How do you get enough time to learn new things?

Question

How do you catch up with new things and technologies? I mean, I'm really interested in some technology. It has lots of great books, that I need to read to be proficient in it. Not to mention that you only know what you actually worked with, so reading does not give you much, you have to work with this technology. Moreover, there are classical books, that need to be read (like Knuth, Cormen, SICP), that are reallyy fundamental.

So, the question is: where do I get enough time for all this stuff? And if we take into acount that I should learn a new language every year.. My first thought is time travelling. What do you do to have enough time to learn something? Maybe speed reading? Any other ideas?

Answer 1

I've found out that what it takes is simple discipline/will power, and time management skills:

• A few months ago, I've started waking up an hour earlier every morning, to get some reading/learning/coding done before starting off.
• When commuting by train, keep books/laptop handy, and don't just waste your time
• While driving or doing house chores, I listen to podcasts

Really pays off, and makes me feel like I'm wasting less time :)

Answer 2

In the morning from around 4am till 7am, and when possible the whole Saturday. Evenings I am too tired from work, and Sundays I try and do something with the family. I have recently begun to experiment with allocating Friday and Saturday evenings for actual practical work, creating products that implement what I have learned from books.

At the larger scale, I spend the first half of the year learning a new language from a book, and the second half learning the major libraries, and trying to build something.

Also only some books lend themselves well to speed-reading. Most books oriented towards learning technology, you just have to slow down sometimes, and give it time to sink in.

Oh and I listen to podcasts on the way to work, but I find in general listening to podcasts to be comparatively inefficient as a way to learn something.

Answer 3

We can't all work for Google, where they allow 20% free time and I'm sure for most, trying to persuade the person who writes the pay cheques to bring in a system like that would be a tough task.

You can look into your current schedule and see where you're wasting time. For example, on the way to work I would usually listen to music in the car. However, this is wasted time and often now I listen to a Michel Thomas language course instead and attempt to learn German. This example isn't programming related of course, but there ought to be some example of where you're wasting time that could be better spent on learning. Perhaps reading on the train, or simply forcing yourself to make time for your learning.

Answer 4

• Get up an hour earlier, and use lunch times.
• Listen to podcasts to and from work.

Answer 5

It's your own life but when you work you give your time to someone else (habitually).

Working less give you life back.

Other things reading informations (specially fast breaking news or twitter like) get a lot of time. And you learn not so much. The ratio time/learning is bad. I prefer to take the time to read a nice newspaper every 2-3 days and don't look at the news the others days.

But mainly do things you really want to do. You will never fell like you loose your time.

Answer 6

Mostly by attending community events like User Groups (week nights), or going to Developer conferences.

Otherwise, perhaps you could listen to podcasts during lunch times or if you are able to, work on some proof of concepts while you commute (assuming you have a laptop and commute via bus/train).

Personal projects are a great way to invest some time, but it can be tricky to find enough time without giving up on other commitments.