THE DISCIPLINE YOU NEED.
For the last few decades, the trend to learning online has been increasing every year. This has been so because of the luxury and ease that comes with learning online. Learning online allows you to get the education you want, from the right platform, the right teacher, and the right curriculum. You get to learn at your own pace, whenever you like, however you like, from wherever you like, and with whomever you like. That sounds great. Right? Yes, it does. What if I told you, however, that despite the good glamour of learning online that you hear around today, a lot of people do not know how to learn online. From picking the right course to follow, to how to actually have the discipline of following the course. People are struggling. Some even buy courses, but they don’t get to finish them. They follow a few tutorials and give up even before they are half-way. So, Today, I am going to share with you my tips on how to effectively learn any skill online. These tips will help you get the education you want, in the effective way possible. So, let’s hop into it.
Tip #1 – Pick The Right Course
It’s all about getting the right education. That’s why people who know how to learn online today, love learning online. So, how do you make sure you get the right education? You have to do your research well. It’s always the hard thing to do, but it’s the most important homework you can always do. Are you willing to put in 30 hours of research online to get the right course for you? It’s for your education, remember.
So, let’s say you want to learn a skill like photography online. Well, the truth about online is that there always are a lot of resources to learn from. There are a lot of learning platforms, a lot of online instructors, and a lot of online courses. What I always love to do is finding one or two gurus that I love their work. So if I want to learn photography for example, I will go to a platform like YouTube or Google, and look out for best photography gurus that I love their photos. I will then follow their work (NOT them) and how they are doing in their current projects. I will also keep track of their previous work, to learn how they got started. If I find one or two gurus that I click with, I will follow their tips, their tutorials and even buy some of their courses if they have them. From my own experience, I have found out that most good gurus have courses and programs that they want to share out, and are always looking to teach and mentor beginners. So, take advantage of this and learn from the right teachers and courses.
Tip #2 – Design Your Learning Schedule
And learn the discipline of actually following it. This is where most people let their dreams of leaning new skills fade away. You buy a course, but you fail to follow it. Even from my own experience, the truth is it’s always tempting to not follow the course. So, how do you make sure you don’t find yourself here?
I will tell you one thing. If you want to effectively learn any skill online, you have to have the discipline. Now, a lot of online courses or tutorials always have the learning layout, or curriculum to guide you in your learning. They have the ‘syllabus’ all laid out for you from the beginner concepts to the advanced concepts. But still remember, following this curriculum or syllabus requires your discipline.
What You Can Start Doing
What I find good to do, is actually designing your own schedule that is suitable for you. It’s you. That’s the luxury of learning online. You have to decide at what time your brain can consume the best, and what place you are comfortable to learn from. So if I am comfortable to learn in the morning, I will put 1 hour of my time every morning to learn a specific photography technique each day. And I will stick to this schedule every single day possible to get the best out of the course I am following. I find this kind of learning effective, and I always get myself learning a lot in the shortest time possible. It’s what I have been doing even when I was learning programming and data analytics on my own. You should stick to your schedule and target at least one single technique every day. If it’s photography, you can learn how to balance lighting today, and then tomorrow work on how to take an aerial photo. If it’s programming, learn how to create a variable today, and how to create a function tomorrow. As you progress slowly, you will learn how to learn many techniques at the same time. But first, start small and grow.
Tip #3 – Practice as You Learn
Remember you are learning to develop a skill. You are not learning to cram the best answers for your exam, like you did in high school. If you want to effectively learn and develop any skill online, you have to practice what you are learning. It should be your goal every single time.
When I was learning programming, I would put at least 1 hour of learning a specific technique in the morning. And then in the evening, I would spend at least another 1 hour of doing a ‘mini-project’ or ‘assignment’ to practice the learned technique. By doing this, I found myself grasping and understanding a lot of concepts in the shortest time possible. It made the content stick to my mind. And it’s the same learning technique that I always recommend to anybody, including you. Heck, I even shared out my experience on how I learned data analytics in 3 months, which you can replicate to any other skill you like.
Steal This
So if you are learning photography for example, spend 1 hour in the morning to learn how to take a landscape photo. Then in the evening, don’t go eating ice cream. Instead, pick up a camera or your phone, and actually go outside to take a couple of landscape photos. Not only does this give you the adventure of exploring your new skill, it also gives you the opportunity to actually put theory into practice. And the good thing about it is that, most of the times you will discover how just theory is different from reality. You might even discover some new techniques of taking best landscape photos yourself, that your mentor or guru doesn’t know. And the cool thing is, this experience makes you a guru in your own field too, and you can start teaching other beginners too your discovered skills and techniques.
I hope this article helped you get the blueprint to effectively learn new skills online.
To remind you…
Here is what you should be focusing on:
- Pick up the right course from the right mentor
- Develop your own learning schedule – and have the discipline to stick to it
- Practice as you learn – to get the best out of the course
Alright. That’s all I had for you. Get out there Now and start exploring and learning new skills online.
