Squiggly Shortcut: How To Be a Speed Learner in 5 Minutes

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1:36And today I want to talk about speed learning. Specifically, I have five ideas to talk through in five minutes. It's going to be a challenge on how you can be a better speed learner at work.

1:51before i get started i just want to talk about the difference between speed learning and slow learning um and actually i still think slow learning is really important so let's start there slow learning for me is when you dive really deep into a topic you are spending time with that topic you are considering it from different perspectives you are questioning what you are learning and it's a really important way of acquiring knowledge but the reality is that takes quite a lot of time and most of us struggle with that at work so speed learning is perhaps a little bit more surface level we're not always diving deep but you accumulate more of it more quickly more often and I think it is a reality for most people that we can more easily add speed learning in than we can slow learning so I'm going to start with five ideas for you to be a better speed learner at work starting with number one instant inspiration so what is hard when you're trying to learn is if you spend all of your time procrastinating about what to learn you're trying to find the perfect book that's going to help you or the perfect podcast or whatever it is so I would recommend getting some instant inspiration the way I do this is I use YouTube I use Spotify and I also have some apps that I'll tell you about so what I do on YouTube and Spotify is I have downloaded videos or podcasts that I think I want to learn from that.

3:14And so whenever I've got 15, 20 minutes between meetings or even to be honest at the weekend while I'm waiting for my kids to do something, I will go to my instant inspiration and it's already there for me. I don't have to waste time searching. I've also got these apps, InnoReader and Feedly, which curate articles and I can just scroll through those and have a quick read. So get yourself some instant inspiration. makes it a lot easier when you kind of want to get some of that speed learning in. Second thing, fast feedback. Feedback is a brilliant way that we can learn at work. What makes it harder, though, is sometimes we kind of don't quite know how to ask for it and it feels a bit awkward.

3:50Easiest way to get fast feedback and regular listeners for, no, we love this one, is what worked well, even better if. If you ask that once or twice a week, you will automatically get more learning about your impact, about where you can improve. please add that question into your week to be more of a speed learner at work. The third one is curious questions. So questions are an amazing way that we open our mind up to knowledge and also benefit from other people's experience and insights. So you just want to have a couple of go to curious questions, which might be in a team meeting. A good one could be, what might I be missing?

4:27Or how else could we look at this? Or who could we learn from? I often find using the what, when, where, who, why and how as a kind of question starter, it forces me to think through some curious questions. But I think the trick is to have two or three in mind before you go into a meeting and then it just makes it easier to ask because you're not having to think about the smart question to ask. Idea number four is everyday experiments. Experiments mean that you are probably being a bit of a beginner. you're opening yourself up to potential failure um because with an experiment to be honest whether you succeed in what you're experimenting with or whether it doesn't go the way you want it to what matters most is what you learn from it um and what you might do differently next time so experiments could be anything it could be from a new way you're running a meeting or i'm experimenting with a like new email software at the moment and i'm really having to like relearn how i manage my emails in case it's useful for you i'm using this thing called superhuman AI and it's I'm finding it really helpful but I'm experimenting with it to see does it make it easier for me to do my work and so finding I think one experiment a week one thing you are doing for the first time one thing that you're not 100 % sure if it will work but then just keep asking yourself and what am I learning and what am I learning because learning is the best outcome and then idea number five is real time reflection so speed learning isn't all about new new new your knowledge.

5:58Like, I think that's overwhelming if you're, I don't know, only learning by listening, reading, watching. It's just a lot for you to process. And so I think real-time reflection is another good way that you can learn without having to add more stuff into your very busy brain. So real-time reflection might be you coming away from a conversation you've had with a colleague and reflecting on how you showed up in that meeting. So Sarah and I often talk about whether you are showing up to support someone so that's like high listening whether you are showing up as a solver so you're solving their problems for them or whether you're showing up as a sounding board so you're kind of bouncing ideas between you and it's useful for you to reflect on how you showed up in that conversation and whether that was really what that person needed I often find that a useful thing to reflect on also things like your listen talk ratio that come away from a conversation and think what percentage of time did I spend listening in that conversation versus talking in it because maybe you might want to adjust the ratio next time.

6:56But these five ideas are quick ways in which you can add more learning in. It speeds the learning process up and it means that you never stop learning and growing at work, which is what we really need to remain resilient in our squiggly careers. So I hope you found that helpful. If you've got any feedback for us, you can always send it to Helen and Sarah at squigglycareers.com.

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