Posted by Doug on December 19, 2008
Photo: westernhorse
The ability to acquire new skills easily is not a universal trait, but it’s the sort of know-how that is extremely useful to the almost anyone who is self-employed at home–freelancers, consultants, Web or graphic designers, programmers–almost all of us find ourselves needing to learn something new from time to time. (For some of us, it’s nearly every week!) What follows is a set of suggestions for how to go about learning a new skill. You’re probably not going to become an expert quickly, but with some hard work and directed activities, you can that old dog (you) some new tricks.
1. Take small steps.
You may have a lofty goal–”learn PHP,” for example–but if your goal is big and broad like that, you will do well to break it up into a set of smaller steps.
There are two aspects to this suggestion: first, learning a new skill takes time, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t learn it all overnight. For example, you might desire to learn CSS or Rails, or perhaps you want to learn how to use JQuery or do something in Photoshop. Pick a reasonably long time frame as a deadline. It might be two weeks, or a month, or a year, depending on what you’re trying to learn. If you make that timeframe too small, you’ll end up frustrated; if you reach your objective faster, all the better.
Secondly, it’s a good idea to schedule your learning time. That’s not always easy, and the nature of your workload and workflow may be such that you have to take spare time as it comes, but if you schedule some time for learning something new each day or each week, put it in your calendar and treat it as a priority, soon you’ll be on your way to acquiring that new skill.
2. Collect the necessary tools.
If you’re learning a new software application, for example, you obviously need to have that application. If you’re learning a programming language, you may want to find a text editor that has some built-in features for that particular language. If you’re not sure which application you’re going to use, look around for a demo version that will at least give you a feel for how it works.
In the example of learning PHP, you’ll probably want to use something like MAMP, WAMP or LAMP to install Apache, MySQL and PHP locally on your laptop or workstation, so you can experiment and learn in an environment over which you have complete control, and where the consequences of “breaking” something aren’t great.
In your quest to learn a new skill, don’t forget books. I’ll admit that in recent years I’ve bought far fewer books on technology things than I once did, simply because of the preponderance of online technical information. But some of us like having a book that we can take with us and peruse whenever we like. If you’re looking for good books on stuff like Web development and programming, freelancing, starting a home-based business, and such, please check out the Underpants Office Bookstore–we’ve done some of the searching for you in these and other selected areas, and you might find just the right book to help you get moving on learning something new.
3. Take a class.
There are countless options for structured learning–you can probably find a local adult education or continuing education course through a nearby college or university or community college. There are also hundreds (perhaps thousands) of online courses that you can take. For example, if you’re trying to learn PHP programming, a simple Google search will turn up dozens of resources, many of which are free. The same is true for almost any Web development skill, but even if you’re looking for information about something a bit more obscure, such as lutherie (guitar-building), you’re probably going to find some resources online. If you’re reasonably self-motivated, the online option is great.
4. Set yourself some goals.
Without a defined goal, you might flounder for a long time, so take a little time to figure out some reasonable, measurable goals. To continue the PHP learning example, you might find discover the Killer PHP site, where you’ll find a bunch of instructional video screencasts–you could decide that a reasonable goal would be to set aside an hour each day for a month (there are enough of them to do that), and work through all of the examples yourself. You won’t necessarily be a PHP ace when the month is over, but you’ll be a few steps farther down the road. (See item #1 above.)
5. Pick a simple, real-world project to work on.
If you’re learning something like PHP (and by now you might have figured out that learning PHP is on my list of skills I’d like to aquire), you can write simple “Hello, World!” programs until the cows come home, but what will really help you is to pick a project that is interesting to you (and might actually be useful) and work on that. If it’s learning how to build a guitar, get an inexpensive kit and actually build one. It might not be your best work, but you have to start somewhere, and you might as well start with something useful.
I’m hoping to invest some time in 2009 in learning PHP (and a few other Web-development skills), and I’ll try to post along the way to let you know how I’m doing with that. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences and goals and approaches. Leave a comment and let us know how it’s going! (And if this article has helped you get off dead-center and decide to learn a new skill, I’d appreciate any Diggs or Stumbles!)
Posted by Doug on November 26, 2008
Photo: w00kie
You have suddenly found yourself without a job. You may have lost your job for reasons that were entirely out of your control. Perhaps the current state of the economy is to blame. Or perhaps the circumstances of your dismissal epitomize the word, “unfair.” Maybe you saw it coming. It might even have been a relief. Or maybe you just screwed up and got your sorry butt fired.
Whatever. It happened, and it mostly sucks. The main question now is, “How am I going to respond to this?” Maybe you’re here, reading Underpants Office because you have realized that you are going to have to figure out how to make a go of it on your own for a while, at least. That’s a step in the right direction. And more than anything, right now you need to take some steps in the right direction.
