Don’t rush your learning process

As I sit in my home office, distracted by cats patrolling the backyards and sunny rooftops of my neighborhood, I have access to an endless supply of information and learning opportunities to fill the time I would usually spend commuting to and from work. It’s tempting. Should I learn another language? Photography? Maybe stick to something closer to home and dive deeper into cloud computing or data science? And then there are all the certifications I can gain, some only take a day, others maybe a couple of weeks.

And as I see my friends and those in my professional network embark on learning this and that, I might even feel guilty if all I do is spend the extra time sitting in the sun or going for walks, instead of cramming more into my brain.

This made me think of the learning process overall and about something I have observed in my network and the communities I am part of. There seems to be a rush to learn things quickly, to progress quickly and to ‘tick off’ accomplishments. In this article I want to add my thoughts on that and why I think we shouldn’t rush the learning process and we should enjoy the results rather than hurrying to get to the next step.

Build solid skills on a strong foundation

As I started and progressed in my career, I had opportunities to choose different paths which came with their own specific requirements for skills and knowledge. I loved learning new stuff, including concepts and methodologies, as well as how to use specific software. And - call me a typical German if you like - I have always found it very important to become not just good at something, but to feel truly competent in what I was doing.

For me, building skills is like building a house - with a shaky foundation it could all come crumbling down at any moment. So I aim to lay each brick and fill the gaps with cement and let it settle and dry before adding further structural elements. Building such a foundation and the relevant skills will prove useful during the course of your career because it means you have something reliable to start from and to go back to whenever necessary.

In our modern knowledge economy it has become far easier than in decades past to give something a go, to change and to progress. I think it’s a great thing to have so many more opportunities out there for people to find the work they love, to create their roles and to have an impact. What I’m not so quick to endorse is the quick progression that some people are looking for, because eventually they will hit a ceiling and find themselves completely out of their depth, which isn’t a fun place to be.

While most of us are not artisan bakers and craftspeople anymore, there is still an argument to be made for building skills that sustain our work and ambition for a long time to come. And there is also the factor of our own expectations and our ‘wants’. Do we need to achieve all our career goals by the age of 25 or could we be a bit more patient with ourselves and allow for a longer, deeper learning process that means we are equipped with the technical and soft skills needed to be more impactful and successful in the long-term?

Not slow, but conscious learning

I don’t want to suggest we sit back and do everything at half the pace. From where I’m sitting - neighborhood cats, sunshine and all - it seems more sensible to have a longer-term plan, something sustainable whereby we equip ourselves with the skills and experiences needed to truly shine in any role we choose to take up.

If that role involves coding, then we shouldn’t expect to be a fast, efficient and well-rounded coder 4 months after writing our first ‘Hello World’. If it involves managing a geographically dispersed design team then we will more likely excel after having spent time managing people and teams and even doing so in different cities, countries and cultures.

I can relate to the desire to arrive at your ‘career destination’ in two years, rather than 10. It just doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. My professional career began almost 10 years ago and if you had asked me back then where I’d expect to be in 2020, I would not have given much consideration to the importance of experience and expertise and just thrown out an impressive sounding title of what I’d like to be doing.

At the same time, what’s the rush? Regardless of whether you plan to have a corporate career until retirement or you want to retire early and spend the rest of your life sipping cocktails by the beach, what’s the rush to get to your chosen destination so quickly? And won’t it feel much better to put in the necessary time and hard work along the way so you can truly enjoy the outcomes?

When we learn consciously and focus our attention on building skills and becoming experts, it’s a really satisfying experience. And it takes time, even if you complete the necessary teaching modules and practical sessions in quick succession. And that’s where I want to suggest you take a quick breath and pause. Because knowledge needs time to solidify. Rehearsing, practicing and applying your new skills regularly help to strengthen the connections in your brain. Moving on to the next topic too quickly can be detrimental to that process, so take your time, because you don’t need to have it all figured out tomorrow.

