Training
Issue No. 50 - December/ /
SMEs should spread borrowing risk
If you are thinking of a pay increase, professional improvement or career advancement, experience is important, but you also need to upgrade your qualifications.
But finding time to study is one of the biggest obstacles to professional training.
This extract from a talk given by education specialist, Dr Linda Vining, during Adult Learners Week on 10 ways to manage study time and 10 traps to avoid.
1. Get serious. Courses are expensive, so if your business is paying for you, or you are paying for yourself, make sure the investment is productive.
Take a conscious decision to rearrange your priorities for the duration of the course. Make a list of assignment due dates and mark them in your diary.
Work out how much work you have to do, then develop a time management plan for yourself,
including time for work, social events and family.
Change your habits by either getting up earlier in the morning or putting in two or three hours at night and half a day on the weekend. Let everybody know (including your family) that you will be out of circulation during your study times.
Trap: Don’t fall behind on your timetable. If something unexpected eats into study time, make it up immediately.
2. Develop a disciplined regime. Discipline is tough but you want to succeed, so allocate study time that eliminates emails, TV, phone calls and straying onto the internet. Stay focused. Reward yourself with these activities after study.
Trap: Time drifts away if you do not adhere to a strict routine and you allow distractions to divert you.
3. Create time. Big blocks of time are hard to find, but little pockets of time fill our day. Use them productively. Carry study material with you and read a page (even a paragraph) in a quiet moment while waiting in a queue or hanging on the phone.
Trap: Chatting and socialising vaporise time.
4. Hide away. Get out of the mainstream and hide yourself away during...
