Ask HN: How do you learn and research every day?

I'm working my way through Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. I can't say I've digested it well enough to recommend it, but a key point that stuck with me is to get into the habit of making a note of things you encounter day-to-day (including while reading and researching), and using the "PARA" method to file them into projects, resources, areas, or the Gmail-like "archive." Projects are things you're actively working on -- 2023 taxes, planning a night out for your anniversary, reaching a level of proficiency with LLMs, etc. Resources are a little longer-lived than projects; they're subjects you find interesting that don't have a clear start or finish the way a project does, like a bash cheatsheet, or a gardening hobby. Finally, an area is something that never goes away, like personal finances or family paperwork.

These groups have helped me organize my "lifestream" a lot better. Rather than torturing myself about deciding the perfect place for everything I learn, PARA helps me understand that organization is more of a lifecycle with stages over time. Something might go into a project folder today, but when that project is complete (or abandoned), its parts can go into reusable resources, mini-brain areas, or the archive. That fluidity has made filing of information a lot easier.

This isn't a full answer to your whole question. But knowing how to deal with the influx of daily information, and developing more of an opinion what a research session's work product should look like, is a piece of the puzzle.

*https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/

michael_michael · 2 years ago

GTD, BASB, bullet journals, org-mode, todoist…

What do we do? There are infinite methods, tools, apps, and only so many hours in a day. Do you just keep trying tools/methodologies till one clicks with you?

harshhpareek · 2 years ago

Fell into that trap before. You recognize that no note taking system is perfect, so you just pick one that doesn’t get in your way. After shuttling between a bunch, I was most productive just using Apple notes for a long time. I use Obsidian now. Feels good and doesn’t lock me in.

Eudaimion · 2 years ago

OOP, Multi-Service Architecture, Technical Documentation, Vim, Github

What do we do? There are infinite methods, tools, apps, and only so many hours in a day. Do you just keep trying tools/methodologies till one clicks with you?

It's the same in the productivity world as it is in the programming one. Problems never have a perfect solution and you have limited resources and different bottlenecks. People come up with different things, that work for them, that might not work for others.

You can find interesting things if you overlap Software and Personal Behavior resources

Personal resources: time, energy, friction, memory, agency Software resources: time, computation complexity, memory, business logic

vonjuice · 2 years ago

I spent a long time searching, and then trying to invent my own "perfect" system. Where to archive done items, how to organize item priorities, what date format to use, etc.

I saw the system as this external thing that if I could get it just right maybe my life would be solved (exaggerating obviously).

Eventually my focus shifted from the system itself, to my interaction with it. I realized that it wasn't about having a system, it was about removing as much friction as possible.

codingdave · 2 years ago

Yes. Find one that works. Don't strive for perfection in it. And then move on. Don't keep obsessing over organization if what you are doing is working.

VladimirGolovin · 2 years ago

I tried many of them, even wrote my own app (failed), but today I just use Obsidian with separate workspaces for each major project / area.

(Can't say that it works well for recurring tasks, but that's not Obsidian's fault – that's entirely on me.)

Semitangent · 2 years ago

As someone who never enjoyed reading non-fiction books (and still doesn't), I've talked about this topic with someone who successfully devours books on the topic of "How to be a great boss". Their suggestion was that while there are many Greats, each with a devout following of their own, you as a non-convert aren't really expected to deeply study GTD and the like and then either Join The Club or better have a good reason not to like this magnum opus. That space of books can be enjoyed simply by lightly reading them, seeing what sticks with you - personally - and then moving on. Since the subject and the methods on offer are so broad, it is really ok to just think "meh" and not waste anymore time on PARA etc., if in that specific case the method just doesn't resonate with you. This is how I arrived at my very slimmed down version of Bullet Journaling - it was supposed to solve my problem and I realized that it's ok not to be a stationery influencer with forty shades of pastels arranged in slightly chaotic groups so they look nice on the Insta.

velyan · 2 years ago

I have hear about this book, but haven’t read it yet. Thanks for sharing these takeaways!

