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Slackson comments on Group Rationality Diary, March 16-31 - Less Wrong
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I've been trying to learn a difficult language for some time now. I've found the process to be pretty painful, and I'm prone to akrasia. I've been trying to come up with some way of effectively practicing that isn't horrible. This is the solution I've come up with:
First, I've found that reading and translating with other people is fun and engrossing, and I'm ashamed not to show up. So whenever I can, I find other people to read with.
When I have to do read alone, the best way seems to be to give myself a fixed amount of text to translate and a fixed amount of time, little enough that I'm rushing. I tell someone I'm committing to show them my translation afterwards (i.e. just that I've done it). This isn't pleasant, but the time pressure keeps me focused, and I'm proud of finishing when I do.
What could you do to make reading alone more pleasant, without a trade-off in productivity?
Well, that's the great question, and I'm open to suggestions. I've tried making games of it, but nothing works any better than the timed readings: I'm productive, but it's not fun, and so I get akratic about it. I assume that when I'm a bit better at reading, it'll be less unpleasant but at the moment...
Might it help to think of your reading as something to talk or blog about? At this stage, you may not have much to say about the content, but you might have something to say about your process of learning.
Hmm, that's a very good idea. I tried blogging about work once, but I couldn't get myself to post regularly. I take it this is a common problem. Do you know of a good way to encourage that?
Shorter posts when you're starting is a step in the right direction.