Whether it’s a form of note-taking or regular repetition or the like, what are some self-education techniques and tools you’ve developed to help yourself learn on your own?
It’s always interesting imo to read about how some folks teach themselves different stuff.
dig deep hole, jump in.
i like to surround myself in a project with stuff i do not understand and a defined goal, and learn my way out of the hole into a functional state (product).
learn by doin i spose
Here is a free evidence-based resource for self-esteem.
I used to use this website a lot with my clients when I was a caseworker. I’ve found some of the resources helpful myself. Here is their resource page. Distress Intolerance is a neat one.
Making good goals and evaluating your progress periodically.
There are a lot of resources you can use to get guidance on what constitutes a “good” goal, but the basics are that it should be measurable, have a clearly defined end date or timeline, and it should be attainable but still challenging.
So your goal of “I want to learn Japanese” might become “by November 2024 I want to be able to pass the 3rd level Japanese language proficiency test.”
“I want to run a marathon” might look like “I want to complete the 2024 Chicago marathon in under 5 hours.”
Once you have your goal I find it helps to sort of work it backwards from the finish line. In the Japanese language example you work through the steps it takes to pass the test and set checkpoints along the way. These checkpoints can also be structured as goals: “I need to memorize 15 kanji per month to prepare for the test,” “I need to complete one lesson per month in order to reach the level of proficiency needed,” etc.
And then you evaluate your progress periodically to see if you are moving at the pace you expected. I like to check in about every one to two weeks, but no more than two weeks in between check-ins or I start to lose sight of what happened since last check-in.
If you’re moving faster than you thought, maybe you can adjust your checkpoints or work in additional learning tasks. If you’re moving slower than you’d hoped you can look back on what roadblocks prevented you from progressing and make a plan to deal with future roadblocks, or even adjust your overall goal/expectations if needed.
I am a big fan of the Cornell Note Taking System. It really helped organize my undergrad notes much better than any other system I tried. Also, it is the only system that is Andy Bernard approved!
Don’t buy things from Amazon. Go to your local book store, or direct to the website of the book you want to purchase.
Amazon is a union busting company. They abuse their employees, they underpay them, they’ve taken advantage of communities they have distribution centres in, etc etc etc.
How can you be on the internet and not know the issues behind Amazon as a company…?
