Final Note

I believe that anything can be built on strong foundations and learning is one of them. But, those foundations must be formed somehow. For most of my life I have felt that I had only been a passive participant in the process of education. The missing puzzle up until taking this course has been - how to learn. 

What is it that I should know about learning, so I can learn more efficiently and consequently contribute more? How does one build knowledge? Are there strategies to effectively tackle something completely new to me? These are just some of the questions I was hoping to get answers for.

Fast forward only three weeks and things have changed completely.  This course has filled a huge gap. It had given sufficient answers to the questions I’ve asked myself for a big part of my adult life. It had given me the tools I needed to both learn better and feel better about the process and my own progress. It had reaffirmed the desire to keep learning about how mind and brain work. Now I enjoy putting what I've learnt to practice. I can spread the message that you can learn how to learn.

From now on, the possibilities truly are endless.

Loving My Brain

Some of my notes

I could not imagine better preparation for the job interview than "Learning How to Learn" course which has armed me with deeper understanding of how my brain works, and how I can both utilise it and take the best possible care of it.

Here are some learnings from the course that brought instant wins.

Sleep 

Knowing that during sleep my brain is capable to clean itself from the toxins accumulated during the day, while at the same time enhancing my learning by figuring out things I’ve learnt is fascinating. 

Ever since the beginning of the curse, I have made every effort to have more regular sleeping pattern. I sleep much better and so much more than at the beginning of this course, which has been crucial for the preparations for the job interview. 

Modes of thinking 

The brain has two different modes of thinking, focused and diffuse one, and it also needs to switch between the two of them in order to fully grasp some new and difficult ideas and concepts. 

This realisation had put an end to my thinking that at the times of intense learning, any periods spent not focusing are wasted. I am now more in tune with the need to switch to diffuse mode of thinking (and back to focused too). My hobbies, taking a walk or even just taking a shower suddenly got “added value”. The brain is processing something all the time.

Learning how to use focused and diffuse thinking modes when writing has been particularly useful for finishing this assignment. 

In short - when writing, it is not a good idea to edit at the same time. This is because critical, focused mode gets in the way of the creative, diffuse one thus interrupting the flow and the two activities should be done separately. 

While writing this blog I used the opportunity to monitor my own progress when I prevent Focused Critic from getting in the way of the Diffuse Creator. It was much better when I was only writing, instead writing and correcting at the same time.

Another win!

To Tests, Job Interviews… and Beyond

Yet another powerful message from the lessons about learning and passing tests can be easily adapted to my situation and the wait for the the job interview.  

It is related to the brain’s fascinating ability to interpret our reality the way we choose to define it - basically, the story you tell yourself about why you are stressed makes all the difference.

In another words,  I can use even stress to work for me, not against me. I’ve mentally reframed my stress about the job interview and instead of thinking “This interview has made me stressed” I now tell myself “This interview has made me INSPIRED to learn more and to surprise myself.”

Chunk-tastic Progress

One of the aspects I’m preparing for the interview is some basic understanding of the technology that the interviewing company works with. 

The best approach to the new-to-me subject was chunking. Again, I was surprised with the new awareness and one instant realisations about my learning style. In the past, I used to learn bottom-up, without having clear idea where some things fit in the big picture. It seemed like a better idea to just start and see how far I could get.

Things are different now. I actually need to spend some time initially just getting as much information about the bigger picture before I can successfully start building chunks from the bottom up. Seemingly obvious, now that I feel elated by the progress due to a small tweak in my approach. In the long run, this gives my confidence for whatever I’ll need to learn at my next job.

How does it work? Once I’m ready, I set the timer to 25 minutes. By focusing my attention, I am trying to gain better understanding of the material, followed by repetition to start creating chunks - compact collections of information bound through meaning or use; "knowledge units”, that are easy to access or use. 

I am also using this opportunity to practice the following methods:

• Recall - recall involves reading the text once followed by the attempt to repeat as much key information as possible. Only then can the text be read again, followed by the new attempt to recall more information than before. Unlike repeated reading of the new material, this approach helps to retain information much better.
• Deliberate practice - once I understand something new, I try to select a difficult topic as the next one to work on. 
• Interleaving - instead of sequential learning of the subject, it is a good idea to skip back and forth between topics or problems. This somewhat chaotic approach builds creativity. The brain can use the new knowledge in a more flexible way.
• Practice and repetition, especially spaced repetition, ensure the new material is firmly ingrained in our brains. 

Given the tight timeline of the events, I cannot spread out what I am learning over many days and although my learnings will not still find their permanent place in my long term memory, at least they will be in the working memory and easily accessible. 

In the case of preparing for the upcoming job interview, my new chunks are formed on the basis of meaning as I still haven’t used the technology in question, but if I get this job I look forward to expanding my library of chunks  in a new and creative ways and pave the way to becoming an expert. 

Chunking is a powerful technique and helps us learn not only one subject, but concepts that are related to completely different subjects - this is called transferring.

