At a Lose

Hey all
Sorry bout my lack of post as of recent, but you`ll understand why if you read on.
So i wanna be an I.T Technician, and i`m at a lose with myself, because i keep reading stuff relating to computer stuff, yet i get confused,can`t take it in, or just simply forget it straight after reading it.And this is how i`m at a lose, i`d say i`m technically minded,i spend more time on this netbook then i do watching t.v, i eat healthily, i eat most things, so my nutrients should be all good, and i drink detox tea.Yet i keep forgetting, why?
I`m starting to reach a point of saying f*** 1* a** and i don`t want to be like this i love i.t when i`m in the techy zone:-D, but lately i just feel useless and thinking this is to much hardwork.
It`s like you read something from one book,and your like what the heck are they on about then it`ll take you freaking ages to find that one book or site that`ll explaining it in laymens terms, and all the while i`m thinking " i should know this, i want to be a techy and i don`t know this".
Just now i put my head in my arms,out of mental exhaustion and i just suddenly thought " i ain`t taking no for an answer and so i`ve posted on here.
Also been worrying over something but i`d rather not say,could this be the cause of it all?
Anyways that`s my rant/:cry for help over.

P.S Been trying to learn C++ all day, but have given up on that now trying C instead.

Thanks

Lone W0lf

 

The speed and sheer vastness of knowledge that can be learnt in I.T. is staggering to say the least, even 1 subject can have so many side subjects that you need to know to understand other aspects.

In your position I would take a step back for a day or 2 to collect your thoughts and give yourself some breathing room.
The other "Issue" if it's worrying you is undoubtedly having a negative effect on all aspects of your life, I often find if something is bugging me then I have difficulty keeping my mind on track and will drift off thinking about the "issue" without even realising and then making a mistake or missing something.
I often find myself reading something but not actually paying attention to what I'm reading because something is on my mind.

If you enjoy it then take a breather and come back to it, I would hate to see someone give up on something they enjoy because it's getting on top of them.

My girlfriend does needlework design, it's been her hobby for years but the last 2 years she has been a contracted designer.
I told her right at the start "Don't let your hobby become a job you hate"
It nearly went that way with several frustrations where she didn't want to stitch even for fun.
But she persevered under support from myself and others and she's back to enjoying it.

This kind of thing happens to a lot of people, hopefully you will gather strength and continue on your quest for PC knowledge

 

I think some of the problem is your just not interested in what your reading,if you were truly interested and excited by what your were reading you'd remember it. Unless your extremely intellectually gifted you'll struggle to learn something your not interested in,the situation is a exacerbated by you reading huge textbooks without putting what your learning to practice. Necessity is the reason most people end up programming,not because they just want to be a programmer,they need to learn to program to make a piece of software that doesn't exist.

I think that's what you should be concentrating on putting what your learning into practice straight away,you shouldn't be reading huge chunks of text,you should be experimenting with code with the goal being to write a small program that does something YOU NEED!

BTW I'm not a programmer I'm just not interested,one thing I am interested in is electronics,when I'm reading about electronics I either NEED to learn it to make a circuit work which can be hard work or I'm reading it out of pure curiosity which is FUN I get excited every time I grasp a SINGLE new concept.

One place that's good for helping you learn loads of crap you find boring is school:-D Seriously,schools and educational courses know how to force you to learn stuff you wouldn't otherwise find interesting,you have someone who can answer all your questions and the information is in the correct order and in edible chunks.

So if you neither need to learn programming or are excited by it "Being excited about the thought of being a programmer or working in IT isn't the same thing" And are not a genius with a photographic memory I think you need to ask yourself some deep questions as to why you want to learn it,you only have one life I think you should strive to spend it doing things that 'do it' for you.

Food for thought

 

I've been in the electronics field since the days of vacuum tubes, today it's called IT. One thing I discovered early on was that reading only gets you about one third of the way to learning something. Doing it gets you the rest of the way there. It's best to have a mentor that already knows the stuff but you can learn it on your own too if your prepared to make some mistakes. When the stress level gets too high, take break for a day or two as Nedlamar said.

 

Hey Wolfie
I feel your pain and frustration,I am (was) a PC builder and helped out in the Hardware forum here but due to a medical condition i have been prescribed stronger and stronger meds that have effected my memory and i am in the same situation as you in that when i read something it is easily forgotten so what i do is have a notepad next to me and jot down important parts of the subject i am trying to learn and later when i look at the notes they act as an aid memoir and i can drag the rest of the subject out of the dark recesses of what once was my memory.
Another thing i have found helpful is to read a page or two and then step away to reflect on what i have just read and think over the salient points also never try to force memory by studying too much at one sitting, it's better to take a little longer to ingest what you have read than to just go blindly forward trying to soak up everything in one sitting.
Also as Rikky said "learning thing by rote is no good" as you need to try some application of the things you learn as you go along.

 

I have always considered this time of year the "Gray Months" with the weather generally crappy and cloudy and you are stuck indoors "forever". It can exacerbate tension and really get you down when things don't go your way.

Some practical suggestions if you will -
Vary your routine as much as possible. Don't do the same things day in and day out in the same order.
Set yourself a block of free time to pursue your favorite thing outside IT, whatever it is. A reward, so to speak, for your efforts in class.
Walk outside for a break if the weather is not simply horrendous.
Look into study group possibilities or tutor arrangements. Bouncing ideas or options off another person or group is almost always beneficial. A tutor for a short time can get you over a rough patch in understanding a concept.

Sometimes you just have to grind it out on a subject but for the most part, as Rikky said, it should be appealing to you to learn this if you really want to follow this field.

Good Luck

 

Thanks everyone,still feeling crappy today.I do want to learn C/C++ because i`ve always wanted to be able to make games, and now i`d like to make mods for computer games (when i get the desktop pc for it).
That`s another thing, hardly anything interests me, i mean if i didn`t go on my netbook, i`d be bored for something mentally stimulating.
Another problem with me is i`m always questioning stuff,like yesturday was learning C, and on the site it says that libraries are like code that people have already written to save you the hassle, and i`m thinking,what exaclty have they written, why do i need <iostream> for the program to understand my keystrokes, and display stuff.But then i`m thinking i`m being stupid, but honestly i can`t see why you need it, i mean that`s what the post test and bios is for.

 

I'd split your study time into two areas then,programming and practical game theory.

You obviously can't play any games at all on a netbook so you first need to get a computer,practically any computer will do,any that will run the original half life engine from 1998 it doesn't have to be a be a beast,any computer you can find in a dumpster.

Then start here

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Goldsource

And start writing a mod,what's great about gold source is the mod you make can then be ported to a more modern engine easily so your work isn't wasted.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_SDK_Base

 

^
Thanks Rikky.I`m already sort of dividing my time between, reading about how computers,mobiles/cell phones etc work, and learning to program.
Surely my netbook ain`t that bad? i got a dual core atom with 1gb ram, hoping to upgrade that but it`s a b**** to upgrade the ram.
Already getting some of the C basics down, so hopefully by end of next week, i`ll actually be able to be confident and know the basics,easy.
Feeling bit better,just annoying when you`re trying to learn a programming language and people don`t explain it in simple terms, and you spend whole day getting nothing done.

 

You have a quantum computer? That should definitely run half life and original source:-D

I dunno see if you can run orginal source on it then,I think the full half life game is now free on steam.

Your obviously young Lonewolf and what I'm trying to convey is that you need to experiment in fields you want to study to see if they're for you,how do you know if making game mods is for you if you've never done it?

I dunno you come here looking for emotional support and encouragement and some a-hole with no life tries to give you life lessons:-D

Good luck with your studies...