By Taylor Tuomie
Just because you've been out of school for longer than you might like to admit doesn't mean that learning should stop. Continuously learning new methods or techniques in your green industry business will help make you more productive, more efficient, and ultimately can earn you more money. Taking time to learn more about a business can be a large investment and sometimes it just isn't practical or possible to go back to school or take courses.
That doesn't mean that we can't learn outside of a classroom. Here are four tips that experts recommend for you to become a better learner.Listen
I worked for a boss who was extremely purposeful with any down time he had. He would listen to audiobooks any time that he was driving. He hated wasting time and he thought that the time spent in the car was one of the biggest wastes. With the amount of information that we have at our fingertips on our smartphones, why not put the time you spend heading out to jobs or any longer commute to use? Download a podcast or listen to an audiobook. There are thousands of podcasts on management, business, and entrepreneurship. Make it a point to listen to at least one podcast a week on a topic you feel you could learn more about.
Here is a list that Entrepreneur.com made of some great podcasts on a range of different topics for business owners. Start listening to these experts in the field on a regular basis, you won't regret it!
Discuss
Engage in discussions with other people in your profession. Being able to talk about what you’re learning will help with retention of information. There are plenty of places online to share your newfound knowledge and gain a bit more from other experts in your field. LawnSite.com is a good place to start a discussion with other green industry business owners. Take it a step further and start blogging about what you’re learning, that way you’re not only relaying what you’ve learned, but also helping create content for your business’ website and in turn beefing up your SEO.
Know your Style
Not everyone learns the same. Knowing your learning style and habits will help you be more efficient with your time. Are you a visual learner? Do videos or recorded material stick with you more than simply reading information? Try a few methods out and see what works best for you. Check out some YouTube videos or even some free online courses.
Learning isn't a one-size-fits-all process, find something that works for you and run with it!
Practice. Test. Repeat.
Continuous improvement is the ultimate goal. The best way to know that you are learning something is to test your knowledge. Do small mental checks throughout your “studying”. You don’t need to get out the #2 pencil and start filling in bubbles, you just need to make sure that the information that you’re ingesting is sticking.
Learning is a process. It takes time. With the wealth of knowledge on the internet, there should be enough to keep you learning something new(and relevant) everyday! Make time for it, have a plan, and begin.
Now that you're learning, why not learn some of the biggest mistakes contractors face - and how to fix them - by downloading our free eBook, 33 Stupid Things Contractors Do (And How to Fix Them), today!
