If you were to learn 1 new thing per day, you would know 365 new things in one year. However, those would be shallow things that you would probably forget.
If you learn 1 new thing per month you would learn 12 new things per year. Those would be longer lasting things and could be beneficial.
If you learn 1 new thing per year you would know 1 new thing per year. That just isn’t enough.
For the sake of argument, learning 12 things per year is the ideal situation and since months are roughly 30 days, that gives you 30 days to learn (maybe even master) one new thing.
Are you up for a 30 day challenge?
So I’m going to take this challenge of learning one new in the next 30 days. I don’t know what I should learn. It could be computer related or not, but it should be something you don’t know much about.
Here are a few of my ideas for things to learn:
Japanese – I have some Japanese podcasts and I really like the language. I’ve learned a very little bit and don’t remember anything from the 10 podcasts I listened to a few months ago. I don’t know how Japanese could be useful to me, I don’t even know any Japanese people, but it’s kinda fun.
PHP – I have 2 PHP books that I started reading last year. I know how to use the include function, and read and understand a little PHP, but that’s about it. I know PHP would be useful in programming websites, but it would take a lot of dedication to learn something this intense. I’m not very well suited to learning on my own without others supporting me at the same time.
AJAX – Honestly I don’t know much about AJAX apart from the fact that it lets you reload a section of a page without having to refresh the entire browser. It is also very trendy and “Web 2.0ish”. I don’t know if my technical skills are up to snuff to learn something that combines an existing language (Javascript) that I know nothing about and XML which I know very little about.
CSS – I pay a developer to turn my .PSD files into CSS. It is pretty costly when I know this is something I could do myself. I’ve never had the desire, or taken the time to learn much CSS. This one would actually be beneficial to me.
Nothing – Then I could focus on my previous goal of working on one thing per month. Geez, it didn’t take me long to give up on one goal to go after another.
So what other things could I possibly learn? What about you? Interested in attempting to learn something for 30 days and compare notes?
Go for the CSS – The learning curve isn’t big at all – and it’s a skill you can be proud of showing off (once you get good at it).
Get “Topstyle Lite” http://www.bradsoft.com/topstyle/tslite/index.asp – to help you with the CSS (it’s got a nice preview and code completion – very handy initially.
Honestly, CSS is simple – in 30 days, your hate for IE not supporting standards will grow, and multiply exponentially.
Hey Brandon,
I like the new design and I’m happy to see we still have the same haircut. =) I am all about learning new things. Last year at this time I decided to learn Russian. I bought some listen and learn CDs, but I didn’t get much past “yes,” “no” and “Yes, I am American” before I realized it would be much easier to learn the language by immersion.
Suggestions for you to learn: PHP and CSS are great ideas. If you don’t know Photoshop then that’s always a great tool to know. Outside of tech, you could try some sort of visual art medium like pastels or watercolors. You could learn a musical instrument, build an article directory or… there’s so much!
Have fun!
Sara
Great idea! I actually have been learning Ruby on Rails myself, and I have to admit, it is a fascinating framework, but it does take some concentration and a little in depth study. I have yet to hit that “Aha!” moment of gestalt when it all becomes crystal clear.