Posted by Racer on August 19, 1999, at 4:43:07
In reply to Zoning out...solutions????, posted by dj on August 19, 1999, at 1:48:26
IT can be a lousy subject, especially to read about. There are techs in this world who can communicate, but they are few and far between, so you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either the books have the information you need, in which case they're written by a techie who can't communicate to save his/her life; or they're written by a writer who may or may not truly understand the concepts, in which case the information usually isn't that helpful. Lovely, huh?
That's the story of my life, so I can relate. Either the information comes in in a form that does me no good, or it comes in in beautiful English that does me no good because it's WRONG! The joys of being a geek, huh?
Here are a couple of suggestions: Have you tried Effexor? It's helped clear my head a lot since I went on it. It wasn't very effective against my depression, but it was very good at relieving my anxiety, which helped my concentration and focus. Also, the clearheadedness started within the first week, though the rest of the effects took a while longer. I think of it as a wonder drug for that reason.
Now for the other suggestions. I draw diagrams of what I read in tech books, especially networking protocols. That helps me a lot. Also, outlining everything as I read it. Yeah, it's more work, and it's deadly, but at least at the end, I understand what I've read better. Another, even harder, suggestion is to find a study buddy. I studied for the Novell exams with a buddy, testing each other, and that was more valuable than anything else I did. Having to discuss the concepts cleared them in my mind, and the practice testing we did was great. You can also make flash cards for yourself, or draw a poster of the concepts or write your own study aids. Anything you do to put the concepts into your own words will help you. I finally understood a programming problem I had been having at 3AM one morning, when I suddenly woke up and realized that if it was a horse, this is what I'd do with it. Stupid, crazy, strange, but whatever works works, you know?
Good luck to you. IT can be so frustrating, but remember the joy of having something go right - and knowing YOU did it!
poster:Racer
thread:10331
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990829/msgs/10336.html