Education
5 Sneaky Obstacles Stopping Busy People From Learning New Skills
You’ll be better at detecting them when you know what they are.
You are one skill away from launching your dream business or advancing in your career.
In today’s fast-paced world, the necessity of learning new skills is undeniable.
But it’s also super easy to be trapped in this cycle:
You plan to start learning a new skill or hobby.
But the calendar flips by, and there’s not a single minute devoted to it.
Why? Life, naturally, happens.
Your boss unexpectedly extends work hours, leaving you drained.
There’s the crucial football game — your only stress-reliever — that you just couldn’t skip.
Then your sister’s “emergency” turns into a DIY sink project that eats up three hours.
Task after task leaves you incredibly busy, all the time.
All that is unquestionably relatable.
And before you insist that I don’t know how busy you are, just bear with me a little longer.
Imagine this: You can learn a few strategies, tweak a few beliefs, manage time more effectively, and suddenly, you’re cruising toward mastering Photoshop, JavaScript, or whatever rocks your boat.
Your days gain purpose, and you realize there’s more time in your pocket than you ever imagined.
Maybe you’ll even find out you’re not as swamped as it seems.
Let’s look at five surprising reasons why you struggle to kickstart your learning goals.
1. You believe learning new skills is more difficult than it is.
As a busy person, you have a lot going on. Like, all the time.
Your working memory is constantly maxed out, overloaded with a never-ending array of tasks.
This could decrease your learning efficiency and perceived difficulty of acquiring new skills.
So how can you change this?
Break down big skills into micro-skills to make them less intimidating
You can deal with the apparent difficulty of learning by chunking a skill into smaller subskills.
This process helps you avoid the discouragement of looking at a skill as one big difficult task.
Each small victory contributes to the larger accomplishment, making the learning journey less overwhelming.
Realize that all skills are learnable.
Learning is open to everyone, and every skill is learnable.
It’s not just about innate talent; it’s about consistent effort and a genuine interest in the subject matter.
Find ways to integrate playful strategies into learning
In Ali Abdaal’s book, Feel-Good Productivity, he explains:
“Play” holds the key to true productivity, partly because it provides a sense of psychological relief.
So what does this mean?
Incorporating elements of enjoyment and adventure lessens the stress associated with acquiring new skills.
A few ways to do this are: listening to music as you learn, using gamified learning apps, and offering yourself rewards.
A bright and colorful learning space can also be a stimulating environment for learning.
2. You overestimate the commitment to learning new skills
If you think you need to have hours and hours in a single day for learning, you’re wrong.
Here’s the truth:
You can learn new skills in just one hour per day
You only need to find one hour in your busy day for learning.
Dedicating just one hour daily to learning accumulates into substantial progress over time.
It’s about honoring that small commitment, each day, for tangible growth over time.
You’re always committing to something. Why not commit to something useful?
Commitment tends to sneak its way into our lives.
You find yourself agreeing to this and that, without realizing the weight of those commitments.
If you don’t have a clear plan for using your time wisely, you might find yourself caught up in commitments that don’t truly add value.
Have a steady plan to only invest your time in things that make you better or happier or both.
3. You don’t realize you can create time in your day for learning.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” — Michael Altshuler
The belief that there’s no time with a chaotic schedule is misleading.
Your daily routine has pockets of time that can become a goldmine for learning:
Your morning commute
If you have to drive or travel to work in the mornings, this time can be used for passive learning using audiobooks or podcasts.
Uncover pockets of 10, 15, 30 minutes during your day
Revisit your daily routine to find time you can repurpose for productive learning.
In my lab, I usually sit around waiting for the centrifuge to finish spinning down my samples — a process that typically takes close to 10 minutes.
That’s more than enough time for a quick Duolingo Spanish lesson!
Create time in the mornings
If there’s not enough time during your day, you can plan to go to bed early and buy yourself an extra hour in the mornings to focus on your skills.
4. You don’t see the true value in learning new skills
Sometimes, your wavering commitment to learning a skill is not because you’re busy — you just haven’t fully come to terms with its true importance.
Take the time to write down just five direct impacts of the skill you’re learning on your life and career.
This activity will go a long way.
Here’s an inexhaustive list you can start with:
Fresh opportunities
Learning a new skill opens doors to opportunities that would be otherwise inaccessible (jobs, promotions, getting clients for a business).
How does this apply to you specifically?
Inherent motivation
The process of learning inherently provides extra drive and productivity.
For example: realizing the importance of sleeping on time drives you to streamline tasks, aiming to wrap up work earlier. Indirectly, you become more productive and motivated.
Fulfillment
Learning provides overall life satisfaction and a sense of purpose. You feel less like you’re going through the motions and have more inspiration to wake up in the mornings.
5. You are not busy, you are distracted
This is something you’d probably not admit easily.
But ask yourself these questions:
#1: Are you just mindlessly scrolling and swiping?
You probably spend more time on your phone than you’d wish to acknowledge. This doesn’t just rob you of time; it also throws off focus.
Personally, I periodically review my frequently used apps.
If they don’t boost productivity or offer value, I delete them.
Instagram and Reddit were my main culprits, so now I access them only on my computer for work or learning purposes.
This has made self-restraint so much simpler.
You can also set app limits on your phone and stick to them unwaveringly.
Discover a system that suits you and stick with it consistently.
#2: Are your important engagements really important?
Some engagements that fill your schedule might not be adding any value. You may be distracted by meaningless convos, saying yes when you shouldn’t, answering pointless emails right away,…
#3: How can you prioritize learning more?
Determination to commit to learning a skill naturally reshapes your priorities. Unproductive activities somehow just fall off.
By carving out just an hour each day for learning, you’ll begin making steady progress toward mastering a skill that was once beyond your reach.
You’ll wake up every morning with a bounce in your step, fueled by progress and not routine.
Along this journey, you’re not just changing your own story; you’re becoming someone others look up to.
So, start today. Dedicate just one hour to learning. No one is ever too busy to learn.
