Skill-Building

- I've been using Python heavily since 2009, I helped organize events with my local Python meetup shortly after that, and I eventually got involved with the global Python community. - I served as a directory on the board of the Python Software Foundation, I helped start the PSF's Code of Conduct workgroup, and I recently became a PSF fellow. - Since 2015, I've focused primarily on helping Python users level-up their skills - I teach to teams through group training sessions and I run a Python skill-building platform called Python Morsels - I also blog, record screencasts, and speak and teach at Python conferences - So I really like to nerd out about learning because it helps me help others - But I also like to nerding out about habit formation and productivity - Habits and productivity are important for my students but they're also really important for *me* in my life and my business - So this workshop is all about bringing these 3 ideas together (learning, habits, and productivity) to help us more effectively reach our learning goals

Why are you here?

Today's Agenda

Discuss Learning
Discuss Goal-setting
Discuss Forming a routine
Brainstorm Your goals
Brainstorm Your accountability
Announce Something fun

- Today we're going to discuss: - **(click)** effective learning - **(click)** and effective goal-setting - **(click)** and forming an effective routine - And then we'll workshop: - **(click)** your learning goals - **(click)** and figure out accountability tactics that could help you reach those goals - Then we'll close by **(click)** talking about something new that could help you reach your goals, especially if they're Python-related goals - And a quick note, I won't be actively reading the chat while I'm presenting so if you have a question please write it in the Q&A widget and I'll address it during one of the Q&A sessions - But I *will* check the chat when we take a break for questions - Let's get started...

Effective Learning

Read

Retrieval practice

re-reading

self-quizzing

The Testing Effect

- I remember in school that I used to study for tests by re-reading the book **(click)** - I didn't know at the time, that re-reading is *not* usually very effective **(click)** - It's usually much more effective to quiz yourself **(click)** - We don't learn by putting information *into* our heads but by trying to retrieve information *from* our heads - We often overvalue books and videos and we undervalue all forms of quizzing, including writing code - So it's important to rely heavily on *retrieval practice* **(click)** when learning - And yes, that means testing yourself - Taking a test on a topic helps us *learn* that topic... which is kind of weird. This phenomenon is called "the testing effect" **(click)** - In schools, tests are usually used a form of assessment... but trying to retrieve information from our heads actually makes the information *stick* - That means that while tests *can* be used for assessment, they're also effective tools for learning - So when learning, try to focus less on putting information into your head and **(click)** more on trying to *retrieve* information from your head

Retrieval practice

Quizzing: flash cards, quiz questions, mental quizzing, etc.
Elaboration: explaining a concept
“Doing”: for example writing code

- That could be through: - **(click)** Quizzing yourself: with flash cards, assessment-style testing, or just trying to remember and answer questions in your head - **(click)** Elaboration: meaning explaining an idea to someone else or even to yourself, ideally by making analogies and connections to completely unrelated topics - You could write a blog post, explain an idea out loud to a friend, or write an explanation in a diary - And of course, *doing* **(click)**... when it comes to programming that often means writing code, debugging code, reading code to make sense of it, and anything else that requires your brain to apply information related to your new skill - For those of you who get my weekly Python tips, I talked about this in yesterday's Python tip email: re-reading and re-watching makes us *feel* like we know material well, but that's an illusion - And recall, unfortunately, often *feels* much less effective than re-reading and re-watching, but our intuition about studying versus recall is the exact opposite of the reality - So when learning, we should **focus heavily on information retrieval** - This is *the most important learning tip* that I have for you, but it's not the only one...

Deliberate practice

Performance is not practice.

Don't neglect études and finger exercises.

Goal-oriented, focused, feedback-driven practice.

- When you're trying to improve your programming abilities, you'll hopefully focus on writing code - But writing code for the *sake* of learning is *different* from writing code for *productivity's* sake - In other words, performing a skill **(click)** is different from practicing a skill - Your *goal* is to improve your performance, but performance often involves quite a bit of automatic behavior - You don't have those automatic skills yet, which means you need to spend effort focusing on *deliberate practice* **(click)** - When learning a musical instrument, a favorite song can be helpful but sometimes **(click)** it's helpful to focus on practicing one specific element of a skill by using études and finger exercises - So don't neglect deliberate practice: that means **(click)** feedback-driven practice with a goal in mind and that goal is *not* productivity because productive coding time is different from coding time for the sake of learning

