Learning is one of the most amazing activities you can do. It has everything. From drama and frustration to spontaneous success and creativity. At times it makes you feel stupid. At other times it makes you feel smart. Learning overall is just a great experience.
But there are certain struggles we have to deal with while learning. We have to deal with them so that learning can become a great experience. Struggles like fighting distraction, improving focus, taking time to learn, planning learning, facing uncertainty, not ignoring our curiosity, deciding what to learn in the ocean of increasing content, taking time to understand and apply, inflexible online curricula, and having a proper learning system in place.
I really enjoyed learning during university. As a student, you are a full-time learner. You can dedicate all your attention to learning. But later in life, it can be difficult to find time and take time to learn. This was the moment in which I personally had to face a lot of these different struggles.
But these struggles might appear anytime you want to learn. Not only in university or after university when you try to learn as a side project.
To overcome these struggles and enjoy learning, we have to have an intentional learning system in place. This is why I designed the Lean Learning Method.
The goal is to help you with learning as a side project. So that you can keep learning what you are curious about. You may want to learn a new skill apart from college or university, or you want to learn a new skill while working. (You can of course also apply parts of the Lean Learning Method to other learning areas you may have).
The Lean Learning method is supposed to help you decide what to learn, plan your learning, and actually learn.
On the surface, Lean Learning is a learning system that is intentional, forgiving, and joyful.
Intentional because it allows you to decide carefully what to learn and why you want to learn. It is designed to not fall into the trap of only consuming content. It is built so that you can take time to be in a focused mode — mental work to understand — and a playful mode — applying what you learnt and exploring curiosities.
Forgiving because it allows you to take time for certain learning goals. It is a system designed to not beat yourself up if you don’t understand something, get frustrated, or make mistakes. It also sets you free from the rigorous online curricula that are sometimes hard to keep up with.
Joyful because you apply what you learn and you build experience. It shouldn’t become an endless cycle of mindless consumption. Learning is an active activity where you joyfully play with new insights.
There are three building blocks — three distinct methods — that make up the Lean Learning Method. These methods are Dreaming, Shaping, and Learning.
Dreaming helps you decide what to learn.
Shaping helps you plan what you want to learn.
Learning helps you learn, understand, and apply.
These are the three building blocks that make up the Lean Learning method. You can use them all or each individually if you want. It comes down to your personal learning struggles. If you have no problems with planning your learning but you struggle with deciding what to learn and actually learning, try out the Dreaming and Learning Method. If you struggle with all three areas, feel free to try out all of them.
One goal of the Lean Learning Method is to keep learning lean and simple. Don’t overcomplicate your learning. Make use of each building block as you need to.
Each method also comes with an acronym.