Bitesize Learning

I have a love for new information, be that new code tricks to use at work, a new perspective from a book or magazine or new recipes to adapt into something new creation in the kitchen. So often though I lack the time or will power to read a whole book, or create a new code project to play around with a new library, which is why I am particularly enjoying the new trend of bitesize learning. Most have probably seen the 60 second recipe videos on Facebook from Tasty, I have yet to follow one exactly but they have certainly inspired me to try and combine different ingredients that I wouldn't have thought of before.

It is two apps that I want to highlight that are really pushing me into this trend of bitesize learning, the first is called Enki which allows developers to get a 5 minute daily mental workout. First, you need to select technical topics that interested you (eg python, scss, linux, git, etc), set a time to be reminded to do your workout (mine is ~8am), and then finally each morning I get 5 small lessons around one of those topics. They have also built simple games to test your knowledge as well as feedback, commenting and even recording your progress on Github. Currently the app is invite only, but I can certainly recommend it as I have learnt a number of tips & tricks already.

The second app is called Blinkist, to get the full experience of what they costs a fair amount, however I am still trying to build a habit around what they offer for free. Anyway these guys take non-fiction books and break them down into 'blinks' which are ~1-2 minute summaries of the main points of a book. Therefore you can cover the whole book in an average time of 10-12 minutes. One feature I find particularly interesting, it that they recommend who should read these 'blinks' which really helps define if you would be interested in the book. They have a huge selection which you can pay for, but the free tier offers just one pre-chosen book every 24 hours. I personally find this constraint interesting as it will force me to consider books I would never normally pick up, however as mentioned I have yet to work this app into my daily routine. Again this is another recommendation from me, although the paid options are personally a bit steep the free option is definitely worth a try, however for someone who loves non-fiction this would be a worthwhile investment.