Learning Nerd’s Diary #100
Welcome back Learning Nerds!
This week we’re celebrating 100 editions of the Learning Nerd’s Diary!
When I started this journey 2.5 years, I could have not imagined that we’d be here today.
So in celebrating this momentous occasion, we’re going to deviate from the usual format of this newsletter and do a bit of reflection and roundup of the 100+ weeks we’ve spent together.
👀 Sneak peak
Here is what I have in store for you this week -
💭 Learning About Learning: Reflecting on 100 editions
🎩 The Top 5s:
Learning Nerd’s Diaries 👾
Learning About Learning 💭
Learning Nuggets 🥜
✍🏻 Write to me: What would you like to see in the next 100 editions?
Let's jump right in!
🪞 Reflecting on 100 Editions
The Cold Start Problem 🥶
I published the first Learning Nerd’s Diary in June of 2020. I was what I jokingly call a ‘closet writer’ - always writing in my drafts but never putting anything out. The first diary came out of a week-long break where I couldn’t go out much and a bit frustration from being stuck at home.
I would write about what I was learning, reflect on the week and publish primarily on Instagram & Twitter. I was surprised how many people reached out and said they resonated with the diary. On weeks I was late or didn’t end up publishing it - people would reach out and ask for it. For someone who was just starting out writing & publishing - this was encouraging.
Building a Writing Habit ✍🏻
I came across a tweet where someone was building a writing club. The idea was simple - everyone writes an atomic essay (200-300 words only) every day for 30 days and posts the link on a WhatsApp group to keep each other accountable.
It was not easy, but it was a LOT of fun.
I wrote about research, cooking and on uninspiring days I wrote about things like ‘50 most underrated things’. Somewhere during that month, I also wrote about learning & the work I was doing. By the end of the month, I was more confident about my writing skills AND felt I should write more about learning.
Learning About Learning 💭
This series started as me trying to unpack learning. I had just transitioned from being a researcher to being a learning experience designer a year back and I was trying to leverage writing to boost my learning journey.
The idea was simple - can I reflect, synthesise how I look at learning and put it out there? The visuals came out of a way for me to add to my writing.
My writing led to more connections and more interesting conversations — something that I found valuable. From knowing about how people look at learning around me, I was now being able to understand a global perspective.
Building an Audience 👯♀️
In January of 2022, I signed up for a course by Sahil Bloom on Audience Building. The course helped me add a lot of structure to my online writing. It helped me question my why and helped me sharpen my how.
I had retired the Learning Nerd’s Diary by then but the course made me question if I wanted to start a newsletter. I decided to start with being more regular with my writing. I started publishing 2 pieces every week - 1 article and 1 nugget, both with a visual. I also doubled down on writing mostly on LinkedIn - I realised that people who work in learning are more there than anyway.
This new focus helped me attract & connect with the relevant audience on LinkedIn and have more conversations.
Resurrecting the Learning Nerd’s Diary 👾
I got back the Learning Nerd’s Diary in June of 2022. The diary became a roundup of writing I was anyway doing and became a way for me to add things I was thinking about. At this point, the diary was an eclectic mix of things.
Over time I realised that curating the diary on a specific theme might be better — it also allowed me to deep dive into a specific topic. The diary gained subscribers - something that was incredibly encouraging. People started writing back with questions and thoughts on what they enjoyed in the diary — something that I loved!
Learning Heuristics 🧠
In 2023, I also did a new series - one on learning heuristics. It came as an idea to connect heuristics - something so common in design to learning. For 10 odd weeks, it became a part of the diary and found a special section on my website as well :)
Streamlining Content Production 🛠️
Early this year I started working on streamlining the content I was producing. I wanted to make sure I had enough buffer/ writing in place that if on one odd week, I had low bandwidth - the newsletter could still go out with little/ no effort.
I sat down & made a list of all the ideas I had in place for writing newsletters and put dates to it. This removed the decision-making fatigue of having to think of new ideas every week. I have a long way to go - but this is a small start!
Retiring Learning Nuggets 🥜
As I was putting together this edition, I realised that Learning Nuggets are no longer as valuable as other things that I put out. So starting next week, I am going to retire Learning Nuggets as a series.
All the past Nuggets will continue to stay on my website and I’m excited to explore what takes its place!
tl;dr 📌
We spoke about serendipity just last week and it seemed like the emergence of this Diary was also a result of that.
Thank you for showing up every week with me on this learning journey. I am truly grateful. I can’t wait for the next 100 editions!
🎩 The Top 5s
Here is a curation of my most popular/ viewed writing:
Learning Nerd’s Diaries 👾
No.95: Cultivating Learning Rituals 🪅 →
On the recipe of a ritual, routines & how to build behaviours
No.74: Celebrating 500 Learning Nerd’s ✨ →
On copying to learn, facilitation & the curse of being an expert
No.65: All About People! 👯 →
On learning is a team sport, barbecues and learning in public
No.57: Multi-modal, multi-media learning 📹 →
On learning vs action, metaphors and designing for all 5 senses
No.44: Zero 👌🏻 to Hundred 💯 Learning →
On zero to hundred learning, the learning trifecta and structure in learning
Learning About Learning 💭
Building Learning Museums 🎪 →
Love learning but disappointed with your grades? Learning Museums is one tool you can use to solve for this!
Anatomy of a Learning Experience Designer 🦠 →
My not-so-short answer to “What is it that you do exactly?”
Pizza 🍕 vs Noodle 🍜 Learning →
We’re looking at learning all wrong. We think learning is a Pizza but it’s actually a bowl of Noodles…
Building a Learning Charter 🏔️ →
A map that can guide your personal learning journey broken down into 6 easy steps!
5 Lessons that Changed the Way I Design Courses 💻 →
We’re looking at online courses all wrong! Here are 5 ways in which you can fix them…
Learning Nuggets 🥜
No.47 Learning is like sharpening a knife.
The more you use it, the easier it cuts.
No.45 Why is adult learning so expensive?
Structured learning experiences allow you to learn with focus and speed. You’re not paying for the time you’re spending learning, but the time you save trying to figure out what & how to learn.
No.40 Put your learners in the driver’s seat.
Give your learners choice - wherever possible.
The more agency they have, the more ownership they will feel!
No.07 There are 2 kinds of learning - curiosity driven and curriculum driven.
Curriculum = structured path
Curiosity = unchartered path
You need both.
No.03 Learning is a roller coaster
Note to self : Nothing lasts forever and screaming doesn't help
✍🏻 Write to me
I’ve been thinking about a bunch of things wrt the Learning Nerd’s Diary. Here are my top 3 questions:
Should I explore more short or long form content?
What is one thing that can be removed? What is one thing that should be added?
What can be one big idea for this year?
Hit ‘Reply’ on this email and answer one/ more of the questions! Any other suggestions/ comments also welcome 🙂
I sincerely hope this is not me next week 😜
Love & Learning
Until we meet next week!
Okay?
You can get this directly in your inbox!