Interleaving

Blocked practice: good at first

Interleaved practice: the ultimate goal

“Spoiler-free” practice

🧰 🔨🔧🪛

- But... while it is sometimes useful to pigeon hole on repeatedly practicing just one skill, that style of practice can only get you so far - If you're struggling to understand `for` loops in Python, spending a half hour repeatedly writing `for` loops can help you understand the syntax of a `for` loop but it won't help you understand *when* to actually use one - Spending time focusing on one narrow ability is called "blocked practice" **(click)** - And it's useful at first, but it's important to eventually use **(click)** interleaved practice - Interleaving **(click)** involves spending a practice session bouncing between different topics instead of dedicating a study session to just *one* topic - Ideally, interleaving involves what I call "spoiler-free" practice **(click)**: that means practicing without being told which tool to reach for - Understanding *how* to use each tool in your toolbox is helpful, **(click)** but it's also important to be able to reach for the right tool at the right time - Keep in mind that interleaved practice often *feels* less effective than blocked practice because it makes our brains work in a different way - It's unfortunate, but our intuition often fails us when it comes to what kinds of learning are the most effective

Spaced repetition

Spacing learning over many days

...allows for forgetting and remembering

💊 Like Vitamin C, not B12

- *How* you practice is just as important as *how often* you practice - It's often tempting to buy a course on a new skill and then try to devote 1 weekend to working through the course - Unfortunately our brains aren't designed to learn this way - Our brains learn **(click)** by *spacing out* our learning over time - **(click)** Short *daily* study sessions are often more effective than longer *weekly* study sessions - Why? - Well, **(click)** our brains actually need time to *forget* information before we practice it again - As an analogy, think of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C - Our bodies can store **(click)** B12 for months, so we can actually take one large dose of B12 every once in a while and be perfectly fine - But **(click)** Vitamin C *isn't* like that... our bodies can only absorb a small quantity of Vitamin C at a time - So we can "stock up" in B12 but we need to space out Vitamin C consumption over time - **(click)** Just like Vitamin C, effective learning involves revisiting concepts repeatedly over time - So don't try to *batch* your learning... instead, space it out over time

Effective Learning

Spaced out over many days
Mixes related topics
Includes spoiler-free practice
Focuses on doing, quizzing, and explaining
Daily short practice: 20 minutes to 2 hours

Questions on learning

Goal setting

- When you're learning in school, you learn from a curriculum and there's a teacher who sets that curriculum - When you're working on improving your abilities outside of school, you're on your own - There *is* a big downside to being on your own: it's up to you to decide what to do next and to hold yourself accountable - But there's *also* a big upside: you can choose to focus your learning on what *interests* you and what's *useful* to you... if something isn't very useful for you, you don't need to focus on it - In life, there's no final exam. You can make your learning time much more efficient and much more useful when you're directing your learning yourself. - Upsides and downsides aside, setting your own goals is a fact of life - How can we make our learning goals useful ones and how can we make sure that we meet our goals?

Planning a goal

Longer-term goal (6+ months)
Mid-term goal (1-6 months)
Tactic toward our goal (less than one day)

- Our brains have a really hard time working toward big goals - Big goals require more work than we can hold in our heads - So I recommend setting a relatively concrete *mid-term goal*, **(click)** usually anchored to a longer term goal **(click)** - But that mid-term goal needs to be broken down into small and specific tactics **(click)** that can be started and finished within the same day - The tactics may not be definitively everything required for the goal... - But ideally, accomplishing all of the tactics for your goal should very likely *also* accomplish the goal - In a way, **(click)** planning out a goal is similar to planning out a programming project: break down bigger chunks into smaller chunks and smaller chunks into even smaller chunks until the chunks are small enough to feel manageable

Beware of distractions

🐟 Red herrings: the “wrong” plan
✨ Shiny objects: distract us from our plan

- It's one thing to make a plan, it's another thing to **(click)** stick to the plan - There are two different types of distractions that can result in poor outcomes... - red herrings and shiny objects - **(click)** Red herrings are goals or tactics toward a goal that seem more important than they are and may simply be a complete distraction in the grand scheme of things - Red herrings are plans that may feel like the right thing, but they might not be very productive - **(click)** Shiny objects are tasks that might distract you from the tactics you've set out to accomplish - Red herrings result in you setting the wrong course for yourself **(click)** - Shiny objects take you off the course you set **(click)** - For example, you might get distracted by deciding you should spend a day switching all your projects to use uv or you might decide that you should really learn vim... - Any task that risks taking off the plan you've laid out is a shiny object - Shiny objects are not all bad, but you don't have time for many of them - So keep in mind, both planning-based distractions (red herrings) *and* distractions from the plan (shiny objects)

Questions on planning

Goal-setting activities

trey.io/goal-setting

Consider 6 or more mid-term goals

More than 1 month but less than 6 months to accomplish

Optionally: consider a long-term goal and likely sub-goals

Say “NO”

or “not right now”

