It’s easy to assume that learning ends when you’re in your early twenties. You finish university, and go into the “real world” of work. No more term papers, no more exams. A lot of people hardly ever pick up a book again – except perhaps to read on vacation.

But really, whether you want to or not, you’re going to carry on learning throughout your life. You’ll learn new skills at work. You might learn how to be a parent. You may take up DIY, or simply learn enough about your home to maintain it in good condition. You might well have a hobby which means mastering a new skill.

Some people never give learning much thought. They pick up bits and pieces in an unstructured way, learning just enough to get through the job at hand. Often, they just shrug and give up – calling out a handyman for every little thing, or asking a colleague at work to do something “difficult” for them.

If you ignore the important of continuous learning, you’ll find:

• You waste money. You keep needing to pay for professional help – when it’s a task that you could’ve learnt how to do yourself. Maybe you “can’t cook” so you always eat out.
• You miss opportunities. You get passed over for promotions, because you don’t show any interest in picking up new skills at work.
• You lose a great source of fun and fulfillment. There’s enormous satisfaction to be found in learning things and really getting a new concept or skill. Don’t let any bad memories of school put you off.

So how can you keep on learning throughout your adult life?

Find a Career Which Matches Your Interests

If you’re in a so-so job which doesn’t really engage you, you won’t be very motivated to keep growing your skills and knowledge. Look for a career which hooks into the stuff which interests you: it’ll be more rewarding in itself, but it’ll also be an easier, faster way for you to progress.

You might already know what you’d love to do. What’s holding you back? If you’re not sure how to get from where you are to where you want to be, then a great starting point for your learning journey is to map out the path!

Look Into Training Courses at Work

Many larger employers offer formal training opportunities, ranging from in-house courses to financial support with a college degree. Talk to your HR department to find out what’s on offer, or mention to your manager that you’re interested in learning more about a specific area.
If you work for a small employer, don’t rule out the value of informal training. Perhaps you can get a colleague to teach you a new software package, or maybe you can get some books on expenses.

Attend Conferences and Seminars

It’s often hard to find time to sit down and read a book, work through a guide or practice a new skill: life just seems to get in the way. By heading to a conference or seminar, you’ve blocked out time on your schedule for learning and networking.

When you’re signing up to attend particular panels, don’t just go for familiar topics. Pick something which falls outside your comfort zone: even if some of it goes over your head, you’re almost certain to pick up some fresh new ideas.

Get Into a Habit of Regular Reading

One of the most powerful ways to learn is to read regularly. Ask friends or colleagues for recommendations, and buy or borrow some books. Get into the habit of reading at a particular time of day – perhaps on the train to work, during your lunch break, or before dinner in the evenings. This doesn’t need to cost you anything – use your local library, download free books onto your Kindle or ask to borrow from friends.

If you drive to work, how about getting audio books to listen to? These are a great way to fill up time where you’d otherwise be a bit bored but when you need your hands and eyes for what you’re doing. (A lot of people like to listen to audio content in the gym or while doing chores, too.) Again, you don’t have to spend money: try this list of free audio books for a good starting point.

Challenge Yourself

Finally, give yourself a challenge or two. Next time you say, “I can’t”, stop and think. Maybe you really can’t cook … yet. There’s nothing stopping you learning.

Sure, you might find that you just don’t enjoy cooking. But at least you’ll know that you could put together a meal if you had to.

We start at a zero skill level for everything in life. Just because you can’t currently play the piano doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to. With the internet, there’s a huge amount of content on every topic you can think of – and loads of it will be aimed at beginners.

What would you like to learn? What’s stopping you?

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One of the best ways to make incremental progress during your other 8 hours is to learn. There are all sorts of newfangled websites that can teach you a thing or two — some with nifty videos and others with PowerPoint presentations. Call me old school, but I think one of the easiest and most economical ways to learn is by reading a book.

