In the first hour of the webinar we walked through the process for how to learn anything (including AutoHotkey) quickly

Hour 1: High-level overview
Hour 2: Q&A

Script Highlight:  Merging / Appending files of similar structure

• A-Z Database allows for extracting contacts up to 1,000 at a time. Check your local library for access
• For simplification I extracted 25 at a time, then merge together.
• Each csv file has a header row
• Every file has the same headers
• Get the source code here

Learn AutoHotkey quickly

Four stages of competence

Unconscious Incompetence: (Ignorance) Has no clue what they’re doing but does not know it (this can be dangerous)

Conscious Incompetence: (Awareness) They know they don’t know what they’re doing

Conscious Competence: (Learning) Through very focused effort, they can do good work

Unconscious Competence: (Mastery) They can do it “in their sleep” w/o conscious thought

Unconscious Competence takes ~10,000 hours to obtain – Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The story of Success

Conscious Competence can be obtained in ~20 hours – Josh Kaufman, The first 20 Hours, How to learn anything Fast

Learning anything is HARD!

• People like to think they’re learning rather than actually learn!
• People avoid things that show they are not achieving their goals
• Parenting: It is easy to take the easy route over the hard route
• Take time to have a clear, structured plan that you follow to ensure your time is well spent and you achieve your goal

The most critical steps to achieving a goal is to

1. Have a clear goal
2. Devise a plan on how to achieve it!
3. Take Action!

Four major steps for RSA– Josh Kaufman: 1st 20 hours

Rapid skill acquisition has four major steps:

• Deconstructing a skill into the smallest possible subskills
• Learning enough about each subskill to be able to practice intelligently and self-correct during practice
• Removing physical, mental, and emotional barriers that get in the way of practice
• Practicing the most important subskills for at least twenty hours

A “Steep Learning Curve” is a good thing!

Incremental Improvements add up!

The following image was offered by Ryan Wells.  During the 1st hour I didn’t get a chance to look at it but I think it is a great addition to the deck!  Basically it is showing how, like compound interested, little incremental improvements add up in the long run!  Learning just a bit a day will have a huge affect over a year’s time!   Thanks Ryan!

10 Major Principles of Rapid Skill Acquisition:

– Josh Kaufman: 1st 20 hours

1. Choose a lovable project / Problem to solve: The more excited you are, the more likely you’ll succeed
2. Focus your energy on one skill at a time: Choose 1 skill at a time and hit it hard!
3. Define your target performance level: Set realistic and clear goals. What does “good enough” look like?
4. Deconstruct the skill into subskills: Which subskills are most important? (Also like eating an elephant…)
5. Obtain critical tools: Do some research, find out what you really need
6. Eliminate barriers to practice: Be organized, formal, planned. No email, phone, Social Media, etc.
7. Make dedicated time for practice: Schedule time each day. 90 minutes per day / 20 hours in 1 month
8. Create fast feedback loops: Track & Measure your performance (Track what learned, flash cards, etc.)
9. Practice by the clock in short bursts: Set timer for 20 minutes & FOCUS! Plan 4 20 minute sessions per day
10. Emphasize quantity and speed: Don’t worry about “perfection”. Skill is a result of practice

5 major principles of Effective Learning:

1. Use spaced repetition and reinforcement for memorization: Flashcards, etc.
2. Research the skill and related topics: these can help identify important sub-skills
3. Identify mental models and mental hooks: Categorizing helps the info stick in your head
4. Create scaffolds and checklists: These help with Constancy and Efficiency
5. Talk to practitioners to set expectations: Gurus can help a lot and can give tips when you’re “stuck”

Top tips for learning AutoHotkey

• Use flash cards to learn the vocabulary, concepts
• Eating an elephant-Bite size learning is often easier to keep more of what you learn
• Decide how “deep” you really want to go. Learn to use Function /Class call verse writing one from scratch
• Use multiple media channels (Print, video, auditory, writing, speaking, flashcards*, read & highlight / take notes, teach someone)
• Get a “study buddy”. Perhaps plan a “code-cation”. Helps distribute workload between each other and is an “immersion” into the topic so you learn a lot!
• Find or Create a structure for what you want to learn (Udemy course, Tutorials, TOC in a Book, YouTube, etc.)
• Have a regular schedule / Calendar event
• 40 minutes in the morning followed by 20 minutes at end of day
• Have a clear topic to learn
• Begin by writing Pseudocode
• Clearly define goals
• End of week*, have one day where you review the week’s learning
• End of Month*, review what you’ve learned

*these are great because this forces you to retrieve the information

Words to live by

• The best place to start, without question, is to start!
• Version 1 is infinitely better than Version 0
• How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice
• Don’t worry about your first draft, just write! Even the best programmers end up re-writing their scripts (often multiple times!)
• Don’t stress. Learning new things takes time & is “painful” until we’re familiar with the topic
• Remember we learn best by failure!
• Discipline = Freedom – Amazing video from former Navy Seal Jocko Willink