Learning to Learn

It is true that humans these days enjoy having everything delivered to them and served up on a silver platter. When it comes to information and new knowledge, though, a little more effort is necessary.

After our years of formal education are over, it's infinitely more difficult to find the time, motivation, and drive to continue the learning process. 

What keeps you motivated? How do you ensure your status as a perpetual learner doesn't fade away?

Guest post by Evan Ponter 

These are some amazing strategies that are probably often overlooked by most professionals (and even students).

I'm feeling particularly inspired by the Tim Ferris method of "finding the nearest silver medalist and ... grilling on the technique" as a way of learning a new sport, as well as the "5 Whys" of Eric Ries that help get to the bottom of almost any technical problem and figure out a way to solve it.

In addition to learning by doing, keeping a positive attitude, and finding an accountability buddy, I'd add keeping a notebook with you at all times, as you never know when you'll have the opportunity to ask someone about their experience and learn something new.

Some great sites in here, including a few of my favorites, Quora, Life Hacker and Lumosity.

Of course, I would add Scoop.it as you can search at the top of the dashboard or the categories you'd like to learn within and find dedicated organized collections on any topic you can imagine.

"Fake it til ya make it." Establish yourself online and publicly for what you know on your way to becoming known as an expert.

Great tips inspired by Dorie Clark

I definitely struggle with the ability to prioritize and decide what needs to be done now and what can wait until later. As a multi-functional employee of a startup, my tasks can sometimes seem like they're all important and none can wait until later. I've found, though, that when I go into work with this mindset, I ultimately end up achieving less than I would have if I had prioritized beforehand.

How do you prioritize and figure out what can be put on the back burner?

e-Learning is awesome. The internet helps us learn in so many more advanced ways than our predecessors could have ever imagined.

One of the coolest parts about learning online is the visualization of information to make it easier to consume, more understandable, and more exciting! Here's an awesome infographic that goes through a brief history of e-learning, starting in 1924 with an Ohio State University professor who invented the "testing machine," and leading all the way to the present with tools like YouTube, Twitter, iTunes U, and Scoop.it.

The co-founders of clusterFlunk, a Silicon Prairie startup, stress the importance of being a lifelong learner. They cleverly point out that the most successful people "didn't become successful overnight' and "consistently surrounded themselves with people who are more intelligent than them."

These are traits of perpetual students - the ones who never stop opening their minds to new things and setting aside the time to expand their knowledge.

In the words of Nelson and Dallago, "Everyone is busy. Successful people make the time to learn."

Show your brain who's boss and beat cognitive biases that can harm your critical thinking skills!