Feeling Disheartened Need Some Advice How To Learn Smarter

ally_uk

Howdy guys I am going to have a rant and maybe one or two of you can help me. You see I haven't really achieved much in life I have this inner pain of frustration that I am destined for better things and a yearning to better myself. This is going to be raw so sorry if I sound like I am beating myself up but I need to do this to hopefully improve myself. Who knows maybe other people are in the same position

I have training videos on subjects, books, and guides the sad reality is call is laziness, call it a lack of focus or drive for the life of me I cannot see to complete one single task. It's like my brain just gets bored or sidetracked and I end up going off down different paths and not completing anything it's like a vicious cycle of lack of achievement I end up feeling bad about myself and comfort eat and do other unhealthy habits and just generally not achieve anything.

I always get envious of others and feel others are getting ahead and myself I won't amount to anything. Sometimes I will be honest the lows get intense just a feeling of unfulfilled and lost potential.

It's like my mind becomes torn between what I should learn oneday I am ecstatic about Linux, The next it's Windows one-day it's Cisco it's like I have bipolar or something. I just end off going down different paths and not learning anything of substance.

I have a family and young son and I work so finding the time at the moment to sitdown and actually do something productive is hard or maybe I am making it hard, Maybe I need discipline.

I was thinking of keeping one set of training videos on a device only, buying a notepad watch the nuggets and write notes focus on one subject at once only i.e Windows Server 2016 installation and compute. Even if I do not take the exam figured I can learn some new things improve my self esteem.

So guys where am I going wrong? How can I fit in a good routine into my day to day life I don't want to become to overwhelmed initially as I find this is counter productive.

Any tips? self improvement books?

Help me guys i'm sick of being like this

dave330i

To learn something, you really need to read, write, watch and practice (not necessarily in this order).

Reading technical documents is different than reading a novel. You need to train yourself. When I first started learning IT, I could only read ~30 min before I need to to take a break.

You should write pen to paper. There's been studies that show the physical act of writing helps you remember things. Typing on keyboard doesn't help as much.

Try to find training videos that are 30 min or less. Your mind tends to wander when the videos are long.

Practice is pretty self explanatory.

EANx

ally_uk wrote: »

I have training videos on subjects, books, and guides the sad reality is call is laziness, call it a lack of focus or drive for the life of me I cannot see to complete one single task. It's like my brain just gets bored or sidetracked and I end up going off down different paths and not completing anything it's like a vicious cycle of lack of achievement I end up feeling bad about myself and comfort eat and do other unhealthy habits and just generally not achieve anything.

...

I have a family and young son and I work so finding the time at the moment to sitdown and actually do something productive is hard or maybe I am making it hard, Maybe I need discipline.

What you're describing sounds more like burnout than laziness. Do you have fun things to do?

NetworkingStudent

ally_uk wrote: »

Howdy guys I am going to have a rant and maybe one or two of you can help me. You see I haven't really achieved much in life I have this inner pain of frustration that I am destined for better things and a yearning to better myself. This is going to be raw so sorry if I sound like I am beating myself up but I need to do this to hopefully improve myself. Who knows maybe other people are in the same position

I have training videos on subjects, books, and guides the sad reality is call is laziness, call it a lack of focus or drive for the life of me I cannot see to complete one single task. It's like my brain just gets bored or sidetracked and I end up going off down different paths and not completing anything it's like a vicious cycle of lack of achievement I end up feeling bad about myself and comfort eat and do other unhealthy habits and just generally not achieve anything.

I always get envious of others and feel others are getting ahead and myself I won't amount to anything. Sometimes I will be honest the lows get intense just a feeling of unfulfilled and lost potential.

It's like my mind becomes torn between what I should learn oneday I am ecstatic about Linux, The next it's Windows one-day it's Cisco it's like I have bipolar or something. I just end off going down different paths and not learning anything of substance.

I have a family and young son and I work so finding the time at the moment to sitdown and actually do something productive is hard or maybe I am making it hard, Maybe I need discipline.

I was thinking of keeping one set of training videos on a device only, buying a notepad watch the nuggets and write notes focus on one subject at once only i.e Windows Server 2016 installation and compute. Even if I do not take the exam figured I can learn some new things improve my self esteem.

So guys where am I going wrong? How can I fit in a good routine into my day to day life I don't want to become to overwhelmed initially as I find this is counter productive.

Any tips? self improvement books?

Help me guys i'm sick of being like this

What are you doing in IT now? I mean what is your current role, and where do you want to be?

The reason I'm asking, is because different roles will require different certs.

Once you know what role you want, then it will be easier to focus on the certs and the technologies you need for that role.

I know it's easy to say this, but you should only compete with yourself, and not with others.

The routine part is hard, can you wake up early, and study for 30 minutes before your son gets up?

