I came across this tweet posted by Julie Zhuo (Fromer Design VP @ Facebook) last week and found it very inspiring. It sums up different aspects of learning very nicely. Therefore, today I want to reflect some of my thoughts around learning in this post.
The original tweet:
There are only 3 methods to learning: 1) increase your exposure to new knowledge (blogs, books, etc.) 2) improve retention of knowledge (active listening, reflecting, etc. Increase your pace of personal experimentation. Most people focus on 1, but 2 and 3 yield more gains. — Julie Zhuo (@joulee) July 1, 2024
1. Knowledge Exposure
I used to spend so much time picking the best resources to learn from various channels to a certain point that I felt like I wasn't learning anything. The paradox of choice led to fear of missing out on "better knowledge." With the proliferation of GenAI, curating and creating content have become easier than ever. Influencers constantly post new knowledge on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, Medium, SubStack, and countless newsletters. This abundance of information can be overwhelming. To counter this trend, over the past two years, I've developed a few rules of thumb to help reduce my cognitive load when consuming knowledge.
1.1 Long-form > short-form content
Short-form content has its place in learning, primarily for knowledge discovery, which I distinguish from vertical learning. Knowledge discovery involves finding new ideas and perspectives, whereas vertical learning focuses on deepening our understanding of a particular topic. An inspiring tweet, like this one from Andrej Karpathy, can resonate with our existing knowledge and beliefs while sparking new ideas. The pitfall of consuming too much short-form content is that it often blurs the line between education and entertainment, leading us to spend time on content that feels educational but lacks concrete knowledge.
Long-form content offers greater depth and quality of information, facilitating more thorough understanding and retention. It's a simple yet powerful heuristic to assess how much effort or thinking the creator has put into the content. Textbooks, API documentation, research papers, blogs requiring over 20min of reading time, or 60min+ interview-style YouTube videos are preferred over StackOverflow, tweets, LinkedIn posts, or short videos.
Consuming long-form content often demands a "mental workout" and significant patience. This active engagement helps us better assimilate and accommodate new information, while also expanding and modifying our perception of the world.
1.2 Don't be a digital hoarder
There's a difference between learning and digital hoarding. Digital hoarding is the habit of saving articles, videos, and other resources with the intention of revisiting them later but never doing so. This can create a false sense of productivity while preventing actual learning. Instead, be selective and intentional about what you bookmark, and make time to engage with the content meaningfully.
Case Study
This anti-pattern is common in the tech industry, where open-source tools are continuously being created. I've observed that some machine learning and software engineers spend excessive time exploring these endless options instead of focusing on fundamentals like data structures, algorithms, and ML/software system design patterns (creational, structural, online vs. batch prediction, etc.). The key takeaway is this: tools are ephemeral, but fundamentals rarely change. Learn the fundamentals first, then worry about the tools.
1.3 Make learning a daily routine and keep a queue
One of the most useful ways to break the habit of digital hoarding is to consciously allocate time for processing information. I try to allocate at least one hour every day solely focusing on learning new knowledge or processing existing knowledge. By maintaining a queue of content to be processed and setting a hard maximum limit on its length, I ensure that I can commit to finishing processing the current content before moving on to the next piece. This simple routine keeps me accountable and focused.
The Power of Minds
Increasing exposure to new knowledge isn't limited to self learning; it also involves connecting with interesting, brilliant minds in your network and having meaningful, ongoing conversations with them. I've received numerous coffee chat invitations. While most of these were one-time 30-minute exchanges, some evolved into long-term friendships and sometimes even mentorships. I've learned a lot from these interactions, and am grateful for the time and wisdom they shared. Recently, I've been considering hosting a learning circle among friends, inspired by Will Larson, who holds bi-weekly meetings to discuss and share knowledge.
2. Knowledge Retention
The cornerstone of knowledge retention is to actively use the knowledge learned. In educational psychology, this is called active recall, which involves recalling information from memory, and is sometimes known as the testing effect. When combined with spaced repetition, a technique that involves reviewing information at increasing intervals, I'm usually able to internalize knowledge much better.
I find that challenging my understanding and memory of certain topics helps me learn much faster. This process often reveals gaps in my mental model, which I can then address, leading to a more robust understanding of the material.
Another source of inspiration can be the Levels of Processing Theory (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). This theory suggests that the depth at which we process information affects our ability to remember it. By elaborating on what we've learned, we can encode it at a semantic level (deep processing), which is more likely to lead to long-term memory, rather than at a structural or phonemic level (shallow processing), which is easier to forget.
3. Rapid Personal Experimentation
Rapid personal experimentation emphasizes the power of risk-taking and learning from failures. In my opinion, failures provide probably the most valuable feedback we can get because they challenge our old belief and reshape how we think, making them one of the best tools in learning.
Earlier this year, I did a 100-day Stranger Challenge with my friends. By the end of it, I became quite comfortable striking up conversations with total strangers in daily life. Recently, I started attending run clubs, which has also been a fun and enriching experience. These experiments have taught me a lot about stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing new challenges.
This blog is an experimentation itself. I'd like to share my thoughts with a broader audience and learn from different perspectives.
Epilogue
Lastly, I want to acknowledge the sentiment that optimizing learning doesn't work and that productivity tricks ultimately fail without solid motivation. Frankly, I completely agree. There was a time when I became engrossed in productivity hacks and the personal knowledge management craze.
However, in the end, the intrinsic desire to learn outweighs any technique. Simply focus on learning something you enjoy every day.
Life is long, and learning should be a source of joy and enrichment. Enjoy the process.