For the longest time, we have been conditioned to think that learning has to be linear.

Chapter by chapter. Lesson by lesson.

I understand, I used to believe that too, but after more than a decade of teaching myself how to code, I can tell you that it's not the only way to learn.

You can be all over the place with your learning but still, compound towards a singular and focused goal.

Too good to be true? Yes.

But is it true? HELL YEAH!

The Problem: Disorganized Learning

If you're like me, you're not always in a straight line when it comes to your learning. You learn one thing, then start learning another thing, then jump to another thing.... it goes on.

You usually go for those topics that you are most excited about or most curious about. While you love learning and knowledge, you cannot stick with one topic for a long time because it can get repetitive and boring.

The solution? The Learning Bucket.

What is the "Learning Bucket"?

Picture a bucket in your head.

When you pour things into a bucket, there is no order. There is no linear structure or roadmap to the contents of the bucket.

But despite this lack of order, you can be certain that whatever is in the bucket, belongs to the bucket.

If it's a bucket of water, everything inside is water.

What's my point?

Create a bucket and label it as one skill or knowledge.

For example, let's name our bucket the "Web Development Bucket".

Now list all the necessary topics you have to learn for Web Development.

For brevity let's say the following are topics you should learn for Web Development:

1. Programming
2. Javascript
3. HTML
4. CSS
5. NextJS

Note: You should be specific with your topics, but for this example we can be broad for simplicity.

Now pour all these topics into your Web Development bucket.

What does this do?

Every single topic in your bucket is part of your Web Development bucket. This means that whichever topic you choose, you can be certain that your learnings for that topic will compound towards your Web Development goal.

This is the essence of the Learning Bucket.

You can jump between any of the topics as you see fit in the Learning Bucket, but be certain that your learning path is intentional and contributing towards your end goal.

This not only keeps you intentional but also sustains a decent level of motivation, by giving you the freedom to freely choose whichever of the topics you will invest energy and time into at any moment.

What if it requires previous knowledge? How can I move forward?

The desire to learn something is often diminished by the lack of perspective on why a certain piece of knowledge matters.

With the Learning Bucket, you will start from a topic that you are excited about and work backward to uncover the other fundamental knowledge you need to learn in order to progress and understand the topic you chose.

This naturally allows you to uncover the importance of the other topics you seemingly thought had no importance.

Hence your desire to learn these topics increase, and you are now aware of their significance. This is the beauty of the Learning Bucket.

Be disorganized in your learning, but intentional in your pursuit.

The Learning Bucket gives room to be disorganized and free but ensures the intentionality of your pursuit of knowledge.

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