Join Africa's fastest growing career community!

Featured

Learn new skills faster with these 12 hacks.

Prepare for the future, increase your competitive advantage and cushion yourself from job loss by learning new skills.

Article Preview Image

Prepare for the future, increase your competitive advantage and cushion yourself from job loss by learning new skills.

Photo credit: RF._.studio

The pandemic has changed the nature of operations in the corporate world in tremendous ways. Some jobs have been wiped out, others are on their way to extinction, yet others have been created. By reading this article, the chances are that you are learning new skills (or planning to) to prepare for the future, increase your competitive advantage, or cushion yourself from a job loss.

Whatever the reason is, trying to learn new skills while working and taking care of your family may seem impossible and consume a lot of time and resources, which you want to avoid.

Here are helpful tips on how you can cut the time without compromising the quality of the information you are seeking.

1. Define your goal

What do you want to achieve?

As you probably know, goal setting is essential in all projects. It gives you a sense of direction. Clear goals will also challenge you to discount everything else that does not lead you to the desired direction. If you are experiencing challenges, we offer assistance on how to set SMART goals.

2. Research about the trends and predictions

Do not rush to sign up for a course because others are taking it. First, it may not steer you towards your short or long term career goals. Second, it may contain outdated information or lack details that are essential in the market today.

Take time to familiarize yourself with the recent trends and predictions, the direction of your career, and the course’s content to ensure it will address your needs. The data gathered will guide you on how to approach the lessons.

3. Gather the resources needed early

What will you need during the course? Gathering the resources from the beginning will help you to concentrate.

4. Self-discipline

Self-discipline is essential in professional and personal life. It is especially important if you are taking a self-paced or online course; no one will force it on you or punish you if you leave midway. Remember that each day, you are either building your future or wrecking it. For that reason, focus on your main goal, look at the log-term benefits, set time for it, and avoid distractions. 

5. Divide the learning process

When exploring new knowledge territories, the topics can seem broad and incomprehensible; this can cause discouragement. For an easy time, familiarize yourself with the main topics and focus on one at a time. Dividing lessens the burden and helps in tracking, which is essential when learning.

6. Weigh the complexity of each subject

After dividing the topics, proceed to weigh the complexity of each by checking on learning guides or watching the tutorials and basing it on your knowledge level. Then, allocate the most suitable duration. Also, leave room for flexibility in case the topics prove to be harder than expected.

7. Learn the rules of the subject (where possible)

Every subject has its set of rules that are either applied in all or some circumstances. For instance, if you are taking a course on digital marketing as an add-on to your field marketing skills, you will realize there are vast differences.

Learning about the main rules in the new skill will help you ward off the frustrations that often arise from unintentionally mixing concepts.

8.Take note of the jargon/common words

Professionals in different fields have a language that shows their knowledge levels and keeps the spirit of professionalism. Since you are making your way to joining that group, you should note the commonly used words.

Mastering the language will save you the time frequently used to refer whenever a concept is mentioned.

9. Take note of common occurrences in the market

Some people are implementing the skills you are learning in their day-to-day operations. In that case, care to know how the knowledge is being applied. Although reading through the entire course outline is essential, knowing about the common concepts in the market will guide you on where to direct your attention the most or what to expect in future.

You will be able to allocate time and resources appropriately rather than spending a lot of it reading about concepts that appear once in a lifetime while missing out on those that are likely to happen frequently.

You can also use the common market occurrences as your learning guides. 

10. Practice as you learn

Since you will be using the knowledge to provide products or services, practicing will ingrain it quickly. Besides that, practicing keeps you on tabs with your learning progress and is easier to recall than theory. It can also challenge you to look for alternatives when approaching particular issues hence broaden your learning scope.

Practical experience ensures a quick fit into the market.

11. Look for shortcuts for some operations (if possible)

As you apply the knowledge to solve market solutions, you can also go the extra mile to look for shortcuts to certain operations. While at it, care to know if there are restrictions when implementing.

12. Seek help where necessary

Sometimes the topics prove to be a challenge. Rather than leaving midway, it is best to look for experts in the field who can break down the concepts or propose better learning tactics.

Final words: Whether you intended to learn a new skill or not, knowing how to maximize your time can allow you to run daily operations smoothly.

We've got a variety of short courses that will help you grow your skills.

 

About the author.

Catherine Wanjiru is a writer, author of Layers of a Human and a personal development enthusiast.

 

Written by

Kelvin Mokaya


Give a like!

1 Comments

Sign in to read comments and engage with the Fuzu community.

Login or Create a Free Account