Week 4: We're getting technical and tips for self-paced learning
Updated to the Study Guide, new study notes added and 4 tips for self-paced learning.
Part of the “Mastering dbt” series. Access to the full Study Guide. Let’s connect on LinkedIn!
Last week was an important one for your Study Guide as we started to dive into configurations for the dbt_project.yml file. For this post, I will share an important update to the Study Guide, list all the study notes added last week, and share 4 tips for our self-paced learning journey.
Important updates to the Study Guide
We are getting more technical and, upon reviewing the configurations documentation, I realised our Study Guide deserved a different approach to facilitate our learning.
Therefore, instead of reviewing a long list of configurations and properties with no context, we are going to review documentation by resource.
The documentation is the same, just the order has been amended.
Study notes added:
Last week, we started moving away from the Best Practice and conceptual topics to the more technical side of dbt.
I must say I am pretty proud of the dbt_project.yml post as it is so comprehensive in terms of all the possible configurations you could have in that file. It was difficult to write it but I learned a ton and I hope you do too!
A full list of the study notes is available in the main post.
This week, we are going to go through the materialisation types and hopefully start deep-diving into our first resource: models.
4 Self-paced learning tips
I am a freelance Data Analyst and my workload varies massively. I went from a fairly quiet July and August to a hectic September and October.
Juggling paid work with self-paced studying isn’t easy. I am trying to keep the consistency of studying every day, even if for one hour or less, so I don’t lose the momentum.
In this DataTalks podcast, the medicine student Pastor Soto shared lots of great tips on how to learn with time and energy constraints. Perhaps he’s a bit of an outlier in terms of how quickly he learns things, but I listed some of my favourite tips from his talk:
Always have a plan for the next day
He mentions the importance of having a schedule of what you’re going to tackle the next day. I have been finding this essential to keep me motivated and like I am on a path that leads somewhere rather than doing random things every day.
Be curious - ask why
When we are deep-diving into something so technical like learning how to use a piece of software, it’s helpful to keep a curious mind. Would this configuration work in a different context? What would happen if I tried to do this? Follow the guides but don’t be afraid to venture off the path occasionally.
Public learning: instead of telling people what you’re learning, explain it to show authority
This lit up a light bulb over my head. On LinkedIn, I have been posting pretty much a shortened version of these weekly posts. But he opened my mind that I should actually be imparting the knowledge I am gaining. Plus, public learning is a great way to keep motivated and make connections.
Do a bit more than the average person
I loved this line because it’s very realistic. If you work with the expectation that you need to be the best at everything, you are setting yourself up for failure. However, you can strive to do more than the average person. By using your creativity and putting your personality into your work, you can stand out from the average Joe who is just going through the motions.
Happy learning!
Have the study notes been useful to you so far? How are you getting on with your self-paced learning journey? I would love to hear from you here or on LinkedIn!
Really helpful notes. Thanks for sharing!
It is indeed difficult to stay consistent in learning something new especially when you have a full time job at the same time.
What you do in Substack is admirable so keep it up, it is super motivating :)