My Secret to Learning New Things

Learning new things is hard. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of time that comes with adulting or a classic case of “mom brain,” but my attention span for formal education isn’t what it once was. As a creative professional and entrepreneur, I’m encountering a new challenge or decision that expands my capacity for growth every single day – I feel like I’ve practically earned a degree in business by building one! But there are times when I know I need to learn new skills or concepts in order to take my work and life to the next level in a more focused and concentrated way. So today I want to tell you my techniques and secrets for learning new things as someone who is short on both time and brain space.

LEARNING WHILE WALKING

I recently invested $2,000 dollars in an online course that I wasn’t doing. Every time I sat down to my laptop to tackle my studies, I found myself instead checking email or tackling my to-do list. So I finally downloaded the audio files from the course to my phone and listened to the content while on a walk. Creative masterminds like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are known for holding meetings and brainstorming sessions while walking. Just try it for yourself! Take a walk while you’re listening to an audio book, a podcast, or even an online course. In fact, when I realized this was the easiest way to learn something new, I recorded audio files for my own branding ecourse students! Pro-tip: be sure to open a text file on your smartphone for jotting notes as you go!

IMPLEMENT AS YOU GO

My next biggest trick to learning as I go, is to actually implement what I’m learning as I go. For example, I recently wanted to know more about Facebook ads. I read through the thorough coursework (by Claire Pelletreau for anyone who’s wanting to learn more!), but hit a standstill when the content became technical. I realized that I would learn better by implementing a campaign in real time as I worked through the course. Another example is when I took an in-depth course in copywriting. Instead of just reading through the concepts, I practiced what I was learning by actually writing a newsletter and sales page as I went.

ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING EVERYDAY

Maybe you’re reading articles like this as you’re tackling your inbox. Maybe you’re listening to podcasts or watching informational YouTube videos in between meetings. Or maybe you’ve got a business book on your nightstand table. You don’t necessarily need to go back to school to get a masters degree to learn new things (more power to you if you have it in you to do that!). You’re probably learning more than you’re giving yourself credit for. So my final technique for learning new things is simply to acknowledge what I’m learning everyday by sharing new ideas with my business partners or creative peers or even just writing down “three things I’ve learned this week” in my trusty notebook. Pro-tip: creating content and teaching others what you’re learning can be a great way to solidify new concepts and skills.