Continuous learning at work has never been more important. Studying the latest trends, undertaking research and constantly learning new information allows you to come up with new and innovative ideas which should collectively translate into a competitive edge for your business. Learning new things while maintaining your role as a leader, visionary and committed worker can be challenging, but it certainly isn’t impossible. With these strategies, you’ll be able to learn faster and more efficiently than ever before.
Ban all distractions
Focus only on whatever you’re studying, and avoid doing any other task. Multitasking inhibit the absorption of information and ideas. Our minds aren’t wired to focus on more than one thing at a time, and it actually slows down your cognitive processing. Set aside time to delve into your lessons and bar any distractions from the room. If you’re taking lessons, or are reading a book, or are watching online videos, isolate yourself and focus only on that task. Turn off your phone, email notifications, and any other distraction during your studying. You’ll learn much faster and easier this way.
Short study sessions
Try to schedule your learning sessions in short blocks, rather than aiming for occasional marathon sessions. Short study blocks work best for adsorbing information. Set study sessions in blocks of 20-to-30 minutes. Shorter sessions allow you remained focused for the entire session, and avoid becoming fatigued. Any longer than that, and your attention will start to dwindle.
Write everything down
Using a pen and paper will help you learn and comprehend better. Writing forces you to repeat what you’re hearing and thinking in a written format. While it’s faster to take notes on a laptop, these notes become more like transcribing rather than processing information. Taking notes by hand makes you listen actively, isolate important keywords, and identify important concepts. Taking notes and reframing it in their own words is crucial for active learning.
Work your body
Exercise does not just work your body; it also improves the fitness of your brain. Even briefly exercising for 20 minutes facilitates information processing and memory functions. But it’s not just that–exercise actually helps your brain create those new neural connections faster. You will learn faster, your alertness level will increase, and you get all that by moving your body.
Practice consistently
The best tools for learning is practice and repetition. Spread study sessions throughout the week. Brief, and frequent learning sessions are better at ensuring the information is being adsorbed, and reinforced. Make note cards by hand for the concepts you are trying to master, and review them for a few minutes several times a day. The more we do something, the more important it becomes, and the more entrenched it becomes in our memory.
Explain what you’ve learned
If you want to test your knowledge on a subject, try explaining it to someone else. This forces you to reword your innate knowledge, and revisit it from the ground up. When you share what you have learned it forces you to seek out key points and organize information into a coherent structure. It’s a perfect test to see if you’ve truly internalized the information.