Pick a “YES” goal

Break it down

... even more

Sharing time

Question time

Forming a routine

Finding the time

168 hours each week

Only 38 hours after sleep, work, and chores

Intentionality

Block time in your calendar

Your Ideal Week

trey.io/ideal-week

Your Ideal Week

Meetings: for both recurring meetings and one-off meetings
Buffer: set aside for unplanned activities that arise each day
Relations: time for family, friends, and other social events
Recharge: no commitments; only rest or hobbies allowed
Growth: time deliberately set aside to work on your goal

- In your ideal weekly schedule, set aside... - **(click)** Time for meetings: both recurring ones and the time that you usually prefer to schedule one-off meetings - **(click)** Buffer time: which is time that's set aside for deliberately unplanned activities - You're welcome to get more specific here for chores or work buffer time - **(click)** Relationship time: which is the time you'll deliberately spend with your family, your friends, and on social events - **(click)** Recharge time: which is time that's completely free of commitments: this is time to rest and recharge so no work or obligations are allowed during recharge time - You're welcome to get more specific here too: sleep, reading, playing video games, watching TV, etc. - **(click)** And lastly, growth time: this is the time you'll be setting aside to work on your skill-building goal - For growth time, try to set aside at least one 30 minute block of time each weekday

Consider Context

Time

Location

Environment

Energy

- While considering *when* you should schedule your growth time, consider the context of that time: - **(click)** What time of day is it and what days of the week - **(click)** Where will you be sitting or standing during that time - **(click)** What will your surroundings be like? - If you have a sit-stand desk, will you be standing or sitting? - Will you be drinking tea? - If there's a window nearby, will you open it or close it? - Will it be quiet, noisy, prone to interruptions? - And what else might your environment be like? - **(click)** How will you align your energy level with the tasks you'll be working on? - What will your energy level need to be for these tasks and when do you have that energy during the day? - How will you stay focused? - If you're concerned about interruptions, will you have a sign on your door or on your desk? - Will you mark yourself away on Slack or turn on do-not-disturb on your phone? - Will you use pomodoros, working every 25 minutes and taking a break every 5 minutes?

Ask for Support

It's already hard. Going at it alone will make it even harder.

Your Ideal Week

trey.io/ideal-week

Meetings, Buffer, Relations, Recharge, Growth

Sharing time!

Insights? Questions?

Accountability

FocusMate.com, etc.

- I hope that over the next few months, you'll take what you planned today and put it into practice. - You'll set aside time for daily practice and you'll find ways to keep yourself accountable **(click)** to your new learning routine. - Hopefully you'll rely on coworkers or friends to hold you accountable week-to-week and possibly use a service **(click)** like FocusMate to help keep you on task minute-to-minute. - But, I do want to acknowledge that holding yourself accountable is not trivial. - Holding *myself* accountable is a constant struggle... I am continually fighting the temptation to set red herring goals and to work on shiny object tasks - If you also struggle with will-power and you'd like help keeping yourself accountable, I have a new program that you *may* want to consider joining

Python Supercharge

- I'm calling this program Python Supercharge **(click)** - It's for Python users who are working on improving their skills, though not necessarily their *Python* skills - This is for Python users of any skill level who are working on any sort of improvement, though ideally Python-related improvement - Some folks will be focusing on learning the basics of Python, some folks will be learning a web framework, and some folks will be focusing on writing more idiomatic Python code - There may even be some folks learning Rust, learning statistics, or working on developing a regular writing habit... but all of us are interested in Python programming - Regardless of what you're learning, these goal-planning activities that we've just done should be very helpful in setting you up for success in Python Supercharge... - So if you didn't finish your goal-setting or your task breakdown, try to work through that before Supercharge starts. - It *is* okay to join without a solid goal in-place, but the more thinking you can do beforehand, the better - Speaking of timing...

Skill-Building

Why are you here?

Today's Agenda

Effective Learning

Read

Retrieval practice

The Testing Effect

Retrieval practice

Deliberate practice

Interleaving

Spaced repetition

Effective Learning

Questions on learning

Goal setting

Planning a goal

Beware of distractions

Questions on planning

Goal-setting activities

trey.io/goal-setting

Consider 6 or more mid-term goals

Say “NO”

or “not right now”

Pick a “YES” goal

Break it down

Break it down

... even more

Sharing time

Question time

Forming a routine

Finding the time

168 hours each week

Only 38 hours after sleep, work, and chores

Intentionality

Block time in your calendar

Your Ideal Week

trey.io/ideal-week

Your Ideal Week

Consider Context

Time

Location

Environment

Energy

Ask for Support

Your Ideal Week

trey.io/ideal-week

Sharing time!

Insights? Questions?

Accountability

FocusMate.com, etc.

Python Supercharge

March 3rd — June 1st

Monday Async Standup

Friday Feelings

Office Hours

Text Chat

Option for Private Coaching

Registration closes February 14

Visit pym.dev/supercharge

to sign up for Python Supercharge 🚀

Questions?