活到老学到老：如何养成终身学习的习惯

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
“真正的发现之旅不仅是寻找新大陆，也要有一双善于发现的眼睛。——马可波罗

Assuming the public school system hasn’t crushed your soul, learning is a great activity. It expands your viewpoint. It gives you new knowledge you can use to improve your life. Even if you discount the worldly benefits, the act of learning can be a source of enjoyment.
假设公共教育系统没有摧毁你的精神，学习还是非常伟大的一件事的。能扩大你的视野，带来新知识改进生活。即使带来的利益不会那么丰盛，但学习本身就是一种享受。

But in a busy world, it can often be hard to fit in time to learn anything that isn’t essential. The only things learned are those that need to be. Everything beyond that is considered frivolous. Even those who do appreciate the practice of lifelong learning, can find it difficult to make the effort.
在这个繁忙的世界中，根本很难抽出时间去学习那些非必需品的东西。我们只会把注意力更多的放在必须要学的事情上面。其他一切都会被视为无用功。甚至那些一直推崇活到老学到老的人们也会发现到最后不过是喊喊口号罢了。

Here are some tips for installing the habit of lifelong learning:
下面是帮助你培养终身学习习惯的小建议哦：

1) Always have a book
随身带本书

It doesn’t matter if it takes you a year or a week to read a book. Always strive to have a book that you are reading through, and take it with you so you can read it when you have time. Just by shaving off a few minutes in-between activities in my day I can read about a book per week. That’s at least fifty each year.
一年也好，一星期也罢，随身带本书吧，有时间的时候别忘了翻一翻。光是利用每天活动间隙的这点时间，我一周都能看完一本书了哦。一年也就是50多本。

2) Keep a “To-Learn” List
列个待学清单

We all have to-do lists. These are the tasks we need to accomplish. Try to also have a “to-learn” list. On it you can write ideas for new areas of study. Maybe you would like to take up a new language, learn a skill or read the collective works of Shakespeare. Whatever motivates you, write it down.
我们都有事情的待办清单。有些任务是我们需要去完成的。不妨也来列个待学清单，写上新领域的学习想法。比如你想学一门新语言，一个技能或是阅读完莎士比亚系列著作。无论你想干嘛，都写下来吧。

3) Get More Intellectual Friends
交更多好学的朋友

Start spending more time with people who think. Not just people who are smart. But people who actually invest much of their time in learning new skills. Their habits will rub off on you. Even better, they will probably share some of their knowledge with you.
和那些乐于思考的人多接触，这可不是单单和聪明的人，而需要你去和真正愿意花时间学习新技能的人在一起。他们的习惯会影响到你，最好的莫过于还会跟你分享一些知识呢。

4) Guided Thinking
多思考

Albert Einstein once said, “Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” Simply studying the wisdom of others isn’t enough, you have to think through ideas yourself. Spend time journaling, meditating or contemplating over ideas you have learned.
爱因斯坦曾经说过：“任何读死书却不动脑子的人只会越来越懒得动脑了”。仅仅研究其他人的智慧远远不够，你需要有自己的想法。花点时间记录、冥想，思考那些你学过的东西吧。

5) Put it Into Practice
付诸实践

Skill based learning is useless if it isn’t applied. Reading a book on C isn’t the same thing as writing a program. studying painting isn’t the same as picking up a brush. If your knowledge can be applied, put it into practice.
纸上谈兵永远没有意义。读一本C语言的书和写程序完全是两个概念。学习画画和拿起画笔也不能相提并论。如果你知道如何使用知识，就赶紧付诸于实践吧。

6) Teach Others
教别人

You learn what you teach. If you have an outlet of communicating ideas to others, you are more likely to solidify that learning. Start a blog, mentor someone or even discuss ideas with a friend.
教别人也是学习的过程。如果你有一套很好的与人交际的方法，你也可能巩固自己的学习。不妨开个博客，指导下别人，或是跟朋友讨论讨论吧。

7) Clean Your Input
清空输入

Some forms of learning are easy to digest, but often lack substance. I make a point of regularly cleaning out my feed reader for blogs I subscribe to. Great blogs can be a powerful source of new ideas. But every few months I realize I’m collecting posts from blogs that I am simply skimming. Every few months, purify your input to save time and focus on what counts.
有些学习方式非常容易消化，但特别容易忘记。我会定期整理我订阅过的博客阅读器。好的博客应该是新想法的源泉，但没过几个月我就发现自己只是简单地略读和收藏帖子。每隔一段时间不妨清理一下记录，来省下时间关注真正重要的东西吧。