Explore, Integrate, Sleep, Repeat
Published: 2024-07-08 05:40:17

---
title: Explore, Integrate, Sleep, Repeat
published: true
date: 2024-07-06 08:00:52 UTC
tags: 
canonical_url: https://blog.lamparelli.eu/explore-integrate-sleep-repeat
---

Hi everyone,

I hope you're enjoying your time surfing the web. Since I started focusing on this dev journey, I've gone through several stages to ensure I can dedicate a bit of time every day.

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It's been almost three months now that I've been progressing step by step in this adventure and challenge I set for myself. Coincidence or not, it's also been nearly two years since I decided to leave my full-time job to become an independent consultant. I think there's a pattern here. The progress made since day one is huge, and you only see how far you've come when you look back at the entire journey. It's true what they say: "Little by little, the bird builds its nest."

In any case, it's essential to live your experience fully. Apply a small improvement at each iteration, which will allow you to go a bit further. I learned this from the personal development books I've read over the past few years (I can share a list of books that had a significant impact on my journey if you're interested). While it's important to have a guiding line, a goal to reach (no matter what the goal is at first, just define something to get you started...), it's even more important to take the first step.

Now, back to the topic of this post. Over the past three months, I've worked on improving aspects that help me create an ideal environment to maximize my ability to absorb a concept or method each day.

The most important thing for learning is not just learning itself, but having good conditions such as:

* **Getting enough sleep**
    
    We often try to maximize our learning time by cutting down on sleep, but that's the worst thing we can do! The brain and body need to recharge their batteries, and unlike solar-powered batteries, the human body recharges at night...
    
* **Staying properly hydrated**
    
    Besides keeping your body well-hydrated, taking a hydration break also gives you a chance to move and get some fresh air (a non-scientific but effective fact).
    
* **Just Move**
    
    It's enough to move and get your blood and oxygen circulating in your body. I chose an intensive cycling session several times a week.
    
* **Avoiding intoxicating or euphoric substances**
    
    While it's always enjoyable to share a good time with friends, the body struggles to recover, and your learning will suffer... So, it's not forbidden but something to consider in your planning.
    
* **Eating well**
    
    The hardest part is maintaining a healthy habit and not always eating something hot, greasy, soft, and/or sweet (okay, after a night out, you'll need it to recover, for sure). I'm not a nutritionist, so it's hard to give advice, but try to prioritize balanced meals.
    

In the end, I've managed to integrate these different points, even though these are messages we're bombarded with all day long... I had to go through my own experiences, and by reiterating what I've learned, adding a little point each time, I'm now here writing to you...

And you, how is your learning going? What techniques have you put in place to learn more effectively?

Happy coding! 🚀😊