How Should I Learn New Technologies

If you’re a software engineer, then you can benefit greatly from continuous learning and education. However, it may be difficult to motivate yourself to continuously learn new technologies and further your career. Everyone is different, so there’s not one exact answer. It is, however, very helpful to examine a technology that you want or have been tasked to learn, and come up with a structured approach to learning it. Contrarily, learning of a technology without a structured approach is equivalent to jumping into coding without first making a plan.

When evaluating a technology, ask yourself if your really should learn that technology. What do you hope to accomplish by learning it? Do you want to learn it because it looks really cool? There are a ton of technologies out there and only one of you. Moreover, anything you learn and then don’t use will likely be forgotten within a year or two.

After you’ve surveyed and decided on a technology, take a moment to look at the learning options for the technology. Some people learn best by watching videos, some learn best by reading textbooks. Personally, I like videos for overviews and to learn quickly, and textbooks to get a deep understanding of the technology. If you’re technology has great documentation like for Facebook’s React or service offerings on AWS, then you may be able to go straight to the source. I’ve also found blog posts/tutorials to be an exceptionally great way to gain some experience with a technology or library. You usually don’t need to pay to start learning something, but you may find that you gain access to higher quality content if you do. Check out my article on buying subscriptions versus individual courses here.

Most importantly, after you’ve learned a bit, practice this technology. If you don’t, then anything you read or watch won’t stick. Whether the motivation is internal or external, find it and follow through. This is often easier said than done. I’ve found it helpful to learn as much as you need to learn and then re-approach a subject if more depth is needed. After all, this isn’t school anymore, and you don’t get graded on the breadth of knowledge for a subject. Instead, you get reviewed at how efficient you are at work.

Lastly, learning should be fun. If you’re not having fun, give some thought to your approach. You may have dived too deep into a subject without taking the time to try it out and get those “ah-ha”/eureka/accomplishment moments. If you get really bored while learning, take some time to relax and clear yourself of other things that are more interesting to you. I’ve found that too much social media, video games, etc. can lead to a feeling of boredom when doing slower things that require a longer period of focus.