In today’s world of work, we have to learn new knowledge and acquire new skills all the time . Knowing how to learn throughout life allows us to benefit from a certain autonomy and also to assume more important professional responsibilities. Some working people can sometimes have learning difficulties at work because of problems with concentration, memory, the environment or organization.
So what are the effective methods for developing cognitive functions? What techniques to better organize and work in peace? Which learning method is the most favorable for learning new things in a professional environment?
1. Identify weaknesses and strengths to develop learning skills at work
To develop your learning capacities you must first be able to identify your weaknesses and strengths . To do this, ask yourself the right questions.
- Do I have the necessary motivation?
- Do I trust myself?
- Am I comfortable in my work environment?
- How do I learn?
- What are the important factors for learning well?
From there, take stock of the difficulties and problematic situations encountered in your daily professional life.
Do you have difficulty communicating or difficulty understanding certain instructions? Is your attention fully engaged? Is your memory good?
To develop more effective learning strategies, you will also need to rely on your strengths (listening skills, desire to learn, patience, ability to organize, etc.).
You should know that most learning difficulties at work result from problems with concentration and memory. It is therefore useful to develop your memorization potential and to work on attention disorders.
2. Train your memory and increase your concentration
For memory there is no age. However, it is worth noting that with age, the effort required to maintain memory functions is a little greater. The latest scientific studies tell us that we only use 10 to 20% of our real capacity in this area. Our brain includes billions of neurons that connect to each other, relayed by snaps.
You should know that our memory is really stimulated when we are constantly creating new circuits. How ? Well when we show ourselves curious and open to new learning.
A brain with optimal memorization capacities uses its 2 hemispheres (the left which manages language, logic, details etc, and the right which works with images, globality, non-linear logic).
Things to know about our memory
We more easily retain information learned at the start and end of a learning process
- We remember better information learned through a mnemonic process and innovative elements
- Our brain is still working on assimilating information once the learning period is over
- If we don’t go back on our learning 24 hours later, we forget almost 80% of the information learned
This shows us that just because we are learning something does not mean that we will necessarily remember everything. Hence the interest in regularly training one’s memory, so that one can keep vital information in mind for a long time.
3. Best practices for improving memory and concentration
If you want to increase your memorization skills and your concentration while you work, here are some good practices.
- Take short breaks regularly (3 to 5 minutes every 50 minutes or so). Indeed, the pauses taken during learning allow the brain to continue to assimilate information.
- Reactivate your knowledge. Quite simply, from time to time, go back to what you have learned to record the information in your long-term memory.
- Work regularly rather than a lot at once. Spread your learning over several slots over time to memorize information more effectively.
- Organize yourself well. For example, write memo sheets with the essentials to be able to consult them quickly at any time.
How can working on our memory make us more efficient?
People who are successful in optimizing the functions of memory have the following in common.
- They are able to concentrate more easily on their tasks for longer than people with memory problems.
- They are curious and open to discovering new areas of interest
- They are more observant than the average
- They show a real motivation to improve
- Working on memory makes us more efficient because due to our concentration and our receptivity, data is accessible more quickly.
Information overload: to avoid being disturbed by a massive flow of information, you have to learn to select the most important information to memorize .
4. Get organized and work in a calm environment
Getting organized at work and working in a calm environment means ensuring better concentration and therefore more efficiency in one’s tasks and learning. Here are some tips for having an optimal organization and optimizing your work environment .
Manage your schedule well. To do this, prioritize the tasks and have a global vision of your agenda for the day to come by consulting it each time.
Choose the right tools.
Receiving emails at any time of the day cuts you off and makes you lose efficiency. For example, you can set up a slot of 5 minutes per hour, dedicated to reading your emails. If an emergency arises, don’t panic, your interlocutor will take the trouble to reach you more directly with his phone.
- Working in peace without being constantly disturbed by someone or disturbed by ambient noise is an important part of remaining efficient. So it’s very simple, close your door.
- Tidy up his desk. Make sure you have a tidy desk and keep only the essentials on your workstation.
- Anticipate the unexpected. Always keep a “white” window in your day for the unexpected.
- Establish breaks. To walk a little, stretch, relax, breaks are essential and greatly contribute to our good performance.
The company can also act and help create a work environment conducive to employee learning , for example by optimally arranging its premises.
5. Motivation, receptivity and curiosity for easier learning
When we like something or when we are curious and open, we learn more easily. Quality learning is therefore largely a matter of receptiveness and qualities such as motivation and curiosity .
A good way to motivate yourself is to remember what the benefits of this or that learning will be in your work. Receptivity can be worked by activating one’s capacity for active listening.
Make a habit of talking less and listening more if you want to develop your receptive potential. Activities like sports, relaxation or meditation are good complementary tools to become more receptive.
6. Training to improve yourself and not lose the habit of learning
The best way to maintain our capacity to learn is to learn new things regularly . We must constantly be curious and eager to increase our knowledge. To be effective, we must feel energized at all times, and look for innovative facets in our work.
Today, we are asked to constantly learn because with the rise of digital, we must constantly update our personal and professional on-board computer. It simply means that we are required to acquire new skills and knowledge throughout our careers and our lives.
Continuous training allows us to optimize our learning capacities over time . In the end, it’s all about training and consistency. With the arrival of digital learning, we can now benefit from simplified and wider access to vocational training.
Fun and personalized, e-learning has the power to stimulate our creativity, capture our interest and pique our curiosity. It is then much easier to learn on a daily basis.
For workers who have difficulty getting organized in their work, know that there are training courses to effectively manage their time in the digital age .
Digital learning for more flexibility and less stress
Stress is a factor that negatively impacts our learning abilities , because it destabilizes us, tires us and distracts us. Face-to-face training requires travel, a source of exhaustion and less time for oneself.
In this sense, digital learning appears to be the ideal training mode, both for the employee and the company. It offers great flexibility allowing company employees to reconcile professional and private life in a balanced way. As e-learning causes less stress, the learning abilities of employees are much better.