Top tips for learning
Every year for, well quite a number of them now, I’ve submitted my ‘top 10 tools for learning’ that Jane Hart / @C4LPT runs. I’ve submitted my top 10 again this year.
Every year Twitter has ruled the roost for me, being the single best source of learning, chatting, collaborating, sharing, etc. Pretty much everything else has come a very distant 2nd or lower. Twitter has been my go-to source for so much and for so many contacts and networking.
So, instead of repeating myself on my top 10 here, I’m going to give a few top tips on learning, that things that aren’t necessarily app or technology based. Rather these are things I do to enable me to learn, to give me space or freedom to learn.
- Twitter. Yes. Twitter is still number one on my list. But this time it’s about switching it off. And not just Twitter. Switch this off and anything else that will ping a notification on your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. Notifications are the most intrusive and disruptive thing in your life. And I put that above young children and noisy neighbours!
- Music. Some people work/learn well with background music or the radio. Some don’t. Know what works for you and use it to your advantage. If you need silence and can’t find it, consider some noise-cancelling headphones to help you out.
- Location. Do you like a busy office or cafe environment to read and absorb your learning materials? Do you prefer the study with door shut and all external distractions minimised? Know what you need and make room for it, and make sure you use it when you need it.
- Time. It’s kind of obvious this, but make sure you have the time to do some meaningful learning. If you can only learn in small chunks of time, do it. Don’t try and force yourself into a marathon 2 hour session if you know you can’t last that long, you’ll only get frustrated and give up. if you know you like and need the hours, make sure you have the space and dedicate yourself to it. Block time out of your calendar (and at work if that option is available too), and complete the above three tips too. if you’re a morning person, do you best work/learning in the morning and use the rest of your day for everything else.
- Friends/family. Sometimes having someone else involved in our learning can help. This may be someone to chat through difficult concepts or theories, someone who can make sure the distractions are minimised (take the kids to the park to give you that 3o minutes space you need, block the meeting requests to keep the time you’ve given yourself preserved in your calendar) and someone who just understands what you’re trying to do and can chat and reassure you that yes, it’s tough, but worth it. If you need a support network, remember this doesn’t have to be those who are on the same course, it can be anyone you like.
Ultimately, it’s about a balance between what time, space, volume, etc. you can give yourself, and what you need. We don’t always have the time or space to give ourselves the best opportunity (we are all busy people with work, family, social lives, etc), but by knowing what we need, we can at least give ourselves a good chance of making the most of it.
The big caveat for the above, for me when I want time and space to learn, is that I often like a mixture of everything. Sometimes I’m comfortable in a cafe with headphones and tablet, sometimes I need the quiet and shut-away feeling of the study as the materials are really detailed and I get too easily distracted when I have to focus hard.
PS. I used the imave of Spider Man / superhero deliberately as I think everyone who makes the time to learn something new, something difficult, something to improve themselves is a superhero. Whatever you do, remember you are doing you’re best and that is a brilliant thing to do, no matter the result! Be happy, be proud of yourself for trying it. If you can get the above in the right balance, you’re giving yourself the best chance to progress your learning and yourself.
Photo by Raj Eiamworakul on Unsplash
