So Much To Learn, And So Little Time

Self-directed learning requires a good dose of motivation to begin with.

But motivation alone won’t keep you there, because there are always other interesting things to do, many distractions to avoid, and less favorable circumstances to overcome.

I’ve found a few strategies to remain focused in my independent studies, and I’ve been using them for the past two and a half months: scheduling and tracking learning time.

In this article, I’ll show you how I’m using them to improve my productivity and focus, despite having a variable work schedule at the moment.

The Purpose

At first sight, the sheer amount of knowledge that’s required to shift from a non-technical background into a technical role in the technology field can seem nearly impossible to achieve.

Instead of only focusing on the finish line you can:

1. Break down the whole road map into smaller blocks of related technical topics
2. Arrange these learning blocs in a logical order, leveraging the compounding effect between what you already know and what you’ll be learning next
3. Set clear and measurable goals regarding your learning
4. Assess your progress frequently, correcting what’s necessary

By adopting this kind of approach, treating your learning journey as a project, you’ll reap the rewards not only at the finish line, but also during the whole quest.

You’ll build confidence and produce intrinsic motivation to help you overcome the challenges that you will certainly face during this period.

The Problem

When working daily in an Operating Room (OR), where several professionals perform critical procedures on patients, you need to remain fully focused for long periods of time.

Multiply that for several different surgical procedures during an 8-hour shift, and there’s a high amount of context switching (shifting attention between different tasks), to then get back to focus.

These long periods of intense focus, plus dealing with the “noise” generated by everyone’s activity, hinder your ability for intense focus after a workday.

Trying to deal with the obvious fact that I can only control my own behavior, I decided to run an experiment and reverse the time-schedule of these tasks. Literally.

Running An Experiment

Instead of starting my study sessions at 17:00h after a workday, in early January I decided to start the following experiment:

• Get up early to study before my morning shifts (that start at 08:00h)
• Scheduling and tracking closely my study time.

I started gradually waking up earlier, going from 06:30h, until I ended up at 04:30h. This way I can study for 2 hours before leaving for work.

Even though I’m an “early bird”, in the beginning it wasn’t all that pleasant.

But as I started tracking time and seeing the results, it became a challenge to improve on the previous day’s result. I was, essentially, gamifying this endeavor. Plus, your body starts to naturally adapt to this new rhythm.

Now, here’s the twist: I currently work on a rotating shift schedule. Meaning, I work morning, evening, and night 8-hour long shifts, sequentially.

This isn’t conducive to overall sleep quality. And you need good quality sleep to properly rest and enhance your learning efforts.

Eventually, I came up with a few strategies and a study timetable that serve the variable nature of my current work schedule. Adaptation is key, especially when circumstances aren’t the most favorable.

The Tools

A Task Manager And Time Tracker

I searched for a task manager and time-tracking tool to aid in this experiment, and ended up selecting Super Productivity. It’s been serving me well since then.

This is a free and open-source productivity app that runs locally, and has a minimal-distraction user interface. It’s compatible with Linux and other operating systems, including mobile versions.

I’ve been using the following features:

• Task manager, including the task scheduler
• Time tracker, including the focused mode and the Pomodoro timer
• Kanban board

A Note Taking System

I’ve been using Obsidian as my note taking system for 6 months now. Although it isn’t open-source, it is currently an important supporting tool of my learning endeavor.

Besides, the Markdown files generated by the app are stored locally, and are transferable to any other application. There’s no vendor lock-in.

Building a Personal Knowledge Base, following the Zettelkasten method ¹, allows for your notes to be created, processed and linked to each other.

This leaves you with a continuously growing web of knowledge that’s easily searchable, allowing you to reuse the notes at your own will.

The Results

Every week, I reassess the overall experiment and its parameters, using my weekly review (preferably on Sunday, but variable due to work) as the moment to register and evaluate the results.