JoJoCal19

ally_uk wrote: »

I have training videos on subjects, books, and guides the sad reality is call is laziness, call it a lack of focus or drive for the life of me I cannot see to complete one single task. It's like my brain just gets bored or sidetracked and I end up going off down different paths and not completing anything it's like a vicious cycle of lack of achievement I end up feeling bad about myself and comfort eat and do other unhealthy habits and just generally not achieve anything.

Hey ally, I just wanted to reach out and let you know that it's definitely not laziness on your part. I suffer from untreated ADD. What you wrote in this portion is something that I struggle with constantly. It may seem on it's face that I have been able to attack certs relentlessly, but it is such a huge struggle. I've definitely felt I was in the same rut you feel you're in.

dave330i has some solid advice. Training yourself up to be able to read more and more in one sitting takes time and effort. As well, training videos under 30 mins are best, and preferably 10 minute nuggets (like A Cloud Guru for example).

mzx380

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/123500-my-whirwind-year-things-i-learned-2016-a.html

yoba222

5 push-ups a day seems like a silly fitness routine. But doing that consistently, 20 times per month and you'll be in better health than going to the gym 3 times at full intensity and then quitting for the rest of the month. Same with cert training.

Pick one big goal and chop it up into little tiny chunks of activities. I'd start with something like one 10-15 minute Udemy video per day until you've completed the course. Weekdays only. That's it. Can add reading and labbing stuff later.



By big goal, it might have been get a cert by watching this video course, reading that book, and then doing those labs and practice exams.

ally_uk

Thank you for the replies I appreciate all of the advice.

Somebody asked me about my current role, I work for social enterprise / charity that refurbishes donated computer hardware for resell. Essentially the place is like Aladdin's cave in terms of computer hardware. I recently have dropped down my working hours to two days a week as my partner has a new role and wanted to role reverse.

The Job I currently have isn't very fulfilling I basically prepare operating systems on machines ready for resell, This isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. The company itself doesn't really have any room for progression or scope for training in-fact they overlook staff and treat them pretty poorly. Maybe I am burned out who knows? I don't really have much friends as I suffer with an anxiety disorder so I am fearful of certain situations. I lost my best freinds few year ago hes suddenly passed away. I closed off and pushed anyone else close to me away.

I think I can be pretty introverted like I like peace and quiet and to be by myself but it's a catch-22 as I get lonely.

I did have some ideas for projects at work such as creating imaging solutions / cloning to prepare computers quicker.However due to lack of networking knowledge I struggled as we currently already have a PXE server on network and I do not know enough to make my WDS / MDT box coexist.

Anyways in terms of Passions I would say Linux and Networking are what I am mainly interested in. Especially Linux I get something out of it when using it I can't explain compared to Windows.

To the guy who said about the 5 press ups, Maybe I need to do something similar with my learning and discipline and pick one subject such as Linux setting up Docker video series. Sit down and watch and take notes on 1 or 2 videos a day until the apathy goes and my motivation increases. But obviously stick with it and only move onto something else until I have completed all chapters or videos.

HP_Guy

Your story is so similar to mine I may DM you. Do you mind me asking how old you are?

Regarding focus, I read some advice... make a list of all the things you're interested in. Choose the most important one to you right now and make it your life's mission (temporarily) to avoid at all costs the others that might take your attention from the job at hand.

Pseudonym

It sounds like you answered your own question in the original post.

ally_uk

Ok This is going to suck but honesty is the best policy, so here I go.

I am 33 years old, Certifications I have none and about 10 years experience doing either 1st line / I.T Technician jobs. Looking at my skillset I would say i'm a jack of all trades master of none.

I will try and be honest with my skillset so maybe we can figure out the best route to go:

I.T Hardware and repair skills I would say are pretty good, I have repaired over 1000 laptops in my career anything from rebuilds to screen replacements. Same with computers I have refurbishes, custom built many with a low return rate of failure.

Windows skills, Can Use the O/S comfortably i.e installations, basic support, Hardly any exposure to technologies such as Server, Powershell, Automation,

Linux: Self taught myself, comfortable using command line, man pages, can setup and maintain basic services such as SAMBA, can use stuff like vim, create basic scripts nothing to exotic really simple stuff. Basic understanding of firewalls, networking tools, and virtualization such as KVM. ( Centos is my distro of choice as I like red hat )

Networking: Weak area, Understand basic concepts like the OSI / TCP/IP model, what a broadcast domain is, collison domain, basic networking trouble shooting skills on Windows and Linux.

Programming: i'm not a genius lol

So yeah that is my overall skillset pretty all over the place and lacking. But I have opened up and have the inner desire to improve it's just picking a initial topic and sticking to the damm thing I find so hard.

