Day started with morning rituals. Then, back to work on the first day of the year 2018. Few important meetings. Then, I heard about the news of layoffs in the job. There is a chance that this month might be the last month in the office. Uncertainties. One moment we plan for many things. Another moment, some uncertainty disturbs the plan. How can someone still continue to learn in such an uncertain world? The basic principle is that learning is important. It is always an open question in people’s mind that is it really needed to learn new skills if those are never used? Should I remain happy or sad in uncertainty? Remaining sad can’t produce good results. It may be a tough choice to remain happy but at least plan to remain neutral and plan to focus on the determined steps.
Here are some reasons why we should continue learning:
In my experience, having more than one skill is always valuable. We never know which skill may help us at which moment of our life.
Staying on top of the skills is very important in the global economy.
If someone remains up to date with the skills in that he or she has the mastery over the skills, he or she will get a dream job for sure.
Anything we learn, helps us one day. In 2000 when the Information Technology market was down, some people still continued learning and never gave up. Those who continued, got the job back again when the market was up. Those who left were either behind or could not join back in the market.
We all know that change is inevitable. If the change is constant, shouldn’t our learning curve also be constant?
Here are some tips of how to continue learning in uncertainty:
Work on the mindset of learning. Even if we’re upset about a situation, do we stop doing basic daily routine tasks? Make a list of basic things you will do anyway and do it the same way. For example, taking care of yourself is important even when you do not have a job. Eating, sleeping, exercising, etc. is important and should not have any impact. There are duties to the family that should remain the same irrespective of job uncertainties. Learning has the same priority.
Make a journal of items that you want to learn in your lifetime. Let the items in this list grow. Out of it, prioritize items for the year. Out of the yearly list, plan the items for each month, each week, and each day.
Decide the time of the day when you will focus on learning. I believe setting up a routine for the day is important. Even in uncertainties, setting up a routine helps as our brain can lean towards it without much preparation.
- Maintain a log of the learning. Review what you learned and how you can improve.
If you’re behind the schedule in your planned learning items, don’t worry. There is a difference in worry and thinking. Good thinking leads to good planning and execution. Worrying is not needed in a difficult time. Wise people think and plan for the next steps.
Life is full of uncertainties. Even if we’re not sure of the exact path in our lives, continuous learning always helps.
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