But I discovered something over the weekend that’s better than a bookstore and even better (gasp!) than Amazon.com. Stick with me because I’m going to introduce you to new terms and concepts that you won’t be familiar with. It might take some time to digest what I’m explaining, but hang in there — it will be well worth it.

A friend of mine told me about a place not far from my house that seemed too good to be true. Even after confirming it wasn’t April 1^st, I was still unconvinced. Always up for a challenge, I thought I’d run my own MythBusters experiment. So I buckled my three year-old daughter into her car seat and we set our sights on this mythical place.

About ten minutes later we arrived at a peculiar looking building. We parked and set off on foot. We reached the entrance and I started to have second thoughts. “Is this safe for a three year old? Is this some kind of trap?” My fearless daughter grabbed my hand and said, “Come on Daddy” as we crossed the entrance.

I smelled something. Something strangely familiar and comforting. And then I saw it. It was breathtaking. Row after row after row of books. They had every book I could want. And not just books but DVDs, magazines, newspapers, music CDs, and even (pinch me if I’m dreaming) audiobooks.

The story gets better. Much better. After filling my hands with books for my daughter and me, we went to buy them. The price tags were a little confusing, so I asked the checkout person what the deal was. He told me it was some new decimal pricing system or something. I didn’t understand much of what he said, but I had already decided I wanted the books so I threw down my credit card. “Fill this out,” he remarked, and handed me some sort of membership club form. “Is this like a Costco card,” I asked. “Yes, something like that Sir.”

He handed me a membership card and then told me to enjoy my books. “How much do I owe you?” I asked. “Nothing, just return them by July 5^th,” he shot back. I drove home in a daze. Questions raced through my mind. I decided to do some research. I googled “L-i-b-r-a-r-y” and got a few hits. The sites made it seem like these “libraries” are all over the place, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, you can’t trust everything you read on the Internet.

All I know, is that I’m never leaving home without my library card again. It is an amazing place with tons of free information. I can “checkout” (that’s their clever term for renting) books, audiobooks, CDs, movies, everything! My guess is that Netflix will sue them for some kind of patent infringement on the whole renting thing, but until then, I’m loving libraries and you should find out if you have a library in your town. You can even find the nearest library to carry a specific book, CD, or DVD.

Think about it. For $10 or $20, you can learn from an expert. You can read the latest trends and learn the newest theories. An expert may charge $300+ and hour or $10,000 for a keynote address, but you can learn so much more by reading their book for free from a library. That’s time well spent.

For a limited time, you can download several free resources (assessment, poster, audio interview, video, and more) at www.other8hours.com and learn more about my new book, The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth and Purpose.

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Whether you’re studying on a college program, for a career qualification, or just for personal interest, you’ll want to make a success of it. But few of us have the luxury of being able to just study – life has to go on as well.

You’ve probably already figured out that having a plan helps you to study consistently (rather than giving up, or cramming in hours of work just before exams). But how can you make sure you actually stick to the plans which you’ve made?

Be Realistic

Firstly, be realistic. Many of us are prone to over-estimating how much we can get done – and studying is a high-energy, intense activity which requires a lot of concentration. You simply can’t focus at that level for hours at a time.

Sometimes, being realistic about your studying plans might mean looking at the other commitments in your life. Do you need to ditch something else in order to have time to study effectively? Can you cut down on social activities to give yourself a couple of weeknights free for studying?

Find Your Best Time of Day

Are you a lark? Some people are at their best in the morning, before the demands of the day have crowded in. If that’s you, then try setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier so that you can spend this high-focus time on your studying.

Or are you an owl? Without the constraints of a school day, you can choose to study late at night, if that suits you. For parents, this can be a good time because children are in bed and the house is quiet.

Even if you think you know what time of day’s best for you, try experimenting for a week or two. Perhaps your lunch hour is a great opportunity to practice your French vocabulary, or maybe you can drive to a coffee shop on the way home from work and study there until 6.30pm.

