How to learn a new skill

We experienced sunshine and >20°C weather in England last weekend. so, inevitably, along with the rest of the country, Lina and I hosted a barbecue.

Amongst the small gathering of friends in our garden was our next door neighbour. He’s a support worker who works long and difficult hours. Partly for this reason, he is pursuing a career-switch, into software development.

This means learning programming languages and computer science in his spare time, around his unsociable working hours, and a new-born baby. In other words, he doesn't have any spare time.

So, while tucking into vegan kebabs, our neighbour asked me:

"Sam, what's the quickest way to learn something new? It takes so long to go through my modules and I forget a lot of it, do you know any shortcuts?"

Here is my advice for my neighbour, and anyone else learning a new technical skill:

1. Read (or watch) the theory, in a logical order from a reputable source. Read diligently, and only read one topic at a time.
2. Write down what you have just learnt, in your own words before moving on to the next topic. Ideally, publish this online on a personal blog.
3. Apply what you have learnt by making something that is your own idea. See how far you can get before getting stuck, then reference your own writing to get unstuck.
4. Repeat consistently.