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Getting up at 6AM is really helping me. I can read for an hour uninterrupted. I can feel good that I am doing all that I want to do. And I enjoy it, it gives me time to relax.
The problem with waking up so early is that I feel very tired at night. That’s OK I think. When I feel tired, I should go to bed. That’s how this technique will work. But I should go to sleep no later than 11:30. Otherwise I am going to have hard time waking up in the morning.
It feels good because in an hour of reading I can read a lot. It’s amazing.
Another benefit of waking up that early is that I can do it seven days a week. I used to read only during weekdays. And that was also very sporadic. Now I can read everyday. Seven days a week! That’s great. I should continue doing that.

I learned a new word today. “Remorse.” It means “uraza” in Polish. A sample sentence could be: I still have a remorse in losing to a guy in the finals.
Beyond Code, the book, is turning out to be a good one. I have learned of quite a few recommendations from the author. “Influnce” is my “must read.” I will read it soon.
I also know that my blog has to change. I want it to be more focused, more specific. I think “The Pragmatic Craftsman” is a good name. I can even register the domain name. I also think I am going to change the title, set up “thePragmaticCraftsman.kubasek.com” and be ready to go. I will do that shortly.
I love writing entries to this learning blog.

I learned today that I enjoy “crafting” software. I like my code to be easy to read, easy to maintain, and just “look good.” I like girly code.
I also learned that I have to distinguish myself. I have to write articles. I have to have a prominent blog. I have to think about a book project.
I’m thinking of creating “The Pragmatic Craftsman” blog and “The Lifelong Learner” blog on my site. I also want to have “better Object Oriented…” category on my software blog.
I learned a word “harness,” which is hard to explain but I think it means to “put together.”
I have to keep working hard and read a lot of material. I have to keep learning.

I gave a speech yesterday. I learned that I keep rocking when I speak. I also move too much. I make too many movements with my head. I have to stop that. I learned all of this by recording myself with my new digital camera. That’s great.
I also learned that my wife might be changing a little bit. For better. She seems to be listening to me more. She does not want to be all negative. When I say to her that you are being negative, she rebuffs that. That’s a good sign. I will have to work hard on this with her.
Did I learn any new words? No. I should have. “Free hand,” actually, that’s the new word I learned. I means to have a freedom to choose, a freedom to do anything.
I am happy with my learning progress. I am making good progress with speaking. I have noticed, though, that my table topics answers are not good. I need to find a better way. I need to find a way that will help me keep satisfied and give good answers.

I gave a speech yesterday. I learned that I keep rocking when I speak. I also move too much. I make too many movements with my head. I have to stop that. I learned all of this by recording myself with my new digital camera. That’s great.
I also learned that my wife might be changing a little bit. For better. She seems to be listening to me more. She does not want to be all negative. When I say to her that you are being negative, she rebuffs that. That’s a good sign. I will have to work hard on this with her.
Did I learn any new words? No. I should have. “Free hand,” actually, that’s the new word I learned. I means to have a freedom to choose, a freedom to do anything.
I am happy with my learning progress. I am making good progress with speaking. I have noticed, though, that my table topics answers are not good. I need to find a better way. I need to find a way that will help me keep satisfied and give good answers.

What did I learn today (actually yesterday)? I’m still trying to see what I’m going to be writing in this learning log.
I learned a new word yesterday. But I don’t remember which one. 🙂 In order for me to remember these words I need to review them in the middle of the day. My goal is to learn at least one new word every day. I don’t know a lot of words: I am not at the point where I want to be and it shows sometimes when I speak. I am at the lack of words. I cannot continue doing that. I will learn a new word everyday. A word that I will remember. 🙂
I also learned that when I have something to do at work, a day passes by very fast. I am implementing a new feature for Whatzup 5 at work and because I was given (I gave) a deadline next week, things have picked up. It’s interesting, that when I commit to a deadline, things pick up, more pressure. That’s a good thing.
I am also loving my wife and my boy, Jakub, a lot. It’s an amazing feeling. My family is important. I have to give all I can.

I learned today that I am in a different mood when I go to work and start on my project right away. It takes into “working” mode right away. When I’m on a project that needs to be finished soon, that’s how I can increase productivity, I learned.
I also learned that by taking breaks every 90 mins, at 10:30, 12, and 4:30, I can think better. During those 5-minute breaks I can regenerate some energy and give it to my brain. It helps a lot, especially when I’m thinking hard.
I learned a new word today, as well. “Facilitate,” which means to make it easier. My goal is to learn at least one word every day. I also learned the meaning of the word “sway,” which means to move from side to side. I sway when I speak. I sway when I get a little nervous.
How do I know that I sway? I sway because that’s what Todd from Toastmasters told me today. It’s good. For a while, I could not stop thinking about it. But it’s good, as it tells me that I need to work on it.

I am starting a learning log. In this log, I will enter my thoughts on what I’m learning, what I want to learn: anything that is learning related.
The bottom line is that I want to become a lifelong learner. I want to learn something new everyday. I want to continue on that path until I die. Why? Because that’s what I like to do. I like to learn new things, read new books.
But how did I come about doing this? I am currently reading “The Lifelong Learner” book. In that book, the author suggests creating a learning log and entering stuff into this daily.
I will spend 5 to 10 minutes every day and enter my thoughts into this log. I will create a seperate blog on my website and enter all of my entries there. I will read my entries every couple of months. For now, I’m not going to make it public, but I think eventually I will.
As several people said, great thinkers of the ninethinth and twentieth centuries all had a learning log. I will have mine as well.
I’m hoping that this will help me. It will help me develop new skills, have a more focused purpose of life. This will help me in almost all of the facets of my life.