Use the SEE Method to learn and study hard subjects

by roadpaths@gmail.com

Do you want to give up before you even begin? I see this happen all the time to people who think certain subjects are just “too hard”.
Learning difficult subjects will never be easy, but if you think you’re too dumb then you’re giving up on yourself too soon.

I’m always asked how I have taught myself languages and computer programming. These are two difficult subjects yet to other people it seems like it comes easy to me. It doesn’t! I just don’t give up.

After trying dozens of methods most seem lacking. So, I’ve come up with my own method. The SEE method!

SEE stands for: Subject , Example, Explain.

These are the steps you should take when tacking a “hard” subject.

  1. Subject

Define your problem as specifically as possible. If your goal is to solve a math problem, write that down.
If it’s “learn Japanese” that is too vague.

Narrow down your subject until it is a specific issue. For learning Japanese you could
start with, “learn how to introduce myself”.

Keep asking yourself questions in order to narrow down the subject. Sometimes this could mean you have multiple subjects or questions to answer. That’s ok! Just make sure you separate them so you don’t get overwhelmed.

I’ll give an example that we can follow in the next steps. Let’s say I want to learn how to code Fibonacci’s sequence in Python.
This is a classical programming problem that could be asked either in a Computer Science course or interview.

  1. Example

At this point you might think you need the answer. Well, yes you do need the answer. But you don’t need to come up with it.
This is where you’ll research someone who has already solved it.

The point here is that you will save time from trying to reinvent the wheel by just understanding someone else’s solution. Its hard to come up with something unique right off the bat. So all we’re doing is getting some inspiration first.

I have found the solution for my problem online, and now I can dissect it line by line.

If you’re trying to learn programming and this seems too difficult, remember that you can start much smaller than this. It could be as simple as learning how to write a loop.

What happens if you can’t find a solution online? Maybe your problem is more personal such as, “Which business should I start?”.

In this case, I would search for examples that could be potential solutions. This means, search for people, forums, etc where someone has achieved what you want.

You won’t receive a step by step playbook of what you’re trying to solve but you should get a good idea.

  1. Explain

Now we use the solution we just found and try to explain it to someone else. Preferably to someone who has no idea what you’re talking about.

This will force you to explain your solution in the simplest of terms. By explaining simply you’ll truly test your knowledge of the subject. If you find that you’re not sure how to explain it, then you know you need to do more research!

Take the exact question you can’t explain, and repeat the SEE method until your original problem is solved.

For my example, I would explain how Fibonacci’s sequence works in general, how I would code it in layman’s terms (pseudocode), and then finally implement using Python.

Of course, I’m not going to go over programming in general with the person I’m explaining it to, that would be time consuming.

They don’t need to understand the implementation, only why I chose how to go about it. This type of explanation where a person generally understands what you did should be sufficient.

The SEE method is time consuming but can be applied to any difficult problem. As you answer more of your own questions with this method, you can start going broader with what your original problems are.

This will hopefully create a map of sorts – a collection of answers and solutions that you can connect to each other and review later.

Keep a journal of the problems you’ve solved with SEE and you might even find a better solution later on. Keep revising and tweaking. Use this only for large, difficult problems. Smaller goals might be more suited to some simple deep work practices.

What is deep work? It’s a term featured in a book by the same name. Learn how to use this technique in my full book review and guide.

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