Redefine your Learning: Making Casual Education a Daily Habit

When someone talks about upskilling, my immediate thoughts have always been to enrol in a course or find a structured strategy to formally gain new knowledge. At today's busy pace, I’ll be the first to admit that it sounds nice in theory but squeezing in formal education for every topic I have a slight interest in, isn’t an approach I can apply to the rest of my life. There is absolutely a time and place for structured education, however, for most smaller-scale skills it just isn't maintainable or scalable to treat learning the same way you did in school or university. Your life has evolved since then, and so should your approach to learning.

When mentioning this struggle to a friend some time ago, they gave me some pretty powerful advice. It was to ditch the idea of needing a formal learning plan or structured education for everything you do and focus on making casual learning a part of your DNA. They suggested I assess what activities I did day to day, and found ways to optimise what I was already doing and come up with a strategy to make them intentional learning opportunities instead. It sounds easier said than done but I did find there were some practical tips and mindset changes to help take what you already do (aka doom scrolling TikTok) and make it work with what growth/learning objectives you have (bettering your career).

The goal was to find maintainable ways to upskill, without significantly increasing the amount of time or effort it took from my existing schedule. I recently spoke about this topic on a podcast episode, where I mentioned 3 intentional actions that have been reshaping my life into a casual learning opportunity every day.

Make your Feed Serve You

Back when I was studying, I would go through phases of deactivating, and `then reactivating my social accounts. I was anxious about what the future would hold and I was worried that I would get too distracted and not focus on my studies. So I said goodbye to social media for long periods thinking it would help me focus on the right things. To be fair, I probably was easily distracted but the problem wasn’t the platform. It was how I was using it and how I let it serve (or not serve) my needs. But we do have control over our social feeds and can influence what the algorithms show us.

Look for opportunities to optimise your news feed on every platform. Follow people who are interesting through leaders, follow multiple news outlets or other media platforms (the more diverse the better), and follow niche hobbyists or internet personalities who focus on the education of particular platforms. It also goes without saying to unfollow accounts that don’t serve you anymore.

The purpose of this is to accept - I am going to be on social media anyway. But if that's the case, in between celebrities and my friends and family I’m going to get injections of education and really interesting topics and learn while I am at it. Depending on the platform there are some really exciting ways to achieve this.

Some examples where I do this day to day follow financial influencers (Iike Tash Invests or My Millennial Money), or other Tech based influencers (like Rachel Woods at AI Exchange). Have a look at what's in your social feed, does it align with your values and your goals? If not that’s in your control and you can change who you follow to make your feed serve you.

Consume Information Multi-Platform

This one is similar to the above, but you should look for ways to consume your learning across different tools and platforms. Different platforms have their strengths and weaknesses and you can position those benefits to align with what learning goals you have.

No single platform can cover all aspects of a subject in-depth. By using multiple platforms, you can access a wider range of topics, viewpoints, and expertise, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of any subject. You may find that certain platforms are better suited than others for what you are trying to learn. Have favourites, but also be on all platforms, be diverse and be intentional about why you are there.

For example, when learning UX/UI design, I found visual platforms such as Instagram and Youtube to have a significantly higher quality of resources. Still to this day, I lean on those platforms specifically to keep me engaged and up to date with trends in design.

Different platforms update their content at varying frequencies. By accessing multiple platforms, you can ensure you're getting the most current and up-to-date information. Broader and more strategic/higher-level topics are often shared

If you are looking for content to consume regularly, try keeping up to date with your favourite influencers’ accounts on fast-paced platforms like TikTok or Twitter (RIP) to help increase the frequency that you interact with their learnings. This fast pace content captures what is relevant and trending and has an easy barrier of entry to an unlimited number of topics. Those platforms are typically used for condensed, but more regular content and can provide a steady stream of learning to substitute the time between more in-depth or curated items on more detailed platforms like Youtube. Treat these low-effort platforms as if they are research before hooking into high-effort platforms to go deep.

Examples of Low vs High Effort Platforms:

Low-Effort Platforms: Tiktok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Twitter (RIP), Reddit (Optimise for higher volume, broader topics)

High-Effort Platforms: Youtube, Spotify, Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Duolingo (Optimise for lower volume, targeted topics)

Stack your Learning Methods

Stacking your learning is about being intentional at applying multiple "learning strategies" or "learning techniques," when planning your learning process. This approach can be highly effective in helping you become a better learner for several reasons. It not only keeps you engaged but has proven to help with retention and comprehension. We've all heard the saying don't keep all your eggs in one basket, this is like the attention span equivalent.

Each learning method encourages different active engagement with the material. Combining methods ensures you remain engaged throughout your learning journey, which can prevent passive learning and promote better understanding. Different methods can also provide varying perspectives on the same topic. This helps you build a more complete and well-rounded understanding, as you're exposed to different facets of the subject matter.

Try thinking of stacking your learning like making a sandwich. Have a base for learning but include more than one filler to get the most out of it. (That’s a wild analogy for me to give but I only half regret it)

Here's an example of “Stacking your Learning” or how I’d build your learning sandwich:

Learning to Code (Pick any 2+ ingredients, and which is your base or your filler methods)

• Video Tutorials: Watch coding tutorials on platforms like YouTube to understand programming concepts visually.

• Interactive Coding Platforms: Use platforms like Codecademy or LeetCode to practice coding exercises and problem-solving.

• Reading Documentation: Refer to the official documentation on websites to understand the intricacies of programming languages and libraries.

• Project-Based Learning: Work on personal coding projects within programming tools to apply your knowledge and gain hands-on experience.

• Meetups: Attend local coding meetups to network with fellow coders, share experiences, and learn about industry trends.

• Online Forums: Engage in coding forums and communities like Reddit's programming subreddits to ask questions, share knowledge, and learn from discussions.

Stacking methods can help you build a stronger foundation for long-term retention. By engaging with information through multiple pathways, you create more connections in your brain, making it easier to recall the information later. Some methods can enhance specific skills, such as communication, problem-solving, or critical thinking. These skills can be transferred to other areas of your life, improving your overall cognitive abilities.

Remember that the effectiveness of stacking learning methods can vary based on the individual and the subject matter. It's important to be open to experimentation and adjust your approach based on your learning progress and experiences.

If you take anything from this article, it’s that there is no bad learning approach except for the one you don’t have. The conventional notion of structured courses and rigid learning plans might not always be feasible for everyone, all the time. Nor will they be available for every niche topic you are interested in. Instead, try implementing a few simple, consistent strategies to integrate more learning (albeit casual) to be just another part of our lives.