What is on Your Mind?

Hi all, Lately I have being practicing several ways to improve on the amount of time i spend reading and coding on my computer.

I realized that it can be very tiring and hard work. The had work needed and time is not the main issue here. The issue is do i start of by spending at least one -- two hour reading and coding/practicing and gradually improve on it. I say this because as a new Unix/Linux user I come everyday to my computer with the mindset that i plan to spend 4 hours straight on my computer. When i come with this approach i realize that i cant accomplish it.

But when i come with a more relaxed mind and spend 1 hour reading and practicing then i take a light break relaxing on my ca och this refreshed my mind and when i return back to the computer i notice that i can spend more time coding and reading.

I head that playing Games can also be helpful but i am yet to explore this method.

Please kindly enlighten me on other ways i can improve on the time i spend on my computer and how to work effectively.

Thanks.

I think the best way to learn is to build software "projects". Then, you learn what is required in the real world, how to install software, read log files, use the VI editor, learn shell commands, learn interprocess communications, etc.

Nothing is better than being involved in a project and going from "nothing" to completion. Learning the computer "for the sake of learning" is OK, but best is to have a project you want to do, or need to do, and just do it, step-by-step, learning every step what you need to know to get to the next step.

Cheers.

I did just what Neo suggested to learn shell scripting in January 2013 and the 3/4 finished project has become huge.

He is correct though, just think of something you would like to do and jump in at the deep end; it looks daunting at first but you will get to grips with it sooner than you think.

There is plethora of info on the Intertwines and on here about shell coding and if you show you have tried to get things working stage by stage and enter some snags the guys on here will offer help voluntarily. Sometimes they show you what you think looks like _NOISE_ but as you get deeper into it you will begin to understand this _NOISE_ and you will use snippets of them for your future project(s).

Bazza.

First: it gets easier. With everything you know instead of having to learn it you need less concentration to do things. It is like driving a car: when you start you wonder how to keep all that in mind: using the blinkers, switching gears, using the clutch, accelerating, decelerating and all the while monitoring closely the surrounding traffic. You can't imagine going for several hundreds of kilometers in one go. Once you have driven for years you spend a lot less of conscious effort and going for hours is still exhausting but manageable.

Second: if you sit down at your computer you can't just "start programming". What you need is a goal. The best goal is some "itch to scratch". If you have a certain task you want to get done automatically and you write a program/shell script to do so you have an immediate motivation to do so. Doing sterile exercise tasks is a lot less motivating.

You might not get immediately there. That doesn't matter: the journey is the reward. Have a lot of versions and get yourself into a mess because of this: good! You will not only learn how to use versioning systems, you will also appreciate what they do for you. To appreciate being rich you need to understand what it means to be poor. So all the mishaps that happen to you there will make you search for ways to avoid them. This is what "learning the trade" is about.

And the most important thing of it all: have fun! The more fun you have, the more you will do it and the more you do it the better you will get because of the training.

bakunin