How to learn one new thing well by complicating your life.

We're all well aware that we learn more thoroughly by doing than by observing. Trouble is, it takes effort to schedule the doing, especially when the going gets rough. What I do is add one little extra piece of doing to the going.

For the past several projects, computer-related or not, I've added a single new technique or technology that I want to learn into the mix. This complicates things, and often seems a terribly unwise idea as deadlines approach, but it forces me to learn that one new thing in as real a scenario as I'm able to concoct. The topic sinks in much better than had I simply "played" with it, or experimented around the edges.

For example, these are a few of the things I've taught myself recently.

• For a small web-based application written in Django, I added in database migrations using the South tool.
• While laying the baseboard moulding for the living room, I taught myself the coping method for inside corners.
• When writing scripts for a research database, I used Mercurial for the first time to track changes in the code.
• In creating on-line interactive exercises for Yukon College courses, I learned the Less language for CSS.
• Rather than write custom ad-hoc code for those exercises, I decided to write all new exercise components as jQuery UI widgets.
• While building a Python program to scrape websites, I wrote the code using a new IDE, PyCharm.
• Many years ago, I built a wire-mesh box to protect our vegetable garden from furry beasts, and decided to incorporate half-lap joints with dowel fasteners. The thing has survived multiple summer thaws and winter freezings with nary an open or proud joint.

I would have completed all of these projects just as well without the added complexity, but probably wouldn't have taken the time to learn those new tools and skills separately. I now track each of my code projects through Mercurial, I use Less for all HTML work, and every one of my inside corners is coped.

And soon I'll be complicating my most important project to date: raising our baby boy in French. I've been practising for the past year in class, but now it's time for the doing. Bonne chance!