The Secret Of Speedy Learning

Picking up something new is difficult, but that doesn’t mean it has to take forever. Zell liew explains how to fast-track your learning.

The web development world evolves super quickly today. New techniques and frameworks seem to come at you from every corner. One issue that bothers both beginners and experienced web developers is how to keep up with the insane pace.

The solution hinges on two skills: the ability to choose what to learn, and the ability to learn it quickly. In this article I want to focus on the latter, and show you how to speed up the learning process.

PAIN AND CONFUSION

A hard truth we have to accept is that learning anything is difficult – even things that aren’t web- or code related. Think about the time you tried to pick up the guitar or ride a bike. How long did you take? How many times did you fail? Did you give up?

Many people (even myself) forget the path to learning is paved with confusion and pain. We want to believe we’re excellent humans with powerful cognitive skills. So if we fail to learn something quickly (like within a few hours), we give up and decide we’re not talented in this area. Sometimes, we delude ourselves into believing the area we failed at isn’t important at all. Sometimes, we beat ourselves up.

Once you realise that learning is inherently difficult, you can adjust your expectations. Then you can create a game plan that will help you get even further than you can possibly imagine.