Creating a Deliberate Learning Plan

Learning is important to flourish in a career. Creating a learning plan, one that can augment and reinforce the day to day work you are doing, is an excellent way to be more deliberate with your learning goals. 

A learning plan is your own personal syllabus on what you are trying to learn in a given month or quarter. 

I find it helpful to think about times in my career as different classes I am enrolling in. What am I going to learn this “semester” to help me level up my skills and knowledge? 

Step 1 - Choose an Area of Focus 

I decide on an area of focus based on my priorities at work. If I’m focused on trying to hit a sales goal I’ll learn how to sell more effectively. If I’m trying to get product out the door faster, I’ll create a learning plan to focus my time on new frameworks or product design principles. 

Step 2 - Make a Time Commitment

Depending on the semester you’ll have a different amount of time you can allocate to learning. 

For example, in my current semester, I have made the following time commitment: 

2 hours - 30 minutes per day during the work day, 4 days per week 

5 hours - Audio time while exercising five days per week

2 hours on Saturday night or Sunday morning

= 9 hours of committed learning time 

Out of those nine hours, I’ll allocate some time for non focused learning (regular podcasts I listen to), so I’ll discount the 9 hours by 33% leaving me with 6 hours of deliberate learning time. 

Step 3 - Choose your Learning Materials

Ask ChatGPT to help here: 

I am creating a learning plan to focus on [area of focus]. My learning plan is for the next 90 days. I will have approximately 6 hours per week to devote to the learning plan. Out of those 6 hours I’ll have 3 hours of audio time and 3 hours of time I am sitting at my computer or can read an actual book. 

I would like your help creating the learning plan, specifically in giving me the learning materials (books, podcasts, blogs, etc.) that would be best for me to study. 

I have already learned [fill in any information or books you’ve already read on the Area of Focus]. Give me learning materials that build off of this. 

I start here with ChatGPT and then do some of my own Googling around, looking at message boards, etc. to complete the learning plan. 

Step 4 - Write out the plan 

I write up the plan with my time commitment, my learning materials in order of how I’d like to tackle them (or spread out throughout the semester), then I start learning! 

What I’ve added recently is less consumption in my learning plan and more quizzing throughout. Half way through the semester, I ask ChatGPT to do a diagnostic exam for me on the learning materials I’ve read so far.

I’m recreating a school class, but I’m doing it on something I want to learn and that will help me in my career. This is personalized, deliberate learning at its best! 

#HappyLearning