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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 weekends 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 we recommend 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. A great tool to do this is to join over 1 million others and start your day with the latest FREE, informative news from this website.)
What You Will Learn
- 1. Prepare a studying environment
- RELATED: 12 Good Morning Routine Habits
- 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 education and learning.
And if you’re a student, then it’s important to set up a study environment and schedule that’s free from distraction. On our blog, Niklas Goeke provides a step-by-step process on how to create a study schedule that works.
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