https://github.com/mlane/code-and-the-mind
A learning guide for engineers who want to retain more, stress less, and actually enjoy the process.
https://github.com/mlane/code-and-the-mind
concepts-over-syntax developer-learning engineering-mindset growth-mindset learning-how-to-learn notes project-based-learning retention-strategies rubber-duck-debugging self-taught
Last synced: about 1 month ago
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A learning guide for engineers who want to retain more, stress less, and actually enjoy the process.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/mlane/code-and-the-mind
- Owner: mlane
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-04-17T06:37:52.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-04-17T06:43:47.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-05-03T09:14:34.990Z (about 1 month ago)
- Topics: concepts-over-syntax, developer-learning, engineering-mindset, growth-mindset, learning-how-to-learn, notes, project-based-learning, retention-strategies, rubber-duck-debugging, self-taught
- Homepage:
- Size: 1.95 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# 🧠 Code and the Mind
_The art of learning how to learn as a engineer._
---
## 📍 Why This Exists
You’re not broken if you forget things. You’re not bad at learning. You’ve just been taught to memorize instead of internalize.
This guide is for the engineer who wants to retain more, stress less, and actually enjoy the learning process — especially when building projects.
You don’t need to master 100 concepts. You need to anchor a few into **context**, **memory**, and **meaning**.
---
## 🧩 Core Principles
- **Project-based learning is retention-based learning**
If it’s useful, it sticks. If it’s random, it fades.
- **Context is memory’s best friend**
Your brain retains information better when it’s attached to a goal, a location, or a problem.
- **Concepts beat syntax**
Knowing _why_ a `hook` exists matters more than remembering the `useEffect` signature.
- **Ownership creates retention**
If you _use_ the concept, shape it, rename it, or refactor it — you’ll remember it.
- **Explaining beats absorbing**
If you can explain it to a 5-year-old or a rubber duck, it’s yours.
---
## 🔄 The Learning Cycle
1. **Anchor in Context**
Learn concepts _as you need them_. Not before. Not all at once.
2. **Build Something With It**
Small POC? Throwaway demo? Doesn’t matter. Touch code with your hands.
3. **Rephrase It in Your Words**
In a note, a tweet, a doc, or a comment. Don’t quote — rewrite.
4. **Revisit with Slight Twist**
Try it in a new feature. Or break it on purpose. Or build the same thing again, differently.
5. **Teach It or Share It**
Explain in writing. Help a friend. Make it public. Lock it in.
---
## 🧠 Practical Techniques
- **Use notes.txt for raw learning**
Just dump everything in there. No friction. No structure.
- **Use `README.md` as your own wiki**
In each project, summarize the 1–3 key ideas you learned.
- **Don't memorize — reference**
Use tools, cheat sheets, AI, whatever. Build a mental _index_, not a full archive.
- **Highlight surprises**
Anything that makes you go "wait, what?" is gold. Those are the sticky parts.
- **Reflect after shipping**
What did I learn here? What’s unclear? What might I need again?
---
## 🧪 A Learning Philosophy
> "Genius is a fish on land — unless it finds water."
You don’t need to be the fastest learner. You need to find the _right environment_ for your brain.
That means:
- Learning by doing, not just watching
- Learning what matters _to you_
- Repeating things in _slightly new_ ways
- Allowing yourself to forget, revisit, and grow
---
## 🏁 Final Thought
The goal isn’t to learn everything.
The goal is to:
- Build understanding
- Retain what matters
- Move forward with confidence
> You already have what you need. Let your learning work for _you_.
---
## 📁 Repo Details
- [MIT License](./LICENSE)
- Created by [Marcus Lane](https://github.com/mlane)
- Part of the [Builder's Compass](https://github.com/mlane/builders-compass) ecosystem
- Built to share. Fork it, remix it, make it yours.
If it helped you, help someone else: **share it.**
_We grow by understanding._