When I made dinner - pasta with homemade tomato sauce - for a friend a while ago, she asked “how did you just make that sauce from scratch so easily?”, I thought ‘it’s just a simple tomato sauce, why wouldn’t I be able to make it from scratch so easily?’. But what this reminded me of was that after 15 years of being passionate about food and cooking and spending those past 15 years experimenting with countless recipes, flavors, cuisines, and building on the early foundations laid by my mum and grandma who taught me all the basics, I had achieved a level of knowledge and skills that allows me to whip up a simple sauce with lots of flavor without a recipe, and without much effort. The repeated practice over the years helped me to know what works and what doesn’t, what flavors go together and in what order to add ingredients, etc.

Not everything needs to be accomplished today

I want to encourage you to be patient with yourself when it comes to learning, building your skills and subsequently having the career you have imagined. It’s easy to look at an expert and admire what they do, and to emulate them and wonder why we don’t succeed immediately. I have fallen into that trap many times and need to remind myself that they didn’t just get there overnight. People who have really strong skills, be they artists, athletes, neurosurgeons or inspiring speakers, have all put in the hard work over many years to get to where they are today.

If you want to be really good at something, you will need to put in the effort and it will take time. That can be frustrating but I actually think it’s the best part of learning. In the beginning you will progress quickly because you’re starting from zero and every little bit you learn makes a massive difference. Over time, as you become better, the learning increments get smaller, but they are still there. And don’t forget that you are constantly strengthening the connections in your brain. It’s a good idea to enjoy the process of learning and not just focus on the end goal. The process is the part you can control and that is unique to you. It’s the part that you have the privilege to experience. The end goal? Well, that might not even be within your control. If you want to be the fastest marathon runner in the world, you have to compete against others to earn that title. Now in your training you can enjoy the long runs, the interval sessions, the hill runs, the gym workouts, because you live them all and no one can do them for you. They are unique to you and they are your experience. What you cannot control is what the other runners are doing. And the factors on race day, like the weather, how prepared the rest of the field is, etc.

That is why I think it is really important to truly enjoy the process of learning because that’s a gift you can give to yourself. 

Putting things into practice

Before I finish, I want to give you three suggestions for your learning. 

1. Don’t compare yourself to others: it’s so easy to get hung up on how good someone else is, but it doesn’t help you. Friendly competition is great but don’t compare yourself to others all the time, especially when they have more experience and different skills that may put them in a better position. Focus on yourself and what you can and need to do to build and improve your skills.
2. Pause every now and then: If you have just completed your 10th e-learning since lockdown started and are feeling a bit tired, just take a break. Instead of starting another course and sharing your accomplishments, have a think about what you want to do with the new knowledge you have gained and find ways to apply it. Knowing a lot might be fun, but unless you can apply that knowledge in a meaningful way, it won’t be very useful to your daily work and overall career.
3. Feel free to focus on ‘non-work’ skills: You may feel peer-pressured into spending your spare time building skills that make you more valuable for the job market and your employer. If you genuinely want to do that, that’s absolutely fine. If you don’t, then use your spare time for things that make your heart sing. For me the extra hours have been filled with walks along the river, learning how to make sourdough bread, talking to my parents more often and starting a herb garden. Sure, I also work on my professional skills, but that doesn’t need to take over every minute of my private life. And - between you and me - all those ‘non work’ activities do actually help the learning process, they do teach me relevant skills and they create a balance that is necessary for me to be more productive, innovative and engaged at work.

I hope you find yourself on the right path in your career. Your role may not be the perfect one yet and you may have a lot of learning and practicing to do before you feel truly competent and confident. And that’s perfectly okay. Take the time along the way to reassess where you are, where you want to be and how you want to get there.

Be patient with yourself if you haven’t mastered something yet. Just keep practicing and over time you’ll get there. Then you can look back to where you started, relive the journey and the accomplishments and tell yourself: yup, I did all that and I’m proud of it.