Once again thank you guys

malachi1612

ally_uk wrote: »

Ok This is going to suck but honesty is the best policy, so here I go.

I am 33 years old, Certifications I have none and about 10 years experience doing either 1st line / I.T Technician jobs. Looking at my skillset I would say i'm a jack of all trades master of none.

I will try and be honest with my skillset so maybe we can figure out the best route to go:

I.T Hardware and repair skills I would say are pretty good, I have repaired over 1000 laptops in my career anything from rebuilds to screen replacements. Same with computers I have refurbishes, custom built many with a low return rate of failure.

Windows skills, Can Use the O/S comfortably i.e installations, basic support, Hardly any exposure to technologies such as Server, Powershell, Automation,

Linux: Self taught myself, comfortable using command line, man pages, can setup and maintain basic services such as SAMBA, can use stuff like vim, create basic scripts nothing to exotic really simple stuff. Basic understanding of firewalls, networking tools, and virtualization such as KVM. ( Centos is my distro of choice as I like red hat )

Networking: Weak area, Understand basic concepts like the OSI / TCP/IP model, what a broadcast domain is, collison domain, basic networking trouble shooting skills on Windows and Linux.

Programming: i'm not a genius lol

So yeah that is my overall skillset pretty all over the place and lacking. But I have opened up and have the inner desire to improve it's just picking a initial topic and sticking to the damm thing I find so hard.

Once again thank you guys

I was just like you, back then I had been in IT for 12 years, 32 years old. Everything I leant was self taught and I was the jack of all trades. Until summer 2016 I decided I had enough. I wanted to progress further in IT but I wouldn't be able to do it the way I was going.

So decided to hit the books, get myself skilled up and learn stuff I was weak at. First thing I set myself a 2 year plan, what I wanted to achieve and wrote these down. I needed some certs, so I studied for MSCA Windows 10, got that last year. As my networking skills were weak I went for MCSA Window 2016, finally got that in July. Happily ticking them off on my list I created 2 years ago. This is what helped me focus as I know I was working towards something greater and keeping track of it.

What did I do extra to keep myself motivated!??!! The gym and loads of it. I have being going to the gym for the past 8 years anyway but I increased the days I was going to 5 days a week, to now everyday. On top of that I do martial arts 2 times a week and listen to self help/self development podcasts when going and leaving work.

Seems alot but its down to getting on with it as the goals what drove me. Yes, I get tired and "tech burn out" when studying. So every 6 to 8 weeks, I pack my bags, leave the UK for a few days and go abroad just to reset my brain. It helps alot, I still study while I am away but not as much. I return back home and the routine continues for a few weeks more until my next exam.

Also, TV, computers games, alcohol and love them all but I cut them down to basically none now as its a distraction and takes away my motivation towards better things.

Jon_Cisco

I think a lot of us struggle to stay focused. I know I do. As soon as I start studying something I get interested in even more stuff and want to go learn a little more.

I recommend the same thing to almost everyone that is starting out on their first certification. Pick one book or video series and finish it. You don't have to learn everything the first time but watch the entire thing or read the entire book. All of the information builds on itself and once you have covered it once you get a much better understanding of it. Then you can go back and see what you need to work on to pass a certification exam.

While I hate schedules myself they work great for someone trying to get focused. Set up a reasonable timeline and start recording your progress. Say reading 20 pages a day so you can finish a 600 page book in about a month.

Good Luck!

ally_uk

Thank you for the advice it means alot guys,

I am going to set myself a small goal of watching two CBT Nuggets Videos a day and taking notes on the subject matter I am initially going to type notes as I go and then at the end of the course write them up in a notebook and move on to another video series once I am done.

The first Series or goal I will be watching will be Server 2016 70-40 as I wish to learn more about the windows sider of server technologies. I probably wont be taking exams due to financial situation. But figured I can use it to learn new technologies and build some self esteem / confidence and discipline.

So yeah that is my plan, What do you guys think?

gespenstern

1. Try chemistry that helps with focusing, like adderall or modafinil (if it's legal where you are at). Modafinil can be replaced almost 1:1 with adrofinil which is legal in the US and you don't have to have a prescription to buy it. Research the dosage and tread carefully.

2. Do small things. Establish a goal and do smaller steps every day. Don't attempt to sit doing something more than 20 mins, identify a certain quantum of information, like, let's say, what VLAN numbers are legit and for what reason, which one is native and its behavior. It's like a 15 mins problem at max. Memorize it, then proceed to doing whatever you do without forcing yourself (gaming? hanging with friends? binge watching netflix?) until you are bored with it (let's say, 1 hour or something) and then do the next quantum. Try the first quantum the first thing in the morning when your mind is still fresh.

