Self-Education
From HowTo.Lifehack
Teaching yourself a new skill or subject can be both rewarding and tricky. Without the benefit of guided instruction, learning can get stalled if the right information is not available. However, self-education also cuts away unnecessary info so the knowledge you gain can be applied right away.
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[edit] Benefits
Here are some reasons to educate yourself.
[edit] Go at Your Own Pace
Although private instruction may offer you flexibility, most education requires you to conform to a preconceived pace. This can mean going painfully slow in some areas while breezing by subjects you would prefer to spend more time on. Self-education will always be challenging because you set the threshold for what you intent to learn.
[edit] Cheaper
University can't be entirely substituted for self-education, but teaching yourself is way cheaper than going to school. Courses can run thousands of dollars and take hundreds of hours. Teaching yourself usually requires only a fraction of the cost and generally takes less time for a better understanding.
[edit] Practical Knowledge
Instruction often places a lot of emphasis on background knowledge before practical understanding. Business students must learn the basic principles of marketing and finance before tackling projects even closely related to running a company. By educating yourself, you throw yourself right into the field, learning what you need to.
[edit] Fun
Learning is fun. Unfortunately years of public and private schooling have made such a statement appear ridiculous to most people. But when you remove the unnecessary bureaucracy, filter out learning that doesn't fit a practical goal and cut out the distractions of tests and pointless assignments, learning is fun.
There are few things more satisfying that building something you couldn't have built before or understanding something that was previously a mystery. Although self-education can have moments of frustration, the enjoyment you can get from teaching yourself is worth a small sacrifice.
[edit] Mental Sharpness
Always being engaged in a form of self-education will keep your mind sharp. Studies show that new neurons can grow if the mind is sufficiently stimulated and without learning the brain withers. Education shouldn't stop when the classroom ends and you have your diploma. Learning new skills will keep you smart.
[edit] Approaches
There are many different approaches you can take to learning a new subject. Here are a few that have worked well for me:
[edit] Learning Through Projects
A great way to learn a new set of skills is to start a project. Projects that require abilities outside your own force you to learn. Taking on the challenge of writing a book forces you to improve your writing. Designing a website can push you to learn the details of HTML, PHP or MySQL.
Most projects that are beyond common endeavors require an expansion of skill. If no new learning was required, the goal would probably be incredibly boring. Choose projects that sit outside of current knowledge without becoming too difficult.
[edit] Read Books
Reading is a great method to educate yourself. Books condense understandings so you can speed up the time it would take you to learn through trial and error. Books can also give you crucial background knowledge that may be skipped when more practical knowledge is sought. Although it may not be immediately necessary to understand how a pointer works when writing software, it could create problems later if you misuse them.
Reference books are a good idea to get even if you don't read them through. Handbooks on writing, programming, design or whatever subject you are studying can be used to find specific facts when they are needed. I have a book on CSS that I refer to whenever I need the wording of a command or implementation of a design.
Getting books that aren't how-to guides, but have background information is also important. The info they contain isn't usually immediately usable. However, reading dozens of these books over a few years can give you expertise in a field. Background reading also broadens your understanding of a topic so you can come up with new ideas and strategies.
[edit] Problem Solving
"Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking." - Albert Einstein
Reading eventually has its limits. The only way information becomes useful is when it gets organized for practical matters. If you've read hundreds of business books, but can't run a business, that knowledge is wasted. Reading can gather ideas, but only reality can create skill.
Practice and apply what you are learning. I recommend coupling reading with projects because that is a more enjoyable way to practice new skills. Month long projects will involve a fair amount of repetition. Mini-projects which force you to tackle a specific problem can be even more useful.
Here are some good criteria to use when designing a mini-project:
- Short execution time. The amount of time required to complete the project should be minimal. Strip away unnecessary components to focus the project on learning new skills.
- You don't currently know how to do it. Good mini projects require you to use knowledge you've never applied before. Writing a story when you've only written articles or growing a different kind of flower are good examples.
- You have an idea where to start. Don't tackle projects where the knowledge necessary to start might be too far off. Building a robot when you don't know anything about mechanics will probably be too difficult for a mini-project.
