How to Become an Effective Lifetime Learner

Research indicates that professionals that continue learning throughout their career often become more efficient, productive, and successful. This might seem like an easy concept initially, but lifetime learning involves conscious decisions rather than passive learning. In the legal profession, a lot of learning occurs on the job or through various experiences.

However, lifetime learning requires you to push the boundaries of your day to day learning and actively engage in new learning experiences by seeking out and consuming intentional information. This information can take on a variety of forms from education programs, information from the media, and information obtained through your own hobbies and interests.

Not only does lifetime learning keep your cognitive functions sharp but also empowers you to be more successful in your profession. We have compiled the following advice to help you engage in lifetime learning:

1. Create a target list of the things you want to learn

This list isn’t static, it’s dynamic. However, to prioritize lifetime learning, you must first make a cursory list of the topics or things you want to learn. For example, perhaps you’ve never been the best at math but you’ve always wanted to further your education on that topic. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn how to code or to be a professional photographer.

When creating your target list, don’t be afraid to be ambitious! You don’t necessarily need to engage in learning that only pertains to the legal profession. Once you make the list, you have the ability to add new things as you realize your interests.

2. Set learning goals and organize a learning schedule

Are you the type of person that’s great at multitasking? Do you prefer to keep everything in your schedule separate in order to avoid stress? In order to encourage lifetime learning, you need to do it on a schedule that’s right for you. If you get stressed by having multiple reminders and multiple different things to do in a day, feel free to keep your lifelong learning goals separate from your work life. For example, you can designate a day of the weekend with a few hours to devote to your lifetime learning activity. You can also focus on one activity at a time in order to not overwhelm yourself.

If you prefer to multitask, you can set aside an hour of your evening a few times a week to devote yourself to what you’re learning. You can also prioritize different kinds of learning activities at a time. Remember, that just paying attention to the news, particularly in topics you’re not well versed in, can count as lifetime learning.

3. Join a study group

This tip probably brings back some interesting law school memories. However, this kind of study group can take on a variety of forms. If you choose to take an online or an in-person class during your free time, engage with the other students taking the course. They likely have the same objectives as you and discussing your learning goals together will benefit both parties.

You can also create a study group from a group of friends that all want to engage in lifelong learning. An effective way to do this might be to ask each friend in the group to identify a learning goal and then work together on achieving each goal together. Working together can help you share ideas and thoughts as you tackle new concepts together.

4. Prioritize lifetime learning

At the end of the day, we come home from work or law school and typically just want to unwind and do nothing. However, this free time is prime time for lifetime learning, we just have to make sure to make this a priority. You have to be careful not to overwhelm yourself by over-scheduling your time, but set aside a few hours a week for your lifetime learning goals. Typically, when you engage in lifetime learning, you’re learning about something you have a genuine interest in, so it shouldn’t feel too stressful. Lifetime learning activities also do a great job of switching up your daily routine and adding something new into the mix!