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+[[!meta title="Survival of the Skillest: Thriving in the Learning Jungle"]]
+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2024 Bala Ramadurai"]]
+[[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/learning-nav)" raw="yes"]]
+
+<!-- Initially generated with emacsconf-publish-talk-page and then left alone for manual editing -->
+<!-- You can manually edit this file to update the abstract, add links, etc. --->
+
+
+# Survival of the Skillest: Thriving in the Learning Jungle
+Bala Ramadurai (his/him) - https://balaramadurai.net
+
+[[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/learning-before)" raw="yes"]]
+
+In today's fast-paced world, the need to learn new skills is more crucial
+than ever. The ability to adapt and evolve not only enhances your
+employability but also empowers you to navigate life's challenges more
+effectively. By acquiring new skills, you stay relevant, innovative, and
+capable of seizing opportunities that come your way.
+
+The session will begin with an engaging discussion on the necessity of
+learning new skills, emphasizing that the ability to adapt and evolve is
+crucial. Using the metaphor of "emptying your teacup," you will explore the
+concept of approaching learning with an open mind, ready to absorb new
+knowledge and skills.
+
+Next, you'll dive into actionable techniques for managing your tasks and
+projects efficiently. Bala will introduce the PARA method—Projects, Areas,
+Resources, and Archives—a structured approach to organizing your work and
+life. You will learn how to categorize your tasks, set clear goals, and
+maintain a balanced workflow.
+
+Furthermore, the talk will highlight the importance of regular reviews.
+Weekly, quarterly, and yearly reviews will help you stay on track, reflect
+on your progress, and plan for the future. Through these reviews, you'll be
+encouraged to ask big life questions, such as your financial goals, the
+impact you've had on others, and your work-life balance.
+
+Finally, you'll be introduced to the 9-windows framework, a powerful tool
+for future career planning. Join us and take the first step towards
+mastering the art and developing the mindset of skillful survival in the
+fast-paced ever changing learning jungle.
+
+About the speaker:
+
+Dr. Bala Ramadurai is an author, coach, consultant, podcaster and
+professor. He has authored a book on Design Thinking called Karmic Design
+Thinking (<https://dt.balaramadurai.net>). He has 3 patents to his credit and
+10+ publications in international research journals. He co-founded TRIZ
+Innovation India (<https://trizindia.org>) and is an Adjunct Professor at
+Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (India), Universidad
+Panamericana (Mexico), Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and
+National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). He is also a
+board member in the Board of Studies for Symbiosis International University.
+
+In this talk, you'll discover the importance of continuous skill
+development and learn practical strategies to manage your personal and
+professional growth effectively using Emacs org-mode, Getting Things Done
+(David Allen's GTD), PARA (Tiego Forte's Projects-Areas-Resources-Archives)
+and system operator (or 9-windows). Bala will guide you through a
+transformative journey of self-improvement and productivity.
+
+See also:
+# Discussion
+
+## Questions and answers
+
+- Q:What is TRIZ?
+ - A: Russian methodology (documented in books)
+ - Translates to "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving"
+- Q: Thank you for this talk, very interesting. One of the things that
+ frustrates me about modern webdev is the rate of churn when it comes
+ to useful knowledge. I think Emacs can help to counteract against
+ this by building lasting tools where mastery can be built. Do you
+ agree that learning similar but different things again and again is
+ ultimately wasted bandwidth? What can we do as technologists to push
+ back against this?
+ - A: New things are always coming up, and we "have" to learn that
+ new things. We also have to be aware that there are so many
+ projects, hobbies, and Life™ waiting for you. It's not a
+ balancing act, but if you pay attention and are present in the
+ moment (fully present), then **look back** and **connect**.
+ Something that appears to be a waste of time at first could
+ potentially tie back to something else and be really helpful.
+ - EX: Experimenting with CSS, and how it could be used to
+ customize an org-mode export.
+ - Then, a student mentioned that the slides were too bulky
+ to be scrolled through.
+ - ...But because I'd looked already at CSS, I could play
+ with weasyprint to make the slides.
+- Q (reworded as a question): \<chum-cha\> Why add an "Abandoned"
+ project to the "Resources" folder instead of the "Archives"
+ folder?
+ - A: Many a time, when the projects are abandoned, given some
+ time, some projects revive and you could restart. Also, these
+ abandoned projects could serve as useful resources for some
+ other related projects. I tend to move Archives to another
+ filing system to conserve space at the end of the year.
+- Q: How would you avoid the blind spots in your personal review, e.g.
+ problems you cannot see with yourself because of unconscious
+ hinderances?
