For those of us who have been using our computers, smartphones and tablets solely for the purposes of entertainment, it’s time for an important realization: your digital device can be your ultimate tool for growth and self-education.
Public libraries are also a huge source of knowledge. You can choose any printed or online material you find enjoyable and use your time for self-development.
Needless to say, independent learning (and independent thinking!) is a journey that requires great commitment. It's not easy to become an autodidact (or self-taught person). The online world is full of distractions, so you need to remind yourself of your purpose and work a lot on your discipline.
So if you're interested in enhancing your self-education efforts, then here are recommended 20 habits that will help you master any topic, skill, or important concept.
Let's get to it…
Side note: Another positive way to improve your life is to read and learn something new every day.
What You Will Learn
1. Prepare a studying environment
RELATED: 12 Good Morning Routine Habits (click here to watch video presentation)
2. Get a dictionary
3. Highlight important pieces of information
4. Learn from different mediums
5. Follow up on the references
6. Talk to experts
7. Study every day!
8. Don’t assume everything you read is true
9. Join online communities of learners and methods
10. Make learning your lifestyle
11. Search for online courses
12. Get information from news aggregators
13. Don’t just read. Review!
14. Set goals
15. Write essays and research papers!
16. Teach!
17. Have a schedule
18. Take notes
19. Every obstacle is a chance to expand
20. Say YES to new experiences.
Final Thoughts on Self-Education.
1. Prepare a studying environment
Since you don’t have a classroom to keep you as focused as possible, you have to create your own studying space (you can learn how to do it from this Edutopia article). It’s important to organize a desk for that purpose.
Get a comfortable chair, a laptop, the books and notebooks you need, and some pens/pencils/markers. As soon as you sit on that chair, your mind will be prepared to commit to the goal of learning.
And if you're a student, then it's important to set up a study environment and schedule that's free from distraction.
SOLO PARTNERSHIP
Create a Good Environment for Studying at Home
Lifelong learning habits start now.
A core goal of education is to create lifelong learners. Success in the workplace requires an ability to pick up new high-quality knowledge. The foundation for these learning skills is the study habits that are acquired from early at home and in school. After all, most learning in life takes place outside of the classroom.
We use the term study habits all the time, but we do not often take both parts of that term seriously. Clearly, we want students to study, but what about the habit component?
Habits are actions that people perform automatically and without thinking. The human mind is a habit creation machine that looks for actions performed consistently in a particular environment and allows those actions to be performed again in the same environment without thinking. For example, you don't have to think about where the light switch is in your bedroom, how to press the gas and brake pedals in your car or how to type letters on your computer keyboard. You have done these actions so many times that they have become habits.
The study environment needs to harness the power of habits. We want students to think about the concepts they are learning, but we don't want the environment to suggest other actions that will get in the way of studying. Here are three things that can make studying more effective.
1) Minimize the Habits of Distraction
In the modern world, children are attached to iPods, smart phones, text messages, Facebook and instant message. From early on, children have developed the habit of checking these sources several times hourly. Those habits break into a child's concentration during study, reminding him or her that it is time to check the phone or computer.
Unfortunately, this multitasking gets in the way of acquiring high quality knowledge. It takes time to shift attention from homework to some other source of information and additional time to shift attention back. Not only does that constant shifting influence the amount of time it takes to get work done, it also affects the quality of the study itself.
To create a more effective work environment, create a distraction-free zone during work time. Park the portable technology elsewhere in the house. Keep the smart phones and iPods out of arm's reach. Remove instant messaging from the computer and ban Facebook during study time.
2) Create a Consistent Work Space for Study
The habits children create reach all the way down to the level of where they should look to find the tools and supplies they need to study. That means children's work space should be set up so that they do not need to search each day for pencils, erasers or calculators. Children who study at a desk should keep that desk set up the same way each day. Children who study at a communal table at home should have a nearby bin or tray with supplies where they can regularly find what they need without having to spend a lot of time thinking about how to prepare for studying.
3) Find an Effective Location and Posture for Studying
Modern technology is so flexible that it does not place many constraints on where or how children study. It is common to see a child writing briefly at a desk, then working from a laptop computer on the floor, and then lying down on the couch to read a book.
