My study plan has been going… oddly. Learning Vim has not been the easiest for me. But it’s teaching me a lot of things about myself.
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One key takeaway from this experience is that deep motivation is essential to accomplish or learn something effectively.
- Despite my desire to learn Vim, I find myself still satisfied with just sticking to my old ways (VSCode keyboard shortcuts and using the cursor)
- Realizing that made me realize that it’s somewhat similar to several things that I’m also facing in my personal life.
- I recognize changes I’d like to make but lack the motivation to act on them. I’m motivated enough to know it’s something I want to change/fix but I’m not motivated enough to actually take action on it
- In some ways, this is a good thing because it allows me to prioritize and focus on more important things.
- This shows the importance of spending some time to prioritize and plan, so that we don’t fall prey to our bias towards short term rewards (writing code fast enough now) rather than long term one’s (becoming a more ergonomic and faster code writer)
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This is why I believe it’s important to have recurring reflection sessions. These would help clarify what really matters in both the short and long term.
- This is what I try to do during these weekly reflections for this course.
Study strategies implemented
- I bought a sunlight simulator lamp to help me wake up more peacefully in the morning by simulating a sunrise inside my room. This is especially beneficial during the short winter days.
- The same can be said for the night where 3 hours before I sleep I turn off the white lights of my room and turn on the lamp which simulates a sunset
- I’ve noticed that these days I’ve been feeling less grumpy when I wake up. As a result, I’m able to focus better during the mornings, which helps start my day with some momentum carrying me forward
- In the progress of implementing a reward system where when I learn a new Vim command and use it effectively, I give myself a small bite of chocolate. If my face is filled with pimples on Monday, now you know why :)
- Will provide an update on that during my presentation on Monday
Future plans
- I like to believe that everything is like a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. With effort, I can train my habits to work for me rather than against me. Changing habits is difficult, but I’m committed to trying. I’ve read Atomic Habits, but I haven’t applied its lessons to this study plan yet. That’s something I aim to start doing now.
- In hindsight, I should have reassessed and replanned my study plan before reading week where I spent a whole week camping with no service. I initially thought a study plan for learning Vim wasn’t necessary, but I now realize how much it could have helped.