How To Find Time to Learn Something New

As an educator for over 8 years, learning and teaching have been my top priorities. Whether or not you educate for a living, if you are not actively making time to learn something new, you are stagnating.

In my view, learning is like going to the bathroom. You have to make time to do it. Your bladder doesn’t care if you’re busy, so why should your brain?

Just like most of you, I juggle a lot of plates in my day to day life. I teach full-time at the college level, which involves prepping for classes, training, self-study, grading projects, and one-on-one mentoring students. I actively produce and engage in professional work as a cartoonist and designer. I publish an online comic strip 3 times a week and maintain a blog. I have a family and the obligations and commitments that go with it. I maintain a house and take on the lion’s share of chores and errands. In short, I am a busy guy.

And yet I still find ways to make time to learn new things.

This is what works for me. Your mileage my vary.

Turn off the news.

Television news is negative and soul-eating. I stopped watching the news 7 years ago and it has made me a happier person. I have given up on watching “regular” TV, meaning I am not a slave to time slots. The less you watch TV, the less you will miss it.

Listen to podcasts related to my field and interests during my work commute.

Be picky about what you listen to. Make use of your commuting time to learn something. For me, that comes in the form of podcasts. I like witty and engaging shows that make me think. Each week, I average 5 hours of commuting time. My car is my mobile classroom.

Read books.

I can’t buy every book out there, but when I find something of interest, I always put a request in for my library to track down a copy. It’s a free service. Take advantage of it. The library is the original “Netflix for books”, contrary to what online ads would otherwise have you believe.

Limit my RSS feed to only 3 sites.

It’s tough, but if you keep your RSS feed manageable, you will find more time to work.

Avoid keeping Twitter and Facebook “apps” open when you are at your desktop.

You don’t need to be on Facebook or Twitter 24/7. Unplug. You won’t miss anything. I’m on FB and Twitter a lot less now. It’s one less distraction to fight against when I’m trying to work. I restrict FB and Twitter to my mobile devices.

Get enough rest.

If you’re tired, you’re not going to have the motivation to make time to learn something new. Sleep rejuvenates the mind and body.

Make time to get bored.

Being bored isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes I take walks alone. Sometimes I sit at a bench by the park for an hour or two. Sometimes I sit outside on my porch and stare at the creek. I have learned to relish moments of boredom. It clears my mind. When my mind is clear, it is receptive to new stimuli.

Making time is the first step to learning something new. Make a list of what works for you. Start off slow and then build up. Make a commitment. Write it down. And then do it. Learning is not learning, unless you apply it. But that’s another subject for a future blog post.

What works for you?

-Krishna

Krishna July 17, 2014 learning, time management