part in a two-part series on learning a long career as a data scientist. The first article talked about why you should be a lifelong reader and how to come up with articles to read.
In this article, I will discuss:
- Many strategies to avoid burnout
- Two learning strategies I use
- The (often overlooked) power of solitude
Let's get into it!
To avoid burnout
As a long-term student, burnout is a big enemy. You can only get benefits for years of study if… learn years. Burn out puts that progress at risk.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. In this section, I will share the things I do to keep myself busy and happy on my learning journey.
Create a fun and inspiring layout
When doing a self-directed study, it's important to put together a motivational framework that works for you. Do some searching and find a fun and inspiring way.
You are reading my motivational structure! I like to read/grasp topics and write articles to share what I learn. It's really fun to look at the readings of my articles and count the dollars they make. It's not about the money – I don't make much – but it's a fun game that encourages me to keep reading and writing.
If writing isn't your thing, there are plenty of other things you can do. I've seen people make YouTube videos, post short comments on LinkedIn or buy themselves a fun prize when they reach a milestone.
No one can tell you what will work for you, you have to figure that out for yourself. But it is important that you find something that makes your studies fun and interesting. If not, you will probably start to feel overwhelmed.
Set up clear stops/checkpoints
It's important to feel like you're making progress in your learning. You need to feel a sense of accomplishment. A good motivational structure will definitely help in this as discussed in the last section. You should also make sure you have good stop/check points. Reading a topic endlessly without an exit plan can lead to frustration and boredom.
Before starting a study topic, set goals for what you want to study. Once you've accomplished your initial goals, you can reassess whether you want to go deeper into that topic or move on to something else. Being intentional will make you feel like you are in control. Having checkpoints will make you feel like you're making progress.
Also, writing articles serve as checkpoints for me. I'm writing an essay on a topic, once I've written it, I can decide if I want to write another essay on the same topic, go deeper, or move on. Writing gives me a good perspective and check points helps me feel like I'm moving forward. As with your motivational structure, you'll need to find a method that works best for you.
Reduce stress – a little lesson is better than none
You are no longer in school. No one will beat you! It is important that you reduce the stress you put on yourself when you study. When you do something, you do it better than most.
You may be busy for a while, and your reading may slow down. That's right — I'm the father of a young child; I learned more before my child was born than I do now. And that's okay! I am still learning and improving.
It may take longer to read the article than you expected. You may need to take a break from studying for health or personal reasons. All of these things are fine, as long as you do something when you can.
Reducing the stress on your studies will help to avoid feelings of stress and guilt. If you feel stressed, you will avoid what gives you stress. If you feel guilty, you will force yourself to study to avoid the guilt for a while, but eventually you will probably feel burnt out and give up.
Being kind to yourself and reducing the stress you put on yourself will pay big dividends by helping you avoid negative feelings about your studies.
You will forget things, accept your death
Forgetting what I've learned is one of the most frustrating things I face as I try to improve myself by continuing to learn. I had to accept my death and accept that I will forget some things. Accepting this has reduced my frustration and disappointment in my studies, which has helped me avoid burnout.
For example, I wrote an article about a simple method used in linear programming about a year ago. I can give you an overview of the main ideas of the algorithm, but I honestly couldn't go into great detail right now. This frustrates me, but I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to keep an encyclopedic knowledge of every topic I read.
I've had to come to terms with the fact that I won't retain everything I read – maybe you should too. I came up with a few thoughts that I review when I'm frustrated:
- 100% efficiency (retaining everything I learn) is never a goal and is impossible
- I will miss many of the things I learn; I always know more about a topic after reading it
- If I take good notes, I can remind myself of a lot of what I forget by reading the explanations in my own words and way of thinking — I will refresh on topics very quickly because I have read them before.
If you are bored, or hate it, move on
One of the best things about being out of school (apart from the course as mentioned in part 1!) is that don't do it you have to learn anything specific. If you read a topic and stop being “helped” at some point, it's okay to just jump into something else. Don't feel bad about it and don't force yourself to “toughen up.” If you don't enjoy it, you will probably start to burn out.
At one point, I was diving deep into splines. I understood them well, but I wanted to understand them to the point where I could write code to manually calculate them in Python. I spent hours trying to find it without success. I started to get frustrated and wasn't enjoying myself. I decided to give it up and move on to something else.
I felt light, relaxed and most importantly, ready to learn something else after I decided to move on. Maybe I'll get back to it one day, maybe not. But not forcing myself to do something I didn't enjoy helped me continue to enjoy studying.
Two learning strategies I use
When I study any subject, I use a combination of two basic study strategies:
- High volume, low maintenance
- Low volume, high maintenance
High volume, low maintenance
In this way, I quickly combine many things. I prioritize material coverage over maintenance. An example of this method is listening to podcasts or audiobooks while cleaning the house or just watching YouTube videos without pausing/taking notes.
I usually use this method in two situations:
- The subject is something I want to be exposed to, but not something I need to master. Topics where a high-level overview is sufficient. Examples of these topics for me are data engineering and software engineering. In some ways they apply to my work and generally help me improve my skills, but most of the value to me can be provided by a high-level overview.
- When I do 'discovery' I learn about my 'discovery channels' (see part 1 for my definition of discovery channels). This method is great for getting quick exposure to a wide range of topics before diving into topics for more in-depth study.
Low volume, high maintenance
Probably more than ninety percent of my study time is spent doing low volume, high retention learning. This method is characterized by a slow flow of content and information capture. I often refer to many books, articles, videos and papers when using this study strategy. I aim to get a deeper understanding of the story.
A low volume, high end approach is best if you've identified something you want to know very well. A few examples of topics that fall into this category for me are the many topics associated with predictive modeling, experimental design and optimization.
The importance of solitude and silence to digest and internalize
When I first started my long career, I made the mistake of spending almost all of my time studying material; reading books and papers, watching tutorials on YouTube, listening to podcasts, etc. It took me a while to realize that my reading was missing the most important part – time away from the books alone to digest and internalize the content.
The goal of your study should be a deeper understanding of what you have learned, not just being able to repeat the information. The best way to do that is to close the books and think about what you have learned. When I use solitude to deepen my understanding, I ask questions, challenge premises and extend the connections of what I have learned to other subjects.
By combining 'traditional' and 'private' learning, you get the best of both worlds. He uses the vast amount of well thought out, well researched and well organized information available to us in our time. again you take the time to internalize it so that the experience is yours.
For me, my 'alone' time is of two types – long again it's short forms. In long forms, I deliberately frame the story and think it through. I often walk or ride the room back and forth (often talking to myself like a crazy person). This gives me more time to organize a large amount of information in my head. I have the time and focus to ask and try to answer deeper questions about the content.
My short form of solitude is usually taking a few minutes to stop my traditional reading and think about what I'm reading. Sometimes it can be a short five minute break from loading. This is a powerful technique because it helps me to internalize things that I have just read before. This helps me slow down and really understand what I'm reading, rather than rushing to read.
Wrapping it up
Being a long-time student, it has been very rewarding and fulfilling for me. I picked up a few tricks and learned a few things along the way as I participated in this series of articles. I hope what I have shared is helpful to you.
Link to part 1: link