You must choose how to think about what has happened to you. It is natural to feel hurt or angry if you feel your dismissal was unfair, and it is just as natural to feel ashamed if you were fired because you messed up. You will probably have to go through a season of those kinds of emotions, but if you choose to stay there for long, you won’t do yourself any good.
I’m actually going to suggest that you find some reasons for gratitude in your situation, and not just because it’s Thanksgiving season–it’s actually the wise thing to do, and current research is backing that up.
According to a study conducted in recent years on gratitude and thankfulness, there are several measurable benefits associated with having a grateful attitude:
- General well-being: people who are grateful generally experience more positive emotions, more satisfaction with life, more optimism, and lower levels of both stress and depression. This doesn’t mean they are in denial about the negative things in life, but simply that their outlook is more positive.
- “Pro-sociality”: people who are grateful are generally more inclined to be understanding of others, and are more generous and helpful to other people.
- Spirituality: people who are grateful tend to be more spiritual, tend to recognize the interconnectedness of all life, and feel a responsibility to other people. This could mean that spirituality breeds gratitude, or that gratitude fosters deeper spirituality–either way, there is a correlation. (I believe that all I have is a gift from God, and I begin each day by thanking him for it.)
- Decreased materialism: those who are grateful tend to put less importance in material possessions, and are less likely to judge themselves or others on the basis of what they have. Grateful people tend to be less envious of others and more likely to share what they have with other people.
The study suggests several techniques for developing a daily disposition of gratitude:
- Keep a gratitude journal. Take a few minutes each day to write down what you are grateful for that day (and why), and to think gratefully, on paper, about the good things in your life. Experiments have shown that people who do this tend to exercise more regularly, feel better about their lives in general, and felt more optimistic about the days ahead.
- Make a gratitude list. This is less involved than a journal–just a simple list of things that you are thankful for. Over time the list may become very long, and that’s good. In experiments, people who kept gratitude lists were more likely to make progress toward personal goals than those who didn’t.
- Take time to think gratefully each day. In the study, people who practiced a daily “gratitude intervention” were more alert, more enthusiastic, more determined, more attentive, and more energetic than those who focused on their troubles or were envious of other people.
All of these findings suggest to me that if you’ve lost your job, whatever the reason, you will do well to begin counting your blessings immediately–you’ll be far more likely to make progress toward a new career, you’ll be happier with your life, you’ll be healthier, and you’ll be friendlier and more helpful to others. All of those results will be of value as you work on rebuilding your life and your career.
In case you’re still having trouble getting your mind around this, let me suggest several possible things for which you might be grateful. None of these is meant to ignore the fact that you don’t have a job, or that you’ve just lost your source of income, or that there was pain and/or embarrassment involved in what you’ve been through. But if you’ll take a few minutes to think about these and perhaps find other reasons to be grateful, you’ll find the path to the next stage of your life is a little easier:
- You’ve got some extra time on your hands. If you’re like most people, there are a thousand things that you’ve wanted to do, but couldn’t, because you had to work. Well, some of those things might actually get done now, especially if they don’t involve spending money–things like cleaning the garage, tending to the yard or garden, tinkering with the car, reading, pursuing art in one form or another, listening to music.
- You’ve got some time for your family. When I quit my job almost a year ago, I became a house-husband for a while. My wife was working, and I helped create some margin for her by taking care of many of the household things that she used to do–cleaning, laundry, cooking, taking my son to and from school and work, doing various errands and such. This created some extra time and space for her that she really appreciated, and it didn’t take all of my time–I still had plenty of time to pursue my career aspirations. If you have kids, you may find that you can connect with them now in ways you never could have before.
- You’ve got an opportunity to take better care of yourself. When I quit my job, I weighed well over 300 pounds, from years of sedentary work, way too many fast-food lunches, and little time for exercise or recreation. I started working on my diet and fitness in early May, and now at the end of November, I’ve lost 70 pounds and I feel better, physically, than I have for years. Not eating out is cheaper and healthier, too.
- You’ve got an opportunity to shift gears, so to speak. Unless you really loved the job you just lost, you’ve now got a chance to re-invent yourself and your career. Why not go for it? With online education widely available, there’s a good chance you can retrain and embark on a whole new career path, even while you work another job to pay the bills for a while. There are countless ways to go into business for yourself–freelancing, consulting, you name it. (For some ideas, check out the Underpants Office Bookstore.) You might find that you are willing to trade reduced income for increased flexibility. And you may find that you are more successful doing something you really love than you were at the job you just lost (or left).
Here are a few books that may interest you:
The Psychology of Gratitude (Series in Affective Science)
Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier
Count Your Blessings: 63 Things to Be Grateful for in Everyday Life . . . and How to Appreciate Them
So what are you thankful for?
(As always, if you liked this article, I’d appreciate diggs and stumbles!)
