from Hacker News

Ask HN: Daily Few Hours vs. Few Days/Weeks?

by guhsnamih on 5/12/21, 12:26 AM with 2 comments

Hi HN, I have been sloooooow to pick up new tech skills (ML/KJ/IH) by allocating an hour or two daily for reading books and solving problems. Often that hour gets missed or the interest wanes after a few days. On the other hand I have had occasional successes in moving a routine coding task forward by staying put for a full day or two. But the latter was possible because it was part of my day job. Which (little progress every day vs deep dives for a few days) has worked better for you for picking up expertise in complex subjects orthogonal to your current?

  • by lhorie on 5/12/21, 12:52 AM

    For learning, I prefer deep dives. The little progress every day model only works for me when I have a large list of small things to do that incrementally progress forward.

    For retention, however, I prefer a hybrid model. With some deep dives to actually get a chance to get into the flow with the topic at hand (and then some), but also breaks to digest the information.