Don’t Let Fatigue Stop Continuous Learning

Topic(s): training
Publication: Harvard Business Review
Article: How to keep learning at work – even when you feel fried
Authors: Nihar Chhaya
Reviewed by: Daisy Rowser-Grier

In today’s fast-paced world, lifelong learning is essential. However, studying after a long workday can feel overwhelming. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, an accomplished executive coach (Chhaya, 2024) outlines five strategies to help people keep learning, even when they feel exhausted.

FIVE PRACTICAL PIECES OF ADVICE

  • Rethink learning capacity: Instead of ignoring tiredness, acknowledge it and work with it. The author encourages readers to challenge their beliefs about fatigue and discover what their minds can handle.
  • Make learning relevant: Instead of focusing on new concepts, employees can build on the ideas they already know or learn about areas that will help them solve immediate problems. The author believes this approach can boost confidence and provide motivation to continue learning.
  • Widen the learning context: Learning doesn’t have to happen in a classroom; the author emphasizes that education can occur in both formal and informal settings.
  • Personally connect to learning: Aligning learning to values, interests, or motivations makes it feel more satisfying and less forced. According to the author, this may lead to feeling inspired about learning, rather than viewing it as a source of potential pressure.
  • Develop a practice to enhance information retention. The author advises readers to space out their learning, integrate new information with what they already know, and expand their thinking by exploring different frameworks or perspectives.

THE BOTTOM LINE

By following the five steps from this article, employees may be able to improve their attitudes toward learning and continue to expand their knowledge. This may be vital to success in the modern workplace.

 

Image credit: Unsplash+