One of the most useful concepts that I’ve come across so far that is easy/quick to implement is a learning journal.  This is different for everyone but for me it’s just quick stuff that I jot down into a text file that I think are interesting and relevant and could apply to just about anything (although admittedly lately it’s focused around programming).  It is nice though, to go through the next day, look back and see what I’ve learned, it provides a concrete reminder that learning is a process that takes time, as much as we would like to know everything all at once.  Much like reviewing class notes before the next lecture, these notes help remind me of important concepts and ideas.

I think one of the most important concepts I’ve learned of late and that programming has certainly reinforce is that it’s far easier to break things down into steps.  As much as we’d like to tackle everything all at once, oftentimes we have time or resource constraints that prevent us from doing this, so working on one bit at a time is really helpful.  This breakdown also helps bound the problem that you’re working on and let you know where there might be future issues.