Imagine how you will use what you are learning. There is so much information, and so little of it is "important stuff." By imagining how you'll use new information, you tend to automatically focus on things you really need to know.

Take Breaks

Learn more by working less. Well, almost. Research shows that we remember best what we studied first and last in a given session. By taking breaks, you have more "sessions," and increase number of firsts and lasts. Get up and move around during your breaks, as this can also keep your mind fresh.

Finding Time

Is it difficult for you to find time to learn something new? What if it took no extra time to learn a new language, take a course on negotiating, or study something new and interesting? What would you want to learn then?

You can start this week, by using dead-time in your day. That's time sitting in your car, or on bus, or in waiting room at dentist's office. There are thousands of books now on tape, CD's, and MP3's. Your public library probably has hundreds of books on tape, and you can even instantly download books on internet. One website I use has 18,000 choices!

This is, without a doubt, one of most under-utilised and easiest ways to learn something new. Is your job 25 minutes away? If so, you spend over 200 hours per year sitting in your car going to or from work. Could you learn something useful if you had four hours per week of audio instruction for a year? You bet. And only extra time it takes is a few minutes to stop by library or place an order online.

Put in a tape on your way to work, get used to using a few of techniques here, and you could soon be a virtual learning machine.

It won’t be comfortable at first. Change never is. But “comfortable” can only keep us where we are now. Here’s a homework assignment: This week, pick something “unreasonable” that you know would get you closer to one of your most important goals. And do it. Don’t try to do it, just do it. Maybe it’s getting up early to exercise. Or doing something out of ordinary for a loved one. Or calling a potential new customer. Whatever it is, taking that step will let Universe know that you’re serious about your goal. And until it knows that, it can’t help you achieve it.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?