I use the following table in my daily and weekly notes in Obsidian, to register:

• The estimated study time
• The daily time I invested
• My work schedule
• Any observations I deem important to note

Schedule legend:

• DBN - Day before night shift
• EDO - Extra day off
• DO - Day off
• MS - Morning shift
• ES - Evening shift
• NS - Night shift

Current Numbers

As for the results of this experiment so far, here’s a summary of the current numbers, 2 weeks into March:

January was the month to build the habit. I went from no time-tracking or scheduling, to investing 77,5 hours of study time.

Since I was pleased with this result, I decided to step it up in February.

I then increased the estimated time by 17 hours in February, and managed to complete 101 hours of study. I pushed it, to test the method and my limits.

It generated good data for the experiment.

Now in March, I’ve set the time estimate to 84 hours, to find the right balance for the present moment.

As of March 15, two weeks into the month, I’ve already completed 46 hours of learning time.

As shown in the first table, I adapt the amount of daily study hours to my work schedule, as well as to other personal commitments:

• Evening shift (TS)
  • I tend to schedule 3 hours before going to work at 15:00h
• Day before a night shift (DBN)
  • I tend to wake up naturally in the morning, since I get home from work around 00:40h
  • I then study a minimum of 3 hours
• Night shift (NS)
  • I only schedule one hour, later in the afternoon

The Crux Of The Problem

The night shift poses the most difficult challenge in this study routine, and overall life.

In my own experience, it deregulates many natural processes and abilities during that day (which permeates to the following days as well), especially:

• The natural sleep cycle
• The ability to focus
• Performing apparently simple tasks
• Making important decisions
• And even body temperature regulation

As I usually work a night shift every 5 days, it constitutes the hardest hurdle to overcome. I can only schedule one hour to study, after I’ve slept during the morning, until 14:30h.

Sometimes, I can’t even accomplish that. For now, I’ll have to deal with what I have, in the best way that I can.

What I’ve Been Using This Study Time For

Since early January I’ve been using my scheduled time to study, learn, and build several foundational skills.

These relate to my learning journey into the technology field, such as:

• Note taking
• Writing
• Communication
• Soft skills
• Building a network of technical and DevOps professionals
• Linux and command line fundamentals

Scheduling And Tracking Time Changed Everything

I’m very pleased with the results of this experience so far. It’s allowed me to learn about myself, to test my limits, and challenge my way of doing things.

I’ve experienced the importance of scheduling and tracking the time I dedicate to learning. I’d read about it a long time ago, but now I really know that it is an essential tool to aid in achieving my goals.

This experiment will continue, as I’ll continue adapting it to my current work schedule.

Although I can’t wake up every day at 04:30h, as I do when working a morning shift, the habit of getting up early to study has transferred to my daily routine. I’m currently studying every day, especially on my days off work.

It has also brought to light the fact that having a fixed and predictable study schedule can substantially accelerate this learning process.

I now realize that it would be very beneficial to my personal situation, in conjunction with a fixed rest and sleep routine, respecting humans’ natural sleep cycles.

Something to reflect further on.

Conclusion

From October to December of 2025, I spent some time exploring in-person events related to technology, and committed a portion of my time to other unrelated activities. I became distracted from my main learning goals.

Feeling that drift, in early January I decided to evaluate my trajectory until that point.

I reached the conclusion that I needed to refocus on my own learning and skill building first. These are the most consequential activities to move the needle in the right direction.

Sometimes you need to step back, evaluate where you’re standing, and slow down.

Building a solid foundation of knowledge is, in my opinion, more efficient in the long run than fast-paced and shallow-depth learning.

When you master the fundamentals, you can then absorb and integrate new information in a more permanent and accessible way. It becomes second nature.

This is key when things go wrong and you need to think fast and critically on your own.

I’ve been through this many times in the OR. You can’t always rely on someone else, or a chat box, to give you the solution to the problem at hand.

Creating an experiment to schedule and track my study time was the solution I found to remain focused on what matters most at the moment.

It has also changed my perspective about independent learning, regarding the volume of knowledge and skills required to pivot into the technology field.

You can make it work by adapting the learning process to your circumstances.

But you might also realize that you need to change your circumstances to increase your chances of a better overall outcome.

For your learning and your life.