4Tests Blog

So you say you’ve just finished your Ph.D in [insert field of study here]. Congratulations, your education has just begun! That’s right, you should know by now that the learning process should not be ending simply because you reached the end of the educational rainbow. In order to get the most out of life, you need to commit yourself to becoming a lifelong learner. Why? Because the world we’re in is always changing, and by continuing to add useful skills to your toolbox, you’ll be ready for whatever challenges come your way. You will, in other words, be more marketable at whatever you do. To help, we’ve combed the Internet looking for skills you can learn in a day. Here are some that we highly recommend.

Typing

Keyboards have become such an integral part of our lives that many school districts have gone to teaching just that instead of cursive handwriting. Considering that more and more one-to-one devices are being added to classrooms, it makes sense. Whether on a touchscreen or a traditional computer, typing skills are essential to the flow of communication. But how can you learn how to type properly with minimal time and money investment? How-To-Type is a good starting point. It has free lessons, practice sessions, and tests, to get you going.

Basic Economics

This probably sounds like anything but exciting to you right now, but it is so, so important if you plan on taking charge of your finances and making sure that your vote actually means something. While politicians often like to distract people with social issues and outrage cycles that are impossible to control, the last thing they want you to do is look at how they make financial decisions. (Hint: Democrat or Republican, it isn’t to your benefit.) By understanding basic economics and being able to pass along the importance of it to others, you could actually turn the tide of incompetency that has for so long owned Washington, D.C. To get started learning basic economics, I recommend checking out some of the courses at Khan Academy. While there is a lot more to it than meets the eye, you will know enough to be competent after about a day.

How To Google

Unfortunately, this is a skill in which many people are lacking. They don’t realize that there are a number of ways of typing things in to Google (symbols, punctuation, etc.) that could make their searches so much more powerful than they already are. What’s even more frustrating is that these same people don’t realize what they’re missing out on because they’re not even sure of what questions they should be asking. To help, Mental Floss put together a handy-dandy infographic. I recommend clicking the link, then bookmarking that bad boy and naming it something you’ll easily remember whenever you pull up your folders. It may be the most productive thing you ever do online.

Learning How To Learn

This is perhaps the most important thing that you could learn, period, and it really isn’t as hard to pick up as you think. Unfortunately, public schools are often so snowed under with prepping you for the latest test du jour that they mistakenly assume you were already taught the fundamentals of how to learn. While there are a number of tips that you can put to good use — here are several via reddit — I would have to say that the most important thing you can do is focus on progress over practice. If you can learn a little more about something today than you learned about it tomorrow and keep building on that momentum, then you are going to quickly get the hang of whatever topic you’re taking on.

Listening Skills

There is a big difference between hearing and listening. When you “hear” something, the speaker is doing all the work. They are throwing the information out into the air for your ears to catch and internalize. If you don’t do that, then you’ve heard what they had to say, but you haven’t remembered any of it. Listening requires activity on your part. Simply by sitting down with 30 minutes or an hour of audio teaching, and making note of the things that you think are important can teach you a lot regarding structure of information and main ideas. By training your mind to ask questions and recall important data during a speaker’s presentation, you will be much better off than before. If you need any further assistance on how to become a better listener, check out these tips from Mind Tools.

In Summary

Becoming a lifetime learner should be your goal whether you’re a sophomore in high school or a Ph.D graduate. The learning process should eventually reach the point where it’s just how your mind works and no one has to make you do it. Starting with the five concepts above, you can make giant advancements in the effectiveness of your learning. What are some skills you can learn in a day that we failed to mention? Sound off in the comments section.