How to Determine the Best Work Schedule for Your Training

Determining the best work schedule for your training could be one of the key factors that will contribute to your success or failure in learning a new skill. Is it best for you to learn in lots of short lessons or fewer long lessons? How many times a week should you study your new skill to most quickly become proficient in it? It would be wonderful if there was one generic answer that satisfied these questions, but unfortunately each individual person must work out their own work schedule, as each individual person is completely unique.

We won’t just leave it there though, because although there is no direct answer to the question, there is certainly a method that can help you to ascertain your very best working pattern. Considering the answers to the following list of questions will help you to establish how you learn, and will therefore help you to choose a course of lessons most suited to your unique needs.

How long is your attention span?

Psychologists have spent a lot of time researching the human attention span and trying to calculate how long it may be. The times vary wildly depending on the study, but most research has shown that in recent years our attention spans have diminished due to the increase of technology around us. This is particularly obvious in children, so if you are considering the best schedule for a creative class for your child attention span should certainly be taken into consideration.

If you struggle to concentrate hard for more than a couple of hours then you may struggle to learn in an environment in which you will be in a college all day. Why not think now about your own attention span and see if that helps you in considering the best courses for you.

What will you learn?

Different activities lend themselves well to different schedules. An aerobics class, for example, may run two – three times a week for an hour each time, whereas a photography course may involve a three hour session once a week. Don’t expect to find many exercise classes that last for longer than an hour or two, but likewise don’t expect to undertake an academic course with lessons shorter than this time. You will need to do some research into the different courses available before deciding which is the most suitable for your schedule.

What room is there in your current schedule?

You may be physically unable to attend a class every day of the week, or for a whole weekend. It would be wonderful if we could learn in the most beneficial way to ourselves, but sometimes we must simply learn when it will fit in around the job and managing the household. Take a look at your calendar and find time each week that you can dedicate to learning. Once that time is in your routine you won’t think twice about losing it, and what’s more, you will adapt to concentrate within this period of time, even if it isn’t ideal considering your own work schedule.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Just because you try attending an evening class that doesn’t work for you does not mean you should give up entirely. Your own work pattern may simply not have fit in with that of the course. Look for alternative classes in your local area, be it London or any other UK town or city, and try again! You never know, learning at a different time of day or for a different length of time could make all the difference in developing your new skill.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Sarah G...

Rebecca L. Smith is a full time freelance writer based in the UK. She specialises in creating an assortment of articles on a range of different topics of interest.