Updated April 25, 2023
Learning Skills
Once we are done with our schooling, the learning process will stop. We won’t be able to acquire any new knowledge, or more importantly, we won’t have to accept any new knowledge. But this frame of thought could not be any more wrong. The learning process is not restricted to a particular age or grade. We are learning something new constantly, sometimes without even realizing it. Some tend to join a college or a university, or a night school to enhance their learning skills, while others attend seminars or lectures or read books for the same purpose. You may only participate in college once you finish high school, but the learning process continues. You confirm you incorporate some good habits that will help you improve your learning skills. And the sooner, the better, right.
The process of learning can never stop. Even at 60, people learn new things about the changing social scenario or life in general. The learning process is restricted to the subjects you study and the things you observe during your daily life. So why not make this process of learning a little easier. Why not teach some good habits in ourselves to increase our ability to learn and make the learning process much more effective and fun.
Sometimes the learning process is not just limited to passing your exams or getting good grades on some tests, and sometimes the process is much more than that. And more importantly, the things you learn today are for more than just retention purposes. The knowledge you gain today will help you in your career tomorrow, help you during parenting or even business or relationships, or even sometimes as simple as getting ahead of someone at a particular task. The knowledge you gain today will always come in handy sometime. So why not ensure that the knowledge you gain stays in your mind.
Here are some pointers you can remember while working on your learning skills. It can take you a long way, and make sure that the knowledge you gain today is recovered tomorrow and stays with you as long as you want. So remember these little points the next time you are learning something.
1. Keep yourself Prepared
When you attend the class, try to study before to have a fair idea of what to expect from the course and what will be taught in the class. Also, if you already have an idea about the curriculum of the lecture, then it would help you understand the study better and hence help you retain the knowledge better. Also, you can simultaneously ask and resolve various queries about the topic immediately. This way, you can feel understood and at a good place when reviewing the matter you just learned. So try and prepare yourself for the lecture. Try and get the books you might need for the class or download the software you might need to understand the class proceedings easily and better.
2. Be organized
Keeping your desk or notes organized can make your life much easier. Keep your notes organized and well divided. Create separate folders for the messages you took on your computer, or keep your notes in individual files and folders. This little technique will not only save you organized but will also save you a lot of trouble and make your task easier when you are in a hurry and want to find something out of your notes. And not just get organized but keep up the habit of staying organized, which will help you remember where you kept your stuff and assist you in a hurry.
3. Be punctual
Being punctual never costs anybody anything. It only helps you be ready for the class you will take. Reach for the course five minutes early and try and keep everything that you need for the class ready. So that you will be able to sort things out during the procedure, this will not only affect your concentration level but will also disturb your fellow students. Preparing everything will help you focus better and be more attentive in class. Being punctual enables you to take your mind off other things. And being punctual for the course has an added advantage in that you will complete your other tasks on time and won’t have to rush through things.
4. Keep a notebook handy
Take notes of the things being taught in the class. Taking notes can be quite helpful. Try and be multitasking, but if you can’t, then listen carefully during the course and take notes later on. You can review the type and make notes if the class is recorded. Taking notes keeps you from the hassle of reading the whole thing, and you can check the topic better and also helps you better remember the things being taught in the class. And make sure that you review your previous notes before the next class.
5. Establish your learning style
Everybody has a particular learning style, so recognize your learning style and take classes accordingly. If you can better understand and learn things just by listening, you can purchase your class’s audio CD and listen to them while stuck in a traffic jam, or you can keep a notebook handy to take notes and review them whenever you find some free time. It turns your otherwise useless time into productive time and helps you understand better as you learn the style you find the best.
6. Clear your doubts is a good learning skills
If you have some questions regarding any of the topics being taught, then write down the questions and make sure that you clarify all your doubts. A doubtful mind can only grasp some of the knowledge being given to him, and he will, in turn, get confused, so to understand and learn properly, make sure that all your queries are answered properly. No query is silly, and there are no dumb questions in the learning process. Plus, you never know; you might share your query with someone, and this will provide dual benefits.
The instructors also believe that having a question in your mind is a sign of attentiveness because if you are not listening to what the teacher has to say, then you will never be able to come up with a query. After all, an attentive mind is what you need the most to make the learning skills most effective.
7. Complete the Assignments
Make sure you always complete your assignments. They can provide you with the extra help that you need. If you prepare from a self-help book, ensure you meet all the projects. This will help you test your knowledge and will help you determine your success and how well you have learned. You can also take some mock tests if you want. They can come in handy too. If you are attending online classes, review the recorded version of the course in case you miss it. And after that, make sure to solve some of the assignments given, and they make sure that whatever knowledge you have just gained remains in your mind and also tell you the key areas you should work on to understand the lecture better.
Feeling lost when you seem to be getting too much information from various sources is normal. But it calls for prioritization of the information received by you. Also, good reading and learning habits can take a long way in knowledge retention.
8. Create a perfect study place
Create a workstation for yourself where you can dump all your study material and just get started with the learning process. Keep all the books and the things that you need handy. Choose the place where you want to study carefully. You don’t want to choose a dull place. It would result in boredom, and you would like to avoid going there and checking again. Choosing an interesting or activity-filled place can divert your attention to other things in the room, making it challenging to concentrate on your studies. Also, you want your study place to have a manageable amount of noise or any other such distraction, as it will make it harder for you to concentrate on studying.
9. Develop a schedule
Preparing an agenda for oneself is often unimportant in the larger scheme of things. Develop a schedule for yourself and decide how you want to study, when you want to look, and where you want to learn. Having a plan will be of little help, but it can be exactly what you need. To develop a program, create a time limit for yourself by which you have to complete the given assignment. If you are on a clock to complete a task, then you tend to put in much more concentrated effort to complete the tasks. Also, setting a time limit tends to solve the problem of procrastinating and helps you avoid meeting the job at the last minute and being unable to give your best.
10. Start with the harder things
When you are caught up in the dilemma of choosing between the easier and harder tasks, always go for the harder one because putting off, the harder job at the last minute will reduce your efficiency to half, and you will not be able to produce the best results. On the other hand, if you take on the harder task first, you have ample time and energy to concentrate on completing the task. This will help you put in a much more concentrated effort and help you achieve the job more efficiently. But make sure that you save time trying to complete the harder task that you forget about the other study and hence end up giving a below average result or thinking about the various things that you could have done better.
The process of learning doesn’t have an endpoint. It is an everlasting process. You are 6 or 60, and it doesn’t matter; there is always something new that you can learn from the books, the people you talk to, or just by observing the surroundings. You may always need to find out where and when the knowledge you gain today might be useful. Hence, make the most of the knowledge you receive daily and retain it for the maximum possible time.
The pointers discussed above seem too little, and they cannot be of much help. Still, once you get down to trying these little things in your everyday life and start making the little changes in your learning techniques, you will definitely notice some remarkable differences in your learning capacity and your retention capacity. So go on, try them now. It is always possible to start learning new things. You never know what new you might learn today.
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