Learning method for the current times

I like to learn different things. I have tried out many different methods for learning and I have arrived at a method that works really well for me. You can also use my 7 step method and learn new things; try it out and let me know if it works.

1️⃣ Start with a simple online course. Udemy, Pluralsight and, Frontend masters are my go-to places for this. I recommend starting small and simple. A big 100-hour advance course may not be the right place to start. The official documentation is great but these courses truly teach you in baby steps and don't assume any prior experience.

• These courses are anywhere between 4 to 20 hours long
• Most of them can be seen at 2x speed easily

2️⃣ Follow up with an intermediate course. I regularly look at Coursera, Udacity, Safari etc. for more advanced courses. Udemy and Frontend masters also have some gems.

• These courses can be 10 to 40 hours long
• You can skip this step for some things

3️⃣ Build small things based on these courses. Doing/making things is the best way to understand and remember them.

• Don't forget to follow along with the course exercises (coding, drawing etc.)
• This is a good time to look at the official documentation

4️⃣ Read a book (or two) about the subject. Many of us start with books and don't finish the book. I have seen people getting stuck on environment setup, installations etc. Simple courses solve that part for you and books can help you understand nuances.

• Code along and do exercises if you are learning a framework or programming language - Doing is great for understanding

5️⃣ If you learned skill 1 earlier and built thing X; build the same thing X when you learn a nearby skill 2. For example - I have drawn the same reference three apple images using graphite, pen, charcoal, and colored pencils. I built the same calculator app to learn layout and constraints in Android, iOS, and React Native. Doing this allows you to compare what you are learning with what you already know; you also become better at both these things.

6️⃣ Build something new and big that you haven't built before. This is when you expand your understanding and explore advanced options some of the books and courses may have missed out on. I also like this step because it forces you to continuously think about building new things.

7️⃣ Spend time looking at expert's work - Other people's code/paintings, blog posts, research papers, Youtube videos, etc. It's tempting to do this in the beginning but you can appreciate the masters' work much better when you have some foundation in the subject. This is when you are learning best practices that may not be handled by some courses.

In the last few years, I have picked up Golang, Charcoal drawing, iOS development, Android development, balloon modeling, and many other technical and non-technical skills using this method. I am hoping you would benefit from it too.