After a decade of procrastination, I'm committing to some lifelong goals. I've set guidelines for myself which might be useful to others:
(1) Spend less time scheduling. Creating a schedule and sticking to it is beneficial, but spending time nitpicking the effectiveness or convenience of a schedule before trying it is counterproductive.
(2) Spend less time on the internet. The internet is a great resource, but I still think that books are, in most cases, the best way to learn. The internet can also be a major distraction.
(3) Make time for recreation. After 30 minutes of learning, take a 5 minute break to walk around and hydrate. Also, when I'm not learning something new I try to find activities that are still stimulating. There is a book called "My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles" that sells for $5 on Amazon. It's brain teasers using grade school mathematics. Pick it up!
(4) Avoid learning two similar subjects or hobbies at once. In my case I'm reading 1 mathematics book, 1 Japanese book, and 1 guitar book. I would not try to learn another instrument or language at the same time.
And for anyone interested in my daily schedule...
1 hour of Introduction to Algebra - Chrystal. This is a 100 year old book in public domain that covers most of the algebra we learn in grade school and high school. I had a book printed from a PDF.
1 hour of Genki. This is the standard introductory Japanese textbook in US schools. I also loaded the audio CDs on my phone so I listen to them outside of my hour of study.
1 hour of A Modern Method for Guitar - Leavitt. This is a rigorous introduction to playing the guitar for some one who already knows how to read musical notation. I started with the two beginner books by the same author.
Anyways, I hope everyone else the best with their learning experiences. It's a huge struggle to keep up, especially when I constantly find myself logging into sites like VGChartz... :D
