
So take heart. You can learn to learn, and it's likely to get easier as you go. The brain is a muscle that can be rehabilitated, and the maturity you've gained will let you use it in better ways than you ever did before.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:54 AM on July 30, 2018
30 years ago I was a pretty poor student who squeaked out of college. I stayed away from any sort of formal studying for 28 years after that, and especially toward the end my cognitive abilities had deteriorated quite a bit. I was lucky to remember a zip code for the time between reading it on the screen to writing it on an envelope.
I decided to rejuvenate myself by studying a part of my field that had blossomed since my time in college. When I was younger I didn't have the discipline to sit down and really study, but it turns out that age has it advantages. Reading helped, but it was flashcards and massive repetition that successfully pounded new information into my brain.
Over a period of months my brain did come back. Eventually I felt like I understood enough of the basics to start college extension courses and I almost felt cheated by how easy they were. It took me a month to realize that people were actually having trouble in the classes. When I went to help them it became clear that I wasn't particularly smart, it was just that they were young and inexperienced. Their interaction with the class was spending the night before cramming and trying to finish the homework. In short, they were me 30 years ago.
So take heart. You can learn to learn, and it's likely to get easier as you go. The brain is a muscle that can be rehabilitated, and the maturity you've gained will let you use it in better ways than you ever did before.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:54 AM on July 30, 2018
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posted by stoneandstar at 3:57 PM on July 29, 2018