3. Practice everything or at least visualize yourself completing tasks according to the theory you just learned. I.e. install windows, configure VLANs, etc.

ally_uk

Thank you for that planner I can see exactly where I have been going wrong 😂😂

The week 1 materials previously I would of tried to do the whole lot in one session.

yoba222

For making your own planner, I just switched over from using spreadsheets to Osmo. Lightweight, open source, can encrypt backups, and one nice advantage over using something like Google calendar not having to share your study schedule with advertisers at Google (and the NSA/GCHQ).

https://mintguide.org/tools/405-osmo-easy-personal-organizer-for-linux.html

It's in the repo too:
$ sudo apt install osmo

ally_uk

That sounds kool thank you for the heads up, I am going to stop being so hard on myself. I recently withdrew from nicotine have gone over a month now with out some form of nicotine, perhaps the apathy and low mood could be because of that?

How do you guys study? do you read books? make notes? watch videos? enlighten me? I find I learn best by watching videos or hands on.

UnixGuy

I'm going to recommend something completely different here. Actually two things...


First, I see a lot of self-defeat and self-image issues. You seem to derive self-worth from 'career' stage or level or something. No amount of work progress or 'prestige' is going to fix this. Therefore...my first recommendation

- See a psychologist. It won't hurt. Just give it a go, it might help with self-esteem issues



Second recommendation is a book:
- Scott Adam's : How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life


He lays out a 'system' for 'success'. I found the book immensely useful.


I say this because I've seen your posts over the years, and I recognise a pattern.

Good luck mate.
[h=1][/h]

ecuison

Hey @ally_uk, don't give up and don't feel discouraged in your journey and your desire to better yourself in acquiring knowledge. You touched on something that personally hits home personally for me,

"I always get envious of others and feel others are getting ahead and myself I won't amount to anything. Sometimes I will be honest the lows get intense just a feeling of unfulfilled and lost potential. "

I say this because my whole career, I was told that I was hired for grunt/**** work. That I didn't know anything and that I need to learn, was told that degree's in IT don't matter, certifications are pointless (Had coworkers tell other coworkers that my CISSP didn't mean anything when I passed it). My drive however was to prove these people wrong as I have been passed up for many opportunities to people that didn't have the background or knowledge, hired under the premise of nepotism, etc.

Regardless, that drive you have will not be in vein. In the end, no one will take that drive and knowledge you acquired for your hard work and effort. It is a long and difficult road to just solidify yourself and where you feel you should belong to and be at in your career. Just keep pushing through it. There are a lot of people on TE (especially those replying to this thread) that are great guides and mentor's to help you see a different perspective of the challenges you, and quite frankly their challenges, and how they have learned (good or bad) from them to help them move forward.

Good luck in your endevours, and fight the good fight. As the old saying goes, "You are your own worst Critic!"

Master Delgado

Hello fella,

Saw that you're in my old hometown, so I thought I'd reply.

To get you thinking about IT study please have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/wEvVrvhbTng

As for what topic to study, find something that you can easily explain to your mates down the pub. Also, if you can, try to map out some kind of study plan (and don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or two - life happens). For example, I booked the A+ exams four weeks out and spent the remaining time (including during my lunches and stayed behind at work for an hour or so) studying and doing practice exams until I got consistent high practice exams marks and got bored of the practice tests.

Another thing is take a look at the kind of jobs you might want to work and see what certs/experience you might need (eg. look at IT jobs advertised at, say, Southampton Council or Hampshire County Council in Winchester) and use that. Also do your research on forums like this one and also Certforums (it's UK-focused) and on Reddit (find the IT field you want and then do searches for what you want to find out *before* you post anything).

Anyway, feel free to message me if you need any more info!

ally_uk

Thank you guys,

Unixguy you are correct I don't believe in myself or am scared of failure. I don't have the world's best confidence and have an anxiety disorder. Grew up in a broken home my dad was an alcoholic and abusive.

I have been low recently really because it's the anniversary of my best freinds death. I was unaware until today blocked it out of my mind. So that explains the apathy and low mood recently.

Just being honest not making excuses. Thank you guys for all the help and insight I do appreciate it and need to make changes as I can't carry on like this.

DatabaseHead

UnixGuy wrote: »

I'm going to recommend something completely different here. Actually two things...


First, I see a lot of self-defeat and self-image issues. You seem to derive self-worth from 'career' stage or level or something. No amount of work progress or 'prestige' is going to fix this. Therefore...my first recommendation

- See a psychologist. It won't hurt. Just give it a go, it might help with self-esteem issues



Second recommendation is a book:
- Scott Adam's : How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life


He lays out a 'system' for 'success'. I found the book immensely useful.


I say this because I've seen your posts over the years, and I recognise a pattern.

Good luck mate.

Love this advice.