How do you actually organize projects, resources and areas. What tools and systems do you use?

sowbug · a year ago

I use Google Keep for online stuff. For real life, I have a bunch of boxes that take up a shelf in my home office. Pretty simple, nothing too fancy.

tmaly · 2 years ago

It is a great book, I read it last year and I apply PARA in Obsidian.

I still apply some slipbox techniques with note taking.

My only challenge now is how to regularly review my notes and update them.

The question reminds me of the dilemma between exploration and exploitation [1]. The art (or skill) is learning when to stop and redirect. Talking to friends about certain learning curves and making sure I don't waste my time just researching or building things that are overloaded with features has helped me a lot. I think it's generally good to know that there's a tradeoff no matter what you're trying to learn or explore.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration-exploitation_dilem...

chatmasta · 2 years ago

This is my second time seeing a reference to this concept today, but apparently the Wikipedia article was created in 2023. It's an interesting idea though... did it come from machine learning research?

I remember learning something akin to this in social psychology in the context of a single risk-taker fish breaking from the school of fish to explore and take risks which ultimately benefitted the whole group.

pininja · 2 years ago

I remember discussing this idea with my friends 10 years ago, when I started my first engineering job and felt my time shifting from mostly exploration to exploitation. I had spent years learning for the sake of learning, with no strings attached. Then, all of a sudden, I was applying what I had learned in exchange for money, and the people I worked for expected something valuable to come from how I spent my time.

I didn’t research machine learning, but my friends did, so it could have been an idea I picked up from someone else.

Anyway, I think it’s a valuable framework because we need to make time for exploration—it’s a great way to let go, have fun, and dissolve the fear of failure.

hlfshell · 2 years ago

The terminology is widely used, and has been for decades, in reinforcement learning; so you're close.

The general idea is that your agent, however it is training, has to balance trying new things to possibly find the global maxima instead of getting hooked on a rewarding local maxima.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement_learning#Explora...

gryn · 2 years ago

it's about a century old but the recent popularity of AI made more people aware of it, I personally became aware of it more than a decade while learning about reinforcement learning (the old kind with GOFAI) but it's also used in social fields, biology stuff like foraging theory or really anything that involve an agent with a brain.

here an n-gram of the first mentions: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Exploration-ex...

Hbruz0 · 2 years ago

Isn't this just breadth- vs depth-first search ?

hansvm · 2 years ago

Not really. You're making the choice to explore or exploit at each branch. It's closer to an A-star search, where the weights and heuristics are uncovered over time.

Also, the typical framing of the problem is the same "kind" of choice being repeatedly executed (e.g., betting on a coin-flip of unknown bias, or balancing the gain of consumer purchasing information vs exploiting known information when setting items into aisle end-caps in a grocery store). That has a lot more structure than arbitrary graphs, enough so to make it worthy of its own dedicated study (especially given the real-world applicability).

voidhorse · 2 years ago

I read a lot. I used to have time to read basically whatever, and would generally just follow the bibliographic of referential trails in other books. Now, my time is much more limited, so whenever I want/need to learn about something new, I'm more disciplined and devise an "essential reading list" as a first step. To do this, I'll perform a basic google search for the topic, check a wikipedia article, or search for the topic on a publisher's website. I'll read the abstract for each book and try to determine which ones are oriented toward beginners. I'll usually select at least three "beginner books" and read them, along with a couple of select "advanced" books that I know I'll have to wait to get to until later.

I try to read for at least 45 minutes each day and I take notes on the books I read. From there I move on to the more advanced stuff I gathered and use my old habit of following bibliographic references for more.