Have a Place to Study

As well as finding the right time to study, you’ll want to find the right place. Your studying environment can make all the difference when it comes to sticking to your plans. You’ll want to find a place where:

• You’re not likely to be interrupted
• There are no noises intruding (music etc is fine – but it should be noise which you choose)
• You have enough space to spread out any studying materials that you’re using
• You’re in a studying mood – so the family den may not be the best place

If your schedule is very packed, you’ll probably want to study somewhere in or very near your home, so that you don’t spend much time simply getting there. If you have more time, you could try picking a study location a little further away – this can be useful because once you’re there, you’ll be much less tempted to wander back home the moment you get bored!

Mix Things Up

It’s easy to get bored with a study plan if you’re constantly working on the same things. Rather than trying to trawl through the whole of a particular topic in one week, try mixing up your plan a little. Working on one topic one day and something completely different the next will help you to stay energised and fresh.

You can also try a mix of different learning methods. There’s no one “right” way to study. Consider:

• Taking notes from books as you’re reading
• Reading for half an hour, then writing down notes from what you remember
• Listening to audio material while commuting
• Watching videos
• Going to seminars or classes
• Talking to fellow students about what you’re learning
• Writing an article or blog post based on what you’ve been studying (perhaps a beginners’ guide)
• Drawing diagrams or pictures to help you remember or understand a concept

Build in Flexibility

How often have you made a perfect study plan, only to have it fall apart as soon as something unexpected cropped up? Life happens – and sometimes you’ll have to cancel a planned study session in order to deal with an interruption or an emergency.

Be prepared for this in advance: when you draw up your studying schedule, allow some “spare” time which you can use if you need to catch up. Even if your week goes perfectly, you may find that some areas of study simply take longer than you expected – and this buffer time lets you allow for that.

Track Your Progress

Finally, it’s easiest to stick with a plan when you can see that it’s working! There are lots of ways to track your progress: for example, you could tick off study sessions on your calendar, or award yourself a gold star at the end of each week when you’ve successfully completely all the studying which you’d planned.

You can also review the material that you’re learning: perhaps taking a quiz or practice exam at regular intervals. If you can see that you’re making constant improvements, you can remind yourself to stick with your studying despite day-to-day fluctuations in your motivation levels.

If you’re studying – whether formally or informally – do you have a plan? What helps you to stick with it?

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In Western society, we often think of “learning” in very narrow terms: it’s what we do in school, and once we’ve got our college degree, the learning phase is over – it’s time to work.

Of course, things aren’t really that black and white: we carry on learning after we’ve left school, and not just in our careers but in every aspect of our lives. And learning often doesn’t equate to taking qualifications or passing exams. Approached the right way, learning isn’t a process of ticking boxes on a curriculum or course outline – it’s about exploration, growth and enrichment.

Learning Adds Depth to Your Life

For me, the primary reason to keep learning new things is because I enjoy it. It’s not quite the same enjoyment that I get from watching a movie, and there are always frustrating and even miserable moments in learning anything new … but I’m happier in the long run.

If you take the time to consciously learn new things, you’ll find that you live life more deeply. Instead of chasing quick entertainment that fails to satisfy, you’ll have the pure pleasure of those aha! moments when something finally clicks. The more you learn, the more you’ll be able to make connections between pieces of knowledge – and the more creative you’ll become.

Learning Keeps You From Getting Bored

One of the reasons that I left my day job last year was because I was bored. The first month was fairly novel: it was my first experience of “real” work (I’d had a few student jobs) and I was learning a lot of new things, some of them stretching me beyond my comfort zone. But after that, the routine was the same day in and day out.

A huge advantage to working for myself is having the opportunity to learn all sorts of new things: both hard skills (including some CSS and PHP) and soft skills (like knowing how to interact well with clients). Each week, I’m learning new things – and this keeps me interested, motivated and happy.

