How to apply what you've learnt and making life easier

You've learnt something new so what next?

If you read my blog last week (If not, why not?  I'll be round later) you'll know that I had the excitement of being out of the office for two days at a conference.  So what next?  We've all been there, done something similar, come back from an event armed with new skills and ideas, absolutely buzzing and then we get back to the office and end up changing nothing because "ooh I haven't got the time to set up my new processes and put into practice what I've learnt".  

This time I was determined not to let this happen.  I'd promised my bosses I would come back armed with new ideas so there's an incentive for a start!  So Monday morning, despite the temptation to read through all my emails, faff around a bit, get distracted by something else and then read through them all again, I started to work through them a bit more logically and put my newfound skills into practice.  I started creating filters to send them into folders, coloured coded certain emails so I could easily recognise who they were from, dragged emails into my tasks so I could then move them out of my inbox and dragged emails into my calendar to create appointments.  

It's been a week now and I am loving my new and more organised system.  Instead of working from my inbox and then getting distracted by new emails coming in, I'm working from my task list so I can basically ignore my emails until a more convenient time for me to go through them again.  I typed up some minutes and used styles and headings in Word, set up templates in Outlook .... and that's just the start, I've loads more new things to try out in Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

The stupid thing is that despite the fact we are forever looking for new ways to save time, we continue to say "I haven't got the time to set that up right now", knowing that if we do, it WILL save us time in the long run.  I read somewhere that in order to get the most from our newfound knowledge and skills, we need to start immediately putting them into practice and re-wiring our brain.  So how do we go about doing this?

Top tips for converting knowledge into skills:

• Read through the notes that you made (you did make notes didn't you?!) and flesh them out so you really do understand them.  There were a few moments when I looked back at mine and thought 'eh?'
• Write down a step-by-step process of what you are trying to do because you won't remember all your shortcut keys etc the first time.
• In relation to the above, don't beat yourself up because you can't immediately remember, that's the point of making notes and it will soon become second nature when you're doing something all the time.
• Set yourself a goal of implementing one or two new things each day.
• Ensure that you're setting up processes that you will actually use.  Don't waste time setting up elaborate templates for Powerpoint if you never use Powerpoint.
• Share your knowledge with other people because they're bound to have their own tips they can then share with you.

When we're comfortable with something, we stop being as curious and this is how we fall into the trap of uttering that immortal phrase "but I've always done it like that" when someone questions why we do something in a certain way.  Eek, cringe.  Start questioning everything that you do - is there an easier / faster way of doing it?  Look at what you do with a new pair of eyes.  

This doesn't just apply to work situations, you can apply this at home too.  Are there things you forget to do or don't do simply because it involves too much effort?  Could it be resolved by changing something ever so slightly?  For example, do you leave your keys in one place, your wallet in another, your phone in another, your glasses in another and then end up forgetting something when you go out.  I'm going to call him out now, but this example used to be a Mr Bob classic.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that sometimes it would take us 20 mins to leave the house because he was looking for something.  Meanwhile, I'd be sat waiting in the car with my head in my hands.  He now has a tray where he dumps all of these things so that they're all to hand for the next time he goes out - simples!!

Take a good look at what you're doing at work and at home and find new ways to make life easier for yourself.  If you've learnt something new recently then start putting it into practice with immediate effect.  It's warm, snuggly and cosy but GET OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE!!

#jubilantjuly