Why do we need a plan for self-education? It may seem that this is an unnecessary work, because you can simply buy 3-4 books on the topic and start studying them, right? And here not. One of the main problems of self-education is that, without a clear plan and understanding of what and how to teach, it is very easy to get confused and give up the whole thing. That’s why you need a primary study of the subjects and the creation of a plan – it will be a kind of compass with which you will begin the journey.
In addition, the plan:
- motivates;
- helps to fight with disorganization;
- serves as a visual reminder.
Drawing up a plan for self-education – albeit an energy-intensive process, but pays off with interest. The most important thing that he gives is motivation and organization. It is easy to find thousands of excuses if in the minds of chaos.
It is also worth noting that the self-education plan is a teacher. Such a tool can be useful to anyone who is self-taught and increases his skills.
Four types of plans
We will tell you about four types of plans, each of which you can use yourself, or combine. Create something that is right for you.
Time based plan
This plan is universal: it is suitable for those who want to study one or several objects at once.
Here everything is simple: you “book” a certain amount of time in the morning, in the afternoon and / or in the evening, after which you create your schedule, hang it on the wall and stick.
Place plan
This is a cunning plan, because it puts you in a position in which you can not help but learn.
Places can be very different:
- a park;
- library;
- favorite cafe;
- public transport.
The essence of such plans is that you purposefully go there to learn. It’s amazing, but sometimes easier to motivate yourself to do it in the library, and not in the next room.
And, of course, it can be combined with the first plan.
Free plan
The free plan is fundamentally different from the others in that there are no goals in the learning process. Instead, you need to keep a diary in which you will write down what you have learned, what successes have been achieved and where you are moving.
With this approach, you are often surprised, because you simply allocate yourself, say, two hours of time, not knowing what you will be studying. Remains some freshness and motivation.
The disadvantage of this plan is its dignity: you can spend a huge amount of time on unnecessary things.
A goal based plan
To make this plan, you need to find three main goals that you want to achieve. Based on them, the entire training program is built.
This plan can be combined with others in the search for the ideal balance and satisfaction.
Now let’s find out how to make a plan for self-education.
How to make a plan for self-education?
- Find out why you want to learn this skill
This is a preparatory step, which should be taken very seriously. We often do rash actions, which cost a lot: both time and money. In terms of training is still more critical: you can lose a few months, or even years.
This is especially true if you want to learn programming. In order to start earning in this field, they say, it is necessary to study from six months to one and a half years. Therefore, if you do not feel sufficient motivation and do not overflow with enthusiasm, then perhaps this is not yours.
The whole point is to be internally motivated. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself:
- Do you want to find a job that will be more significant and important than the current one?
- Do you want to find a better paying job?
- Do you want to change the world?
Even if the answers are a little pathetic, it is important that you understand that they are honest and frank.
The preparatory stage is completed. At the second stage, you will need a sheet of A4 paper or an electronic file. This is a prerequisite. You need to create a step-by-step instruction for yourself so that it constantly looms before your eyes and does not allow you to distract yourself to something insignificant.
- Make a list of goals
It’s not as simple as it might seem at first glance. You have to come up with as many goals as possible to be able to later compare them and choose the most important ones. So do not limit yourself to something like “I want to learn how to create a site on WordPress” or “I want to learn how to knit a sweater.”
So, the list of goals is ready. How to choose the most important? First of all, it is necessary to find out whether there are any combined ones among them.
A combined goal is a goal that opens up more opportunities for you:
- Learning a new language can help you move to another country or get a better paying job.
- Learning the Java language will increase your income several times.
- If you learn how to knit a sweater, then most likely it will be an end in itself.
- Therefore, ideally, you should choose those goals that will significantly advance you. This also has a positive effect on motivation.
- Choose from one to three goals. There should not be too many of them. Moreover, they can be ambitious enough, but not prohibitive.
- Make a list of resources
You can either find everything you need on the Internet. Here are the resources that you should pay attention to:
- MOOK-courses;
- books;
- magazines;
- blogs;
- educational videos;
- attendance of conferences and lectures;
- internship;
- volunteer work;
- travels;
- finding a mentor.
At the same time, you should understand that there will not be enough time for everything. It is important to select 3-5 core resources and focus on them. The rest should be dealt with only if you purposefully allocate time to try something new.
- Set the key points in training
These are the points by which you can track progress. Training is a long process, and sometimes boring, but the main difficulty is that you will not immediately get results.
In addition, an ambitious goal can easily suppress your psyche, especially at times when motivation will tend to zero. Therefore, set the key points:
- a certain number of written pages;
- site creation;
- Intermediate level in English;
- creating an application for the phone.
- Set the schedule and schedule
Training is not something that can be crammed into your life and hope that such a method will work. This is the basis, the Sun, around which all planets must spin. Do not forget that you are learning to make your life much better, which means that this is the main priority.
Create a time frame for each goal. What are you going to do today, tomorrow, next week, six months to achieve your goal? Be sure to master the skills of time management and learn how to properly manage their time.
Create a daily routine. You have to change your life, because it will not be the same again – it is naive to hope for it. Much will change, because you will allocate a large amount of time for training.
So, let’s repeat: you must change the daily routine, reserve time for training your skill. And also set a deadline for keeping yourself in good shape.
- Track progress
Tracking progress is the same process that positively influences the level of motivation. As already mentioned, in the learning process you will not immediately begin to get practical results, which means that you can drop your hands at any time. But not in the case if you track your progress.
Under tracing it is necessary to understand, first of all, keeping a diary. You write down everything you learned and how you studied it, and also how much time it took. Document any little things. After a few weeks, it will be possible to draw certain conclusions based on this information. You will learn to identify trends, understand your strengths and weaknesses, bad and good habits. Finally, you will make the right conclusions, correcting both your behavior and your self-education plan.
The English-language Internet offers a wide variety of applications that you can use to track progress in learning, to adjust your plan if there are inaccuracies and gaps in it.
- Students use Degreed to quantify, track, and organize learning from any source, whether formal or informal.
- Simplifies the operation of your information system and improves performance. Also adds digital notations and notes to PDF files, stores links, images and pages, and encourages collaboration and sharing information with other students.
- This application can be used to track the time that you spend in Photoshop or other digital tools (and therefore, suitable for web designers and programmers).
They say that once writer Isaac Azimov said: “Self-education is the only education that you have.” It’s hard to argue with this, because it is you who know what you want to learn. The main thing is to create an effective plan and follow it rigorously.
We wish you good luck!