Can you go on a training course at work to learn something that you’re interested in? Can you study in your free time, perhaps by joining an evening class or discussion group?

Learning Keeps You Healthy

Studies have shown that our mental facilities are best protected when we use them. Older folk who carry on learning and who stay mentally active are much less likely to suffer from illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.

Taking the time to learn about nutrition will let you know how to eat well, and learning how to prepare and cook foods ensures that you can take charge of exactly what’s going into your body. Learning a new sport or exercise is a great way to take this even further. And learning about good time management habits can prevent you from developing stress-related illnesses.

Learning Puts You on the Fast Track to Success

The final reason to continue with life-long learning is because that’s what successful people do. If you settle back and decide that you’ve learnt everything you need to know about running a business, about succeeding in your career or about managing and motivating your team … you’ll lose out to competitors who have a passion for learning.

In your personal life, you’ll want to keep learning too. That might mean learning how to bring up your kids well. It could involve learning skills that let you maintain your house without having to pay for or rely on outside help. Learning about personal finance and money management – something which we’re rarely taught in school – can turn your life around.

What have you learnt this week? What benefits has learning brought you in your life so far? What do you want to learn during the next year?

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Learning is one of the greatest joys in life and it can also be critical to staying employable and keeping our minds healthy as we grow older. Even with the great rewards that learning promises, however, few of us put much thought into how we might be better at it.

Here are seven practices that will help you take your learning to new levels.

Commit to learning

Most people can get on board with the idea of lifelong learning, but few of us really commit to making learning a regular, focused part of our lives. Commitment means setting clear goals for what you what to learn, how you plan to go about it, and how long it will take. Write your goals and your plan down, and set a specific time each week for reviewing your progress.

Schedule a time for learning

We’re learning all the time, often without even knowing it, but when it comes to achieving focused learning goals, our minds appreciate regularity and rhythm. Carve out a specific time each day, ideally, always in the same place – to devote to your learning activities. Get rid of distractions like e-mail and your cell phone during this time and focus your attention on your learning goals.

Organize

I tend to write things down all over the place, which can make it very hard to retrieve the information I am looking for when I need it. Don’t fall into this trap. Determine a small number of specific places where you will store all of the materials related to your learning. Go digital to the greatest extent possible‚  among other advantages, this puts the power of search on your side. And you might want to try Web-based tools like Evernote for note-taking, or Penzu for keeping a journal.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

This one can’t be said often enough. We build and maintain connections in our long -term memory over time. For truly mastering a subject-area or skill there simply is no substitute for putting in the time to review and practice. Of course, this can’t just be mindless, mechanical repetition. You need to really focus your attention ‚ and ideally, your passion ‚ on what you are trying to learn.

Don’t do too much

Multi-tasking and information overload are the enemies of effective learning. The human brain is an amazing organ, but it can only do so much at once. If you want to be successful in your learning efforts, you will have to set priorities. This is a key part of the goal-setting already mentioned above. Determine which learning goals are most important to you now, set aside other goals for later, and eliminate things that really aren’t all that important to you.

Treat your mind and body right

Learning is a physical as well as a mental activity. We need enough sleep each night,  7 to 8 hours for most adults,  to ensure that our brain functions properly. We need the healthy blood flow that aerobic exercise can help support to ensure that the brain gets enough oxygen. And there is increasing evidence that our diets can have a significant impact on our cognitive abilities. In short, eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep if you want to be a truly effective learner.

Relax

Leaving aside special circumstances like cramming for a test, we don’t learn well under stress. In fact, excessive stress over a long period of time can cause damage to the hippocampus, one of the parts of our brain that is critical for long-term memory. Living and learning are not about some grand, ultimate goal. They are simply about living and learning. Relax, and the learning will come.

Jeff Cobb is the founder of Mission to Learn where he blogs weekly about lifelong learning and self-education in a hyper-connected, Web 2.0 world.

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