As an aspiring entrepreneur, acquiring new skills and expertise is important for business successful.
You may need to become more knowledgeable in your niche, or learn some new aspect for running your company.
An entrepreneur always has to keep up with the changing environment, and learning is key for that.
Research shows that there are several ways to acquire knowledge faster and make it stick.
Learning faster is not the only important part. It’s critical to be able to recall and apply the information.
Here are seven ways that research tells us works.
Improve your memory
Here are a few proven ways. Focus your attention, free of distractions so you can be present in what you’re learning.
Try using mnemonics, relate the information to things you already know. Pay extra attention to difficult information, or restructure the order you’re learning so it will be easier to remember. Get enough sleep, it is important for memory and learning. For an in-depth article on improving your memory, read here.
Learn in varying ways.
Learning in different ways is also called interleaving. Interleaving means practicing or learning different skills in the same session. Instead of learning one skill and practicing that one skill repeatedly, with interleaving, after you learn a skill you use varied techniques to study it.
For instance, rather than studying new vocabulary words in a written format for a block of time, you can vary your studying by writing them down, or drawing a picture, recording them and then listen to them several times.
By learning in more than one way, you’re cementing the information into your brain.
Studies that were done showed significant results. For more information on interleaving, here’s an article explaining it.
Learn by doing.
We often learn something new by reading about it or watching someone do it.
But that is passive learning.
One effective way to solidify the skill is to do it yourself. When you do the task, there are aspects you have to think about you never picked up in your reading or watching.
I had this experience when trying to learn to do simple graphic design. I wanted to edit some photos, add text, and resize them. Not a complicated request.
I watched a video explaining exactly how to do it. But when I tried it with my photos it didn’t work the same.
It was by trying the features and buttons of the program that I figured out how to make it work. I made a lot of mistakes, but I also make new discoveries that I didn’t know were there.
Learn by teaching.
Another active technique to improve learning and cement new information is to teach it to someone else.
If you have no one to teach, imagine you’re writing a post, or being interviewed and that the interviewer will ask you for detailed information. When you have to explain the material and answer questions, you’ll remember more, you’ll learn details that you would otherwise have missed, and you will have a clear understanding of what you’re teaching.
Lookup unknown answers.
Rather than taxing your brain to recall an answer, look it up.
You’re sure to get the right answer and seeing the answer provides another reinforcement for your brain.
Each recall helps make it more permanent.
Analyze where you have failed.
You can fail at learning something new, just like anything else.
It’s important to evaluate what went wrong so you know what to fix.
Let’s say you’re learning to speak in public. You determined it’s a skill you need to promote your business.
You’ve taken a speaking course and hired a coach.
You sign on to speak at your first conference, and you feel it went terribly wrong.
As painful as it is to review your mistakes, it’s necessary to see what you did wrong so you can learn from them and improve.
Take a Quick Nap
Let’s look at research again.
Studies show that sleeping after you learn something new can improve memory and retention.
A power nap of 45 to 60 minutes can boost your memory and improve learning success.
Researchers believe that sleep stabilizes memory and minimizes the negative effects that being awake has on memory.
To learn more about the power of napping, read this article.
When learning new material is important to you, here are methods you may not have used before.
But, don’t try to implement them all at once. Start with a few and see which makes a difference in learning and recall. Then try others to see which works best for you.
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I’d Love to Hear Your Feedback.
How do you like to learn?
Do you have a new skill you’re trying to master?
Which of these methods will you try?
Please share your experience in the comments below.
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