Self Learning Plans

Hello!

I often do self-learning either at work when workload allows or at home in the evenings/weekends. I was just trying to find new ways to manage all the things I want to learn because I feel like I am lacking some kind of structure. .

I currently use Todoist as a list but it isn’t that useful. I came across a comment on an article where someone uses a Trello board to keep all of their plans/ideas on there.

I’m curious, does anyone else do something like that? Or are you like me and just pick things up as you go along?

TIA

5 Likes

Hey Faith,
I can’t make any recommendations for any programs or ways to structure learning, as what I normally do is look at what I’ll be working on in the next 6-12 Months, then write out a learning plan for how to ensure my knowledge of this is sufficient so that I can perform the task.

As an example, in the next 6-8 months my company is taking on a new contract which will require us to import files at up to 30x the current rate we do now, all using the same endpoint. So the objective I have made is to run Performance tests on this before we begin on-boarding.
For that I need to learn A) What kind of tools are available for this, B) Cost/Benefits of each of those tools, C) How to use those tools, D) Teaching other how to use those tools as part of testing.

So really you could say that I pick things up as I go along :slight_smile:

James

2 Likes

I know @undevelopedbruce is an awesome self learner and believe they use Trello but details should be on the blog

4 Likes

Thank you both :slightly_smiling_face:

@adystokes I am now going to spend the rest of my morning going through that blog, it is really interesting :nerd_face:

1 Like

Hullo!

I’d definitely recommend using Trello because it’s so light, very few steps to make items, move them around etc and you can add as little or as much detail as you like. I tried Notion.io recently, which is a note-taking app we use in my team. You can import boards from other tools like Trello into the app, but tbh it’s a lot heavier in terms of UI and I went back to Trello. If you like adding lots of details to things, being able to link cards to each other or stack them inside of one another then it’s definitely a cool tool to play with though. I’m just a simple creature at heart xD

A few weeks ago, I got a bit fed up with keeping track of my tasks all the time (some lift stuff happened too so my motivation was low) and I stopped using it. I can honestly say that I’ve been a mess at work since haha, so many small tasks that fall through the cracks, things I meant to do but didn’t get around to because I wasn’t holding myself accountable or seeing it written down a lot.

You have reminded me to get back on it! <3

P.S. Remember to be forgiving to yourself if you don’t get as much done as you think you should!

5 Likes

This is the most important comment in this thread

Good luck with getting back on track :smile:

2 Likes

If you haven’t, check out Lisi Hocke’s talk on this kind of thing from TestBash Manchester:

Believe it’s free to view whether you were at the conf or not. She spoke eloquently on taking a disciplined approach to self-development and there were a ton of great tips :slight_smile:

4 Likes

This talk was brilliant and made me realise I was code confident all along! Make time to play games was a great point about keeping a balance in your life when you have these kinds of plans.

Very highly recommend everyone watch this!

2 Likes

Nothing nearly as clever as you guys; I signed into a learning platform (linkedin : formerly Lynda.com) Disclaimer: other and better platforms do exist.; And added a few courses into a wishlist (this material is all at a monthly subscription cost, but it’s motivation to actually use it.)

I also use Lynda.com, but I use a free account I setup through my local library. As far as I have seen, most public libraries seem offer access to Lynda.com when you have a library card.

2 Likes

I currently use Notion for most of my stuff. The functionality is just amazing and the free plan is likely all that you’d need, for a while anyway. You can also make your Notion pages public and share them with others if you want, with the option to allow duplication as a template.

I’m also a big fan of Coda and Airtable. With Coda you can even make your doc function more like an app, which is pretty neat. There’s a bit of a learning curve but it’s not too difficult and there’s plenty of documentation and resources. The Coda community is especially helpful.

If you need inspiration or just want to get a head start, all three have lots of examples and templates you can copy to your account and then customize to fit your needs.

Give them a try when you’re able, if you haven’t already. The hardest part will probably be deciding which one you like best cause they’re all pretty great with virtually unlimited possible use cases lol.



1 Like

I started using Notion and made myself try it for a week… and I love it! Thank you for introducing it to me. It is exactly what I was looking for. :smile:

2 Likes

It’s an interesting idea using Trello. I have a project that I started as a self learning exercise, and I use Trello as a sort of Kanban board for it. I should add the things I don’t know how to do as tickets on there so I can mark them as done when I learn how to do them.

2 Likes