Can my son benefit from what I’ve learnt about chunking?

Let me answer through real-life analogy I came up with while watching him playing with his favourite toys - Lego. 

If each Lego brick represents the fact about certain subject, than a collection of those bricks used for building some useful part of a bigger model (e.g. car door, airplane wing) represents a chunk. Once he starts changing or disassembling the original model to create something completely different is like reaching for the existing chunks from the vast library in his brain. The models he builds those chunks into are very creative, which makes him a true Lego Expert.

I look forward to explaining to him the idea behind chunking through Lego.  

Getting on With My Work - With Pomodoro

Process and Pomodoro

Wiser and more knowledgeable about how to tackle the difficulties I’ll undoubtedly come across, I had started the process of preparation. There were times when everything that was ahead of me felt daunting and scary, but I could hear little Barbara whispering to my ear “Focus on the process, not the product”. 

So I marched on.

Of course, there was no way to get through this experience without coming across one of the biggest challenges I face when facing difficult tasks - procrastination.

I am pretty sure if there was a survey, this one would win as everyone’s greatest obstacle leaving the second contender far behind! 

But that’s not what made a true difference to me.

It’s what I learnt at the course about procrastination that it is not my own character flaw. In fact, it is so common and happens so often to so many people that it’s a recognised phenomenon. 

Procrastination is the natural way we react to something unpleasant. Our brain simply does what it’s good at - it deals with the situation it perceives as pain by switching its attention to something pleasant. 

The cure for it is so simple - Pomodoro technique. You have to set the clock to 25 minutes,  remove all distractions and simply start chipping away that troublesome material. Follow by 5 minute break and reward yourself somehow: stretch, browse web, check email, make a cup of nice tea or press fresh juice. Then, get back to work.  

The beauty of the technique is that there can really be no excuses not to try it. And once you try it - it’s there to stay. 

Everyone can focus for 25 minutes on the subject at hand and sometimes it’s that initial step that’s needed to get the wheels in motion. I have been using Pomodoro form the moment it’s been taught and I am thrilled with the results. I go through things much easier and get much more done. 

After learning about procrastination through the lens of habits we develop, I gained better understanding of it and can now think how to avoid: the cues, routines and rewards, but above all the underlying beliefs that led to procrastinating in the first place. In fact, one of the strongest beliefs I had was that “this is too hard” or “this is not my thing”, but now I know better. As Henry Ford said: "Whether you think you can, or you think you cannot -- you are right!"

(image source)

I started applying Pomodoro to other areas of my life, like housework chores and it’s been equally successful  (sshhhh, no one said chores have to be 25 minutes long too.)

As a side bonus, and not insignificant one, my son had already seen me with the timer on the desk and had asked me what it is for. I’m setting a good example and the benefits of the course are already spreading!

Why Journal?

Coursera: Learning How To Learn (image source)

On January 8th Coursera’s “Learning To Learn” course had started. 

On January 9th I had a phone interview with the recruiter who had initially found me via LinkedIn. The job sounds brilliant, the company sounds like a great place to work at and my excitement levels are high.

Almost two weeks later I was still waiting to hear the results of the telephone interview. I continued listening to the course lectures, while reading and getting familiar with a selection of topics I thought might be needed for the next stage of interviewing process, should it happen. I was also in the finishing stages of the preparations for making my Assignment #2 for the course.

Then finally - I got a phone call. I have been invited for another interview. The adrenalin has kicked in too. 

I have been given some guidelines what to prepare for the interview, so I can start planning what to focus my efforts around.

However, I have found myself in a puzzling situation: the interview and the deadline for Assignment #2 practically collide. The job opportunity is such that I can’t afford to take it lightly for many reasons, least of all that this is fantastic opportunity to return to work after a career break due to family reasons. On the other hand, after all the effort that I’ve put in and everything I had learnt on the course --  which has been a life-changing experience -- not completing it would be heart-breaking. 

So, I’ve made the decision to go for both!

This is the journal of how I applied and adapted the learnings, techniques and wisdom from the Coursera course “Learning How To Learn” for my specific needs - preparing for the upcoming job interview. 

Planning

The very first thing I had to do was to plan my time. Using mind mapping I have made a plan for each day and what aspects of the interview I planned to cover on those days. My aim is to eat my frogs first each day. I had tried to space things out a bit, so the new information I accumulate has a bit of time to settle in my brain. I had also included slots for the "Learning How To Learn" course, as Week 4 lectures had not yet been released at a time when I made the plan and I also had to finalise my Assignment #2.

The idea is that I will finish the assignment (somewhat different and simplified to the initially planned one) and that I am as ready as possible for the interview. Additionally, I gave myself one condition - last day before the interview I want to take a day off. No more reading or preparing. This would be the first time ever that will have happened, as I have a history of cramming things to the last day and then feeling frazzled when I should ready for the top performance.

This is the mind map with my planned activities