HOW TO LEARN THINGS THE PROPER WAY - TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE LEARNING

I don't know about you, but I love learning new things, figuring out how to do or not do stuff and slowly getting better as I go. Learning rocks!

But have you ever wondered how to learn things the proper way? 

It's actually quite easy to get the best of your time and effort while getting all the new information in your head. All you need to do is following this super handy list:

1. BEFORE YOU EVEN START ANYTHING MAKE SURE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED.

That goes both for interruptions from the inside and the outside. Inside is pretty straightforward - do not shoot your own foot, stop sabotaging yourself. In other words, find some quiet space, relax, don't let any excuses take over (no, you are not hungry, your house doesn't need cleaning right this very moment and the cat videos on the internet can wait) and get your brain in I Can Do It! mode. Outside is even easier to sort out - for your study space choose a location that should be nice and quiet by default, get your phone away from you (or put it on silent, but no peeking!), and if possible, put a 'Do not disturb' note on the door. It will help.

2. FOCUS, BUT TAKE IT SLOW

Do you have to study and read a whole 20 chapters of a super boring book? Is the online course that you are taking 50 hours long? Find a way to make the workload smaller and manageable. Divide it into smaller pieces and go for it - it's way easier to tell yourself to read one paragraph at a time, watch a tutorial video while enjoying a cup of coffee or take notes as you go than try and tackle all of the available material in one go. Remember that you don't have to do everything right now, you just have to finish it at some point. Chill out, slow down and enjoy it. But no slacking either!

3. TAKE NOTES, SCRIBBLE, ARGUE, THINK ABOUT IT - MAKE IT INTERESTING

There is a huge difference between skim reading an article or binge-watching video tutorials and actually interacting with the information that is out there. Sure, no matter what and how you do it, you will learn something, but you can greatly improve your understanding of any topic just by engaging in it more. Try writing some notes as you go, try and come up with a real-life situation where you will be able to apply this new knowledge, think about a way to improve what your instructor is talking about. By making it more interesting for yourself, you are actually getting more from it, so get out there and figure out what will make it fun for you. Then learn like there is no tomorrow!

Have fun!

YOU ARE SKILLED (AND DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU ANYTHIG DIFFERENT) - FREE WORKSHEET!

What are you good at? What kind of things can you do?

If I asked you that now – would you know what to answer? Go! Tell me 3 things that you are great at! Don't think that I expect a certain answer, don't try to make it complicated, just tell me what kind of things can you do (because you do them every day at work or because it's your hobby). Could you do the same with 10 things or more?

Now...Could you tell me how did you learn how to do those things? When was the last time that you really used those skills?

If you have any problems with the exercise above, take a look at this worksheet that I prepared for you:

This table is for everyone that:

1. Would like to get a better idea on what kind of practical skills they have.

2. Has a job interview soon.

It is designed to give you something to think about (What kind of situations show different skills that I have? What else can I do that I don't really notice every day?) and to give you a head start at any job interview that will focus on your previous experiences (What did I do before that required me to be organized?).

You can either print the table as it is on the blog or download the .pdf version from Tiny Upload or my SlideShare.

Have fun!