How to Keep up the Learning Momentum Post-Lockdown
At the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020, online learning figures spiked as lockdown gave us an ideal time to reflect and reevaluate our personal goals.
Now that a sense of normality appears to have returned to the world, what can be said for all that time we once invested in our learning and personal development? Do we push it to the wayside as we focus on other priorities? Or, do we take advantage of our new mindset by continuing to harness that hunger to learn?
While you may already know what the answer should be, it’s always nice to have that extra little nudge to get you back on the right track to success. In this nudge… er, blog… we bring you the top five ways to keep that lockdown learning momentum going strong…
1. Set yourself an action plan
What do you want to achieve? Be clear in articulating your goal and scale your action plan to suit your existing level of understanding. If you’re learning a concept from scratch, research any prerequisite information you may need to know. This will ignite that initial curiosity and make diving into your core learning content seem less daunting.
Divvying up your larger learning goals into smaller ‘checkpoints’ will also make your plan more manageable. For example, if your objective is to learn how standalone 5G networks are deployed, you might first learn what a standalone network is, followed by what 5G network architecture is. To help get you started, why not sample some short, easy to digest content, such as our ‘Telecoms Bytes’ video series?
2. Schedule time… and stick to it!
Next, carve out learning time each day. While this may seem fairly obvious, you’d be surprised at just how effective it can be to your overall learning growth. Whether you prefer an early morning study session, or a late night knowledge binge, the important thing is that you’re dedicating a minimum amount of time to learning each day. Tracking your progress by marking off days you’ve completed your study time on a calendar will serve as a visual reminder to continue working towards your end goals.
3. Decide your own learning paths, and have fun!
Gone are the days when everything we learned came from a single source. Today, we are living in the age of self-teaching. With so many resources to choose from – digital encyclopedias, YouTube, learning portals, forums, webinars, textbooks, even Netflix documentaries… (the list is seemingly endless!) you can be in control of your learning. Immersing yourself in a variety of materials will not only help keep you engaged, but will also cater to different learning styles.
4. Start a study group
There’s power in numbers! In the same way you feel more inclined to go for that 6am run if your running club is waiting outside your door, you could also find that extra bit of motivation to learn if you’re part of a study group. Schedule in a mutually convenient time, meet up in person or through a virtual meeting room, share your notes, engage in discussions about learning material, and reflect on topics that impact your colleagues or peer group. Study group not your thing? Why not join an online forum or discussion board? You’ll soon find that partnering with others on your learning journey can open you up to new ideas and make you more receptive to your own learning content.
5. Remember that investing in your personal development is investing in you.
There’s a reason it’s called ‘personal development’. That’s because your knowledge is unique to you; it’s something you possess – and it can never be taken away. To quote the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, ‘Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body’. When we learn, we grow. It’s as simple as that.
And don’t forget to reward yourself for your learning triumphs, because learning new things is a triumph. Treat yourself when you’ve hit a learning goal; brag about your accomplishments on your CV; or simply revel in the satisfaction of knowing you have invested in you.
