You may have heard about Just in Time Learning but have you ever adopted the idea yourself? Let me explain how it can help you learn more, achieve more and save money…
How many times have you been on a training course for some new skill or technology you’re expected to use in the near future, but not used those new skills for months or even years?
By then you’ve forgotten most of what you learned and that expensive training course was both a waste of time and money.
This happens a lot and it’s very inefficient and in todays world, totally unnecessary.
A similar principle applies when we’re learning about business. There’s so much to learn and naturally we want to learn it all.
But this is impossible and in attempting to learn everything we don’t leave enough time or energy to actually do anything and we end up learning stuff we’re not going to use for months, if ever.
So what’s the solution?
Just in Time Learning
The idea of Just in Time Learning could be the solution. As the name suggests it involves learning just what you need, just when you need it.
For many it’s a difficult discipline to adopt because as I mentioned earlier it’s human nature to want to learn everything there is about a subject which interests us.
However, Just in Time Learning is a very efficient way of learning. You’ll forget much less and utilise far more of what you’ve just learned.
Using your new skills or knowledge immediately will also help you transition it into long term memory so it really stays with you, rather than just being lost amongst all the other stuff you learned years ago but have long forgotten.
Knowledge and skills are a classic case of “use it or lose it”.
Paralysis by Analysis
I’m sure that you’ve heard the term paralysis by analysis before. It’s the problem of trying to analyse, study and learn everything before you take action and actually do something useful.
This is a dangerous cycle and as you’ll never be able to learn everything, you’ll theoretically never actually take action and do anything. Many people do fall into this trap.
It’s much better to just take some action even if you know little or nothing about what you’re doing.
Of course there are exceptions to this Just in Time Learning approach. Bomb disposal, bridge building, brain surgery, to name but a few extreme and slightly daft examples.
Outside of these extremes most tasks or projects you take on can easily evolve and be improved as you learn more. You don’t need to learn everything before you begin, just learn what you need as and when you need it.
The Time is Right for Just In Time Learning
With the evolution of the internet, mobile learning and other technologies you can learn most things quickly, easily and often at zero or very little cost. Just in Time Learning has never been easier.
With the amount of information overload nowadays, Just in Time Learning has also never been more relevant.
We shouldn’t see learning as something we do before we take action, we should see it as something we do continuously, something I advocate and call Lifelong Learning.
In this modern, fast moving, fast changing world a lot of what we learned a few years ago might now be totally outdated.
Imagine learning about Social Networking five years ago and finally applying what you learned in todays world. Things have changed so much and you’d remember so little anyway it would be a complete waste of time.
This is another reason why Just in Time Learning is so efficient, your new knowledge and skills are right up to date.
It’s now just a matter of having the discipline to change your mindset and take some action on that idea you’ve had for ages.
Start with Small Baby Steps and learn as you go. You never truly learn anything until you try it for yourself, Make Some Mistakes and Learn From Them.
I hope you enjoyed this article on Just in Time Learning, feel free to leave a comment.
