“Never confuse education with intelligence. You can have a Ph.D. and still be an idiot.” – Richard Feynman
In a world of information where you can access anything at the touch of a button, it’s silly to think that you can only receive an education by attending an institution. There is this dangerous idea that’s come about where the only things worth learning come from an institution like a college or university.
This post is in no way denouncing formal education. As someone who has a bachelor’s degree, I cherished my time in an environment that nurtured my learning and I miss it greatly. My point is that there is more than just one way to learn a subject, even to master it. One of those is self-education.
Be Your Own Teacher
Also known as autodidacticism, self-education is the act of teaching yourself a subject area without the tutelage of an institution or professors. I know many intelligent, capable people who never went to college or university. I know about the same amount of people who have standard knowledge but they have a piece of paper with their name on it.
No matter how much time you do or don’t spend getting a formal education, it is so important to self-educate! You are the master of your success in most circumstances you come across and your success is based on what you do or do not do. Your actions are based on what you think you’re capable of.
At this point, you are probably asking how to get started with self-education. The honest truth is, you are already teaching yourself new things every day. All you need now is to be aware that you are doing it and can do it, then make a structure that nourishes it. How? Here are some handy tips to start teaching yourself anything:
1. What are you interested in?
First things first, figure out what you want to learn about. Only choose one at first and stick with it. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn more about photography or finance. Maybe you see yourself one day being an electrician and want a base knowledge before you go into formal study.
Whatever it is, choose one and start diving in. It’s also imperative that you choose credible sources for your research. Wikipedia pages don’t count as they aren’t trustworthy. It may give you an understanding of a subject but it shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Misinformation is worse than no information at all. I will have a separate post on how to determine which types of resources are credible so stay tuned for that.
2. Set up a comfortable study area.
Try setting up a small space dedicated for you to do your learning. Personally, I have a writing desk next to the bedroom window that serves me well. It’s quiet, comfortable and I have a great view if I want to take a break. Figure out what you would find helpful in a study area and try to create that for yourself.
3. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day.
Ideally, you should set aside an hour each day to really retain anything but if you can squeeze in more time throughout the day, even better! When you teach yourself anything, it’s important to put the time in. An hour each day (minimum) should suffice depending on what you are learning and what you are learning it for. Maybe you are just doing it for a hobby, in which case an hour is fine to retain information.
4. (And this one is important): Use the free tools available to you!
There are so many free resources available to us just with the click of a button (and let’s not forget the importance of our local libraries!) Some tools I personally find helpful are podcasts and instructional Youtube videos.
Before I started working from home due to the pandemic, I used to commute an hour to and from work each day. It was a great opportunity for me to learn something new; that’s two hours every day to just listen and learn. Stuff You Missed In History Class through iHeart Radio is my favourite podcast because I’m a huge history nerd. The podcast goes over a lot of pieces of history that weren’t likely to be taught in a school curriculum. There are many other types of podcasts I’ve found through Spotify that you can check out; from finance to psychology to science, there’s something for everyone.
School’s Out
So there is some self-learning homework for you until next time. Feel free to try out the suggestions given; maybe even change them around to see what works best for you personally. Everyone learns differently.
For myself, a topic I’ve been looking at in my free time is search engine optimization or “SEO”. If you’re interested in learning about optimizing websites and learning about the insides of Google search results, then you can check out my post here!
Was that helpful? Do you have any other suggestions when it comes to teaching yourself a new subject? If so, mention it in the comments below; I’d love to hear them!