I feel like a total zombie this morning. Why? Because I tried to fit too much into my head last night. In the space of time between finishing my tea and going to bed I managed to: -

1. Install and test a tool for making my new Magic Mouse easier to use.
2. Do some typing lessons.
3. Try my hand at a Ruby Quiz.
4. Try to code in Vim rather than TextMate.
5. Read a few more Apprenticeship Patterns.
6. Fire off some emails.

I achieved, in any real sense of the word, frak all. I did too little of too much. In other words I wasted a night and, at this point in my life, nights spent in front of the computer are a precious commodity.

So, I spent my shower time (hey, the internet is all about over-sharing) putting together a schedule for learning. Mainly so that I can get the most out of the time I do spend at the keyboard, but also so I don’t burn out before Cleatus the Fetus makes his/her grand entrance.

I’ve decided to split it out as follows: -

1. Night 1 - Tools. Currently keyboard and Vim, but there are plenty of other tools that I use that I need to go deep on.
2. Night 2 - Coding practice and soft skills. Basically koans, katas and other exercises.
3. Every 2nd Friday - I work a compressed working week, which is HR speak for getting every 2nd Friday off. I’ll use this day (for as long as I can) to work on portfolio projects.

Why am I telling you all this? Well partly because I need to find stuff to write about ;) but mostly because I find it easier to stick to something if I’ve told people about it. In other words, it makes the cost of failure higher. There’s always the temptation to procrastinate, get sidetracked or just generally bugger about. So, in order to try and counteract this, I’ll post at least one thing that I learn from each of these sessions.

Hopefully this will mean that I can manage my learning outside of work without turning into the walking dead. Brrrrrraaaaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnsssssss!!!!!!!!!