5 STEPS FOR QUICKLY LEARNING NEW TASKS (AND SKILLS)

Trying to learn new tasks on the job—especially if it’s a new job—can be a stressful experience.  You want to impress those around you and prove your worth, and you want do all of this in the shortest amount of time possible.
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So the question is . . . how can you accomplish this?

We have the answer, with some help from the Time.com article “The Best Way to Learn a New Skill on the Job” by Kelsey Manning.

Below are five steps for quickly learning new tasks (and skills) on the job:
#1—Learn as much as you can before you even start.
If it’s a new job, find out exactly what you’ll need to know and what things you’ll be learning and conduct research about them beforehand.  The Internet is a wonderful tool for doing this, as are co-workers, friends, and anybody else who could prove helpful.
#2—Ask as many questions as you need to ask.
Observation is your friend.  You should observe and notice everything you can, and your learning curve will definitely involve some trial-and-error.  After all, you don’t want to ask questions about every little thing.  However, there comes a time when not asking questions becomes counter-productive and it would be best to “bite the bullet” and ask for assistance in solving a problem or pushing past an obstacle.
#3—Write everything down.
This is crucial.  It would be nice if your brain retained all of this new information solely through observation, but that’s simply not going to be the case.  Writing down as much as possible will allow you to refer to the information later (when you find that your brain didn’t retain all of it), accelerating your learning curve with a minimum amount of inconvenience for co-workers.
#4—Try to never ask the same question twice.
This both shortens the amount of time it will take to learn your new tasks and/or skills and also impresses your boss and co-workers.  Astute observation (step #2) and diligence in writing everything down (step #3) will greatly aid in your effort to achieve this.
#5—Stay calm and learn on.
There will be times when you feel helpless, perhaps even silly, but don’t lose your focus.  The last thing you want to do is panic.  (When you think about it, panicking never really helped anybody.)  Instead, take a deep breath, regain your concentration, and take a course of action appropriate for the situation.