One month ago I posted on
Becoming a Better Developer. Now it's time to audit the progress and see how things are.
As of right now, I should have completed the following books:
- Getting Things Done - David Allen
- The 4-Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss
- Refactoring - Martin Fowler
In reality I read:
- 1/2 of Getting Things Done before the library asked for it back.
- N is for Noose
- The last Harry Potter (Given the amount of time I spend on the internet, I had to read this ASAP before someone ruined it for me)
- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies - James Collins, Jerry Porras
- 1/5 of The 4-Hour Work Week
- O is for Outlaw
- currently - The Tipping Point (thanks BarCampRDU! - this had to be the most referenced book of the unconference)
So, the reading is a bit of a mess. I have found I can get through a book in about a week or so, which is good. I managed to read one good book on business, parts of a couple books on productivity, and several books that were mostly fluff. Definitely time to focus. I think the revised plan going forward will be:
- The Tipping Point
- Getting Things Done
- Refactoring (2 weeks)
Next month I will audit this new list for success / failure.
But how about studying for the MCTS?
That is a mixed bag. With 1 month to go, I have 17 days of studying topics left in my plan. The problem is that I am covering a lot of new territory - pieces of the Framework I don't often use. So I pick them up, look them over, work with them a bit, and move on to the next piece. What did you have for lunch last Tuesday? That's about how clear I feel I am on all the new things I have covered.
I'm not really sure how to remedy this. I've been thinking of coming up with sample projects for myself built around each namespace I am studying, and then hacking though them myself, in hopes that struggling with the namespaces will make them stick more. Following the examples laid out hasn't managed to do that so far. It's just connect the dots, so there are fewer realizations, or "A-ha!" moments.
Luckily, there should be plenty of time to dig in more once everything is covered and shore up the weak spots - provided I can keep from picking up
P is for Peril.
posted @ Friday, August 10, 2007 1:30 PM