It is hard to maintain the same level of concentration when lying on the floor or propped up in bed as when sitting at a desk. The body's habit when lying down is to relax and sleep. It is not helpful for a child to have to fight that tendency when studying. In addition, lying down promotes passive reading. It is hard to take notes or type while lying down. So students who are lying down are playing a less active role in their learning than those who are sitting up.
The advantage of promoting these behaviors is that after a while the habit system kicks in. Eventually, sitting in a consistently structured environment free of distracting technology is simply how studying gets done -- now and for life.
The Study Plan Schedule Strategy (That Actually Works!)
What You Will Learn :
Step 1: Find out your learning style
Step 2: Set realistic study goals
Part 1: Pick a very simple goal for your semester
Part 2: Create a list of all the tiny actions you need to take towards your goal
Step 3: Make study time a part of your daily routine
Step 4: Structure your study time
Step 5: Create your own study zone
Step 6: Take notes depending on your learning style
Step 7: Review your notes regularly
Step 8: Don’t use your laptop or smartphone during class
Step 9: Find at least one learning partner
Step 10: Create good sleep habits
Step 11: Make sure you track your progress with some kind of study planner
Tool 1: TimeEdition
Tool 2: Study Planner & Accountability Chart
Final Thoughts on the Study Schedule That Works
You can grab those bonuses here.
Step 1: Find out your learning style
We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn. ~ Peter Drucker
If you don’t know how you learn best, it will be impossible for you to learn efficiently at all. There are 5 different styles of learning, all of which fall into one of two groups.
1. If you are a visual learner, you will understand the 5 different styles best by looking at this picture, since images and a sense of spatiality help you get a grip on things:
[ Learning Styles: Visual, Aural, Physical, Verbal, Logical; {Social / Solidary}; A representation of the different learning styles.]
2. Should you be an aural learner, you pick up things by hearing and listening closely. Watching this TED talk (click here) about learning styles will probably help you understand the concept much quicker than reading through this section.This also means music and sounds will help you while studying.
Try listening to some kind of white noise, like rain sounds while you learn. Listening to one song on repeat (especially classical music and instrumentals) can also help you focus.
3. Maybe you are a verbal learner. Using words in writing and speech comes naturally to you. You win the ‘blog lottery’, because reading articles works perfectly for you.
Try to repeat out loud what you remember about the 5 learning styles after you finish this section to see if speaking helps your memory.
4. If you are a physical learner you’ll prefer using your body, touching things with your hands, and are focused on the feelings you get while doing whatever you’re trying to learn.
Try printing this article. Just holding the paper in your hands as you read will help you understand better. Furthermore buying some study printables gives you a chance to put your hands on a good study schedule and really come to grips with the study plan format.
5. Lastly, you might be a logical learner. You like to sort things logically, create systems and are a very reasonable person.
Try to create your own arrangement of the five learning styles and two categories, maybe draw a mind map or use index cards to build a structure that works well for you.
No matter which of these you are, you can fall into one of two groups: solitary learner or social learner.
My Study Planner allows you to perfectly plan out your study and revision schedule for your exams tests, and general school and college life all year long. Get ready to become the most focused student you know!
When you are focused, you can take control of the things that you are doing. But if you are not focused, that task or thing will end up controlling you. Once you become focused on something and you have channelled all your energy into that particular task, you can handle the task in a better way.
Being focused helps harvest positive energy in the body. It also allows you to get yourself out of a negative spiral and put things into perspective.
Success is not something that can be achieved without determination and will power. To have both these attributes, you need to focus on getting rid of distractions.
While it may seem that people who are highly organized and successful are just like everybody, this is not the case. Instead, they have several habits that are associated with the elimination of distractions from their life. With this well planned student planner, this could be you!
My Study Planner has everything you need to be a well focused, determined and happy student. This undated student planner will make school or college feel like an inspired journey with:
•Room to breakdown all the topics you need to study
•A monthly spread to highlight important dates for the month ahead, as well as assignment due dates and your goals.
•Weekly spreads to keep track of your focus aims, study tasks and goals.
•You will also be encouraged to track your sleep, rehydration and breaks for exercise so you will always perform to the highest standard possible.
My Study Planner is the ultimate planner for helping you be the best student you can be!
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