katy_harrod_mod_0_plan.md

Mod 0 Gameplan

More and more I'm realising that I'm gonna have to use my whole day for Turing. When I'm not doing spending time with granddad, doing what I need to to take care of my body, or sleeping, I'm going to be working on my Turing projects. Here is my gameplan:

making the most of time studying

⚡️ TURN THIS SENTENCE INTO A LINK TO YOUR GIST ⚡️

1. There is a method called deliberate practice used for learning new concepts. The idea is that you find the things that are challenging for you, the things that make you feel uncomfortable, and focus your practice on that. I have actually already done this-- my body has a strong reaction to pseudocoding. I know it is a big part of the career ahead of me so it is super important to learn-- so I had to sit through that discomfort and find pseudocoding exercises online to work on until I had a less strong reaction to it. It is easy to get into a space where you are just reviewing the things you understand pretty well already because it feels good to do what you're good at. You have to be deliberate with this kind of studying-- that's why they call it deliberate practice.

2. Work on different problems when I have mastered them. There is diminishing returns on solving the same kind of problem over and over, and at a certain point you are just mimicking the steps you've already taken. This time can be better spent on things you have not mastered yet, so it is a good idea to mix it up and switch to a different type of problem once you feel a bit more comfortable with the first. A lot of textbooks and assignments do not operate this way, of mixing up what you're doing, so it will have to be done of your own accord.

3. Studying right before bed! Not only does this make me tired enough to go to sleep, but having your studies as close to the time you go to bed helps encourage your brain not to clear out those memories as it does it's nightly housekeeping. If you don't recall it often, your brain does not see it as important enough to keep around! Your time sleeping could potentially be your most effective time "studying".

4. Speaking of recall, that is the most effective way of getting something in your head! Reading and re-reading can give you the illusion that you've retained the information, where as recall and teaching others shows you what you really know and where you have gaps.

5. Leaving breaks between short sessions of studying! Your brain operates much better with concepts if you look at them frequently and for short periods rather than trying to cram information all in one sitting. If I am directly working out a problem I am having trouble with, my focus mode thinking can lead me to try the familiar steps and go to the same solutions I've already tried that do not work. When I bring my attention to other things, my brain has more space to connect that idea to other ideas that I might not otherwise have linked together. Example: a great idea occuring to you right before you go to sleep or while you are showering. Going for a walk is also a great way to get new solutions to float to the top. However, you need to write down your solution when it comes to you quickly!! It's gone in an instant. Bring a pen and paper with you everywhere. Moreover, you need to actually look at the problem in order for solutions to come to you, you can't just sit around dawdling and expect that you'll have mastered your homework. So, look at the problem, work on it for a few minutes, then walk away from it or work on a different type of problem.

6. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I have already made the mistake of moving too quickly and making a mistake in the terminal that could have been avoided if I had simply checked where I was with the pwd command. This lead to several minutes of googling and parsing through questions from people who have made the same mistake. Double check before you take action, the instructors who have done this for years do this!!

Taking Care of Myself

• be consistent with the routines that work

• take the pomodoro breaks

• clear off my work desk before classes

• set up my environment for the next day

• schedule green time to break up the screen time

• get enough sleep

If you haven't already customized your terminal, it's a good idea to do so. Having different colors will help you parse the information easier aswell as having a more pleasant experience working with it. Here is the code block to change that:

# Load version control information
autoload -Uz vcs_info
precmd() { vcs_info }

# Format the vcs_info_msg_0_ variable
zstyle ':vcs_info:git:*' formats '%b'

# Determine if current working directory is a git repository
git_branch_color() {
  if current_git_status=$(git status 2> /dev/null); then
    parse_git_dirty
  else
    echo ""
  fi
}

# Change branch color if working tree is clean
parse_git_dirty() {
  if current_git_status=$(git status | grep 'Changes to be committed:\|Untracked files:\|modified:|deleted:' 2> /dev/null); then
    echo "%F{red}"
  else
    echo "%F{green}"
  fi
}