5 tips to make your learning effective

Learning something new can be tasking and challenging for anyone. Whether it’s a new programming language or how to make a dress, trying to get into something new can be daunting so we’ll talk about how to make the journey less tiring.

Acquiring new skills does not happen overnight, so we must learn to be patient as we practice and learn. Here are some tips to make your learning journey a little bit easier than it may normally be. Let’s get into it.

1. Learn the fundamentals: Everything has a set of building blocks that makes it up, and learning those building blocks makes it easy to piece it together. If you’re learning to make a dress, you should know the basics of cutting fabric, and if it’s a programming language, ensure that you learn the basics of how to declare variables and write functions. Knowing the fundamentals of whatever you want to do helps in the long run and prevents unnecessary headaches in the long run.
2. Practice: This point cannot be overemphasized. Practice, practice, and practice as much as you can. Doing something over and again helps solidify what you have leant and makes it easier when next you have to do it. It also helps you notice things that you may have missed while doing that thing the first or previous time. Practising what you have previously learnt helps you fix mistakes that you may have made previously as well as helps you perfect your skill.
3. Find people learning like you: There is a very high probability that you are not the only person learning whatever it is that you have set out to learn. Find communities of people learning just like you and relate with them. In such groups, you can discuss problems you face, projects you are building and general topics. Learning with communities helps you deal with problems you may face in your journey, and if there is a system of accountability in such a community, it becomes an added advantage of being part of the community. You can find such communities in places like Reddit, Telegram, Twitter and more.
4. Build fun projects: Emphasis on “fun”. At the early stage of your learning, try to build projects that interest you; things that make you want to keep building. No matter how weird it may seem, try to build it. Building something that you are genuinely interested in building keeps you motivated to finish it compared to something you are building just to tick a checkbox. You can build fun projects that would keep you motivated such as projects that incorporate part of your daily life into them. Whatever it may be, make sure you build. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you have to create a large project immediately. Take your time to learn while building.
5. Get feedback: This is another part where your community comes in handy. After building your project, do not hesitate to share it with others in order to get feedback. Ask for feedback in order to know areas where you need to improve. Sharing your project will help you learn new things from others, as well as help others learn from you. Some people may show you a different way of implementing something and others will learn a new way of doing a particular thing from you. When you get feedback, make sure to work on it and learn. Feedback helps you understand how others think and see things from a different perspective.

Of course, there are different ways for people to achieve things, the tips stated above are the basic steps for effective learning and are not the only ways there are. Depending on what you are learning, there may be things you specifically need to do. Remember that the learning process takes time and do not unnecessarily pressure yourself. Take breaks, eat healthily, and give yourself time to learn.