Umberto Eco has a book on how to write a PHD thesis, How to Write a Thesis . I think a lot of the techniques described in that book are valuable for any kind of research, whether your aim is to write a thesis or just to learn something new.

matthew-wegner · 2 years ago

How much did you read per day before your time was more limited? I am curious what that means for you!

hooo · 2 years ago

What's your note taking strategy for when you're reading?

lkdfjlkdfjlg · 2 years ago

What do you have going on in your life, that being a person who reads a lot struggles to read 45 minutes per day?

ativzzz · 2 years ago

Children probably

I procrastinate and sometimes I learn stuff while I'm procrastinating.

casper14 · 2 years ago

This is 100% true

sowbug · 2 years ago

sasha_fishter · 2 years ago

I think everybody is struggling with this. I found very good example and that is Duolingo, it forces you to take lessons every day. And after month or so it's just in your mind, that feeling you need to finish something, no matter if it's 2 minutes, it's just that you are doing it each day.

I.e. I started learning Data Science lately (frontend developer here), and I just picked one course and learn each day few lessons. More and more, I'm convinced that these small steps are once that moves you forward whether you are learning something new or going to gym, what ever. Just show up, and do that small step each day.

Everything else will come together. You will need to do some research anyway if you want to 'finish' some task, so I don't bother with that. Just go, and learn.

sujayk_33 · 2 years ago

I can vouch for that, Duolingo is a very good example, it creates that urge to complete the lesson so that we don't break that streak.

It also helped me in habit stacking, which led to better productivity too. routines help.

lamroger · 2 years ago

The big icon with the streak and it turning red toward the end of the day really helps. Recognizing that some days you won't want to learn but just getting through it is ok. It's a really slow process if you're not deliberate but slow is better than none IMO.

Exactly!

Dead Comment

11001100 · 2 years ago

memothon · 2 years ago

I really love Anki as a tool, especially to learn mechanical things (like vim key bindings), to remember arguments of key articles, and to situate myself back in the thoughts that I previously had.

For mechanical things: I was able to learn lazygit keybindings by heart in a week that take care of 95% of my usage.

To remember key arguments of an article: I make a card like

    In the article _The Bitter Lesson_, what types of methods work better in the long run?
    General methods that use computation (search/learning)

For situating myself: I take a project I worked on and I make a card on what I found challenging, or the tools I used. Or what I learned after. A lot of our problem solving is pattern matching to things we've seen before so leveraging this is really powerful.

Interesting! I didn’t know about this tool. What do you think helps you the most - making a card or revisiting or both?

Is there anything that this tool is lacking atm?

nelsoch · 2 years ago

I don't normally post here- normally I lurk. But this spoke to me.

Learning and research is something you(someone) has to impose on themselves as a self-discipline(like working out, eating right or some other habit). I learned this early in my adolescent years- but it was not honed or realized until university. Once I got into college, I found out that I need to push myself to do the research for things I wanted to pursue- even if it wasn't directly related- in order to achieve my end goal. In comparison, as a naive kid- I would research hitboxes, best shooter tactics and related gaming notes. Now, I open myself to anything and everything- because I realize now 20 years later, that I can easily make what I learn into something I benefit/enjoy from with enough effort and perspective insight.

Long-story-short(tldr)?

Just because you don't know something now, doesn't mean it won't be important to you later. When that day comes, the last thing on your mind will be passive interest- and moreso long-term passion. Which, in retrospect- the former is the dopamine calling you home to stay placated with who you are- rather than you want to be.

Read a book. Save a life. -Chuck

tianqi · 2 years ago

Nowadays when I'm ready to learn a new field, I start by talking to chatGPT to get a general picture of the field and a few introduction books, specifically ones that are admittedly objective, not propagandistic. After reading these books, I will have an understanding of the field in order to reasonably plan what and how to learn next.

The key is de-fragmentation, which is the most important discipline in this age. Read serious publications by professional authors. Stay away from any traffic-driven information. I can't say they are 100% rubbish, but spending time on them causes far far more damage than gain.