+ - A: I feel that when you are reviewed by others, those blind
+ spots become apparent. Otherwise, it can be tricky to get to
+ know this in personal reviews alone, in my opinion
+- Q: What tool are you using to sync your todos and notes in multiple
+ hosts?
+ - A: The only other tool I use, apart from emacs on my computer is
+ Google calendar. I use org-gcal to sync the events from Google
+ Calendar. If I am on the move and away from my computer, I mark
+ an event for monday morning, 09:30am with the task that I just
+ thought about. In that event, I prefix it with TODO, so that
+ when it shows up in my org agenda, it shows up as a TODO task
+ and I am able to process it. Org-gcal syncs to my
+ 0Inbox/TODO.org
+- Q:Emptying your teacup is something interesting you had in your
+ talk. Sometimes my thinking is sluggish until i write down the
+ thoughts that refuse to leave my head "generally in journaling or
+ gtd". I am also pleasantly surprised about what comes out. You
+ brought this up multiple times other reasons for this?
+ - A: Emptying your teacup is just the start, in my opinion. When
+ you finish processing all your thoughts is when the thought
+ actually leaves your head for good. Since, there is no reason
+ for your head to hold on to those thoughts. GTD suggests using a
+ someday-maybe folder or file for parking thoughts that are not
+ going to work out now, but you would like to keep to them look
+ up later. I look at the someday/maybe once a quarter.
+- people can join BBB: 
+ [https://media.emacsconf.org/2024/current/bbb-learning.html](https://media.emacsconf.org/2024/current/bbb-learning.html)
+
+## Notes
+
+- i want to learn new skills because it is annoying
+ not being able to do something
+- I like learning because it feels good for me, like it
+ grants some dopamine. And the more one learns, the more one is able
+ to do.
+- By analogy, the email inbox is for receiving mail, not for
+ holding it
+- Article on e-mail organization:
+ [https://pointieststick.com/2024/07/09/how-i-manage-my-kde-email/](https://pointieststick.com/2024/07/09/how-i-manage-my-kde-email/)
+ - Thunderbird enables automatic tagging.
+- For adding files to the agenda, I have an updated version of the
+ System Crafters setup.
+ - System Crafters Set-up:
+ [https://codeberg.org/SystemCrafters/systemcrafters-site/src/branch/master/content/videos/build-a-second-brain-in-emacs/5-org-roam-hacks.org#headline-5](https://codeberg.org/SystemCrafters/systemcrafters-site/src/branch/master/content/videos/build-a-second-brain-in-emacs/5-org-roam-hacks.org#headline-5)
+ - Updated Set-up:
+ [https://github.com/gs-101/.emacs.d/blob/17c04c0ef1c5fb4083c8d94a5240ed8ef7d4a841/modules/gs-org-roam.el#L96](https://github.com/gs-101/.emacs.d/blob/17c04c0ef1c5fb4083c8d94a5240ed8ef7d4a841/modules/gs-org-roam.el#L96)
+ - Just add a ":agenda:" tag to the file and call
+ "dw/org-roam-refresh-agenda-list"
+- I plan to add an "Archive" file to my Roam set-up, I don't have
+ one currently. Usually I just leave the finished task in the file.
+ Not sure if it's effective.
+- perhaps "abandoned" means in PARA not
+ definitive for all time, and could be useful in the future again.
+ but that's just a guess, not being familiar enough with PARA.
+ - Thanks! That makes sense and I think
+ that's probably the correct answer. I guess my interpretation
+ of the "Archive" folder is that it's there so that you can
+ pull stuff out if you change your mind, whereas Resources is
+ more for things that are "Active" and I wouldn't personally
+ see an "Abandoned" project as active.
+ - personally i would also pull out from
+ any folder, may it be named "archives" or not :) but maybe
+ archive implies in PARA for completed projects only -
+ however, pls double check with the presenter Bala
+- I was doing some of these already but not in a formal way. This
+ gives me a lot of structure to do it. Thank you so much. I like the
+ "emptying the teacup" idea a lot.
+- I will probably add the regular reviews to my workflow. I also think
+ it is the hardest concept in your talk, isn't it? 
+- Personally, I use Syncthing
+ ([https://syncthing.net/](https://syncthing.net/))
+ to sync files.
+ - I'm using Nextcloud for syncing files. It also has WebDAV
+ interface which can be used by the Phone Apps.
+ - I'd use NextCloud too, but I don't have a server set-up (a
+ NAS, for example) at home. I'm waiting until I buy one to
+ get into self-hosting.
+- Thanks, that was a great talk - I'll be watching it again :)
+
+
+[[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/learning-after)" raw="yes"]]
+
+[[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/learning-nav)" raw="yes"]]
+
+