How many times have we wanted to learn something on our own? Whether it’s speaking a language, playing an instrument, drawing or playing a sport, there are many things that can be learned at our own pace and interest.

The problem is that sometimes we don’t dare to start or, once we have taken the first step, we are not constant and what seemed to be a great learning project becomes something else that we never finish.

For this reason today we are going to look at some key tips and ideas for effective self-study , starting with good motivation and being aware that to achieve our goals we must put in the maximum effort.

How to learn in an autodidactic way?

In this life there are many things that can be learned by attending formal and regulated education (school, university, academies…), but there are many more things that can be learned in a self-taught way. What is needed is to know how to focus the learning process without falling into procrastination and abandonment. To do this, the following tips are useful.

1. Do not fear the new

Historically, fear, based on ignorance, has always been an obstacle for human beings to expand their knowledge. An example of this is that in the Middle Ages, out of fear of the unknown, no one dared to find out what was beyond the Atlantic Ocean.

Although over the centuries we have overcome this belief that the unknown is necessarily bad, learning is not without its initial fears , especially of things that conflict with well-established beliefs.

If we want to learn hiking, we should not be afraid to go to the mountain and try it for ourselves. We may be afraid that something will happen to us, but if we don’t check it out, how will we really know if there was something to be afraid of?

2. Do an introductory reading

The first step to start learning something on your own is documenting what you want to master . Doing an introductory reading is always essential, since it allows us to see, at first glance, how extensive is what we want to learn.

As a brainstorm, you can search the Internet by entering the phrase “how to learn…”, “what is the …”, “how to start playing/playing/talking…”.

This way we will become familiar with the names of experts in the field, see the names of websites or books that are considered useful for what we want to learn, and know about other useful resources to start with.

3. Selecting the best sources of information

Once the initial reading is done, we must select what is best for learning the desired topic. It is very important that the self-learning process starts well, prioritizing quality over quantity.

We can search the Internet by putting “What are the best books on…”, “The best blogs…”

You can also use YouTube tutorials from people who have a large following or who are experts on the subject.

4. From mistakes you learn

Many people are afraid of making a mistake because, on many occasions, in more classical education, it has been suggested that error is synonymous with failure .

Learning in a self-taught way allows us to see that nobody is perfect, that each person learns in his own way and that we can make mistakes, from which we will always learn something useful.

Making mistakes several times should not be seen as a source of frustration, but as an opportunity to reflect on why we have made those mistakes, see if they are common and understand why something is different from what we thought it was.

5. We need discipline, but the right kind

The word discipline may sound a little strong and even seen as something negative. On many occasions, and especially when talking about the learning process, discipline is understood as synonymous with punishment or penalization.

If we want to be good self-taught, there is no doubt that we must be constant , and for that we need discipline, but understood more as a personal trait than as a penalizing action.

We need discipline, but a good one: we must give ourselves fully and rigorously to the study and practice of the subject matter we wish to master. Only in this way will we succeed.

6. Share what you have learned

During the learning process, whether it is self-taught or in a classroom context, we do not take on the role of an exclusive apprentice or an exclusive teacher. These roles are not like water and oil; they can be combined.

Mastering a subject is not done by reading hundreds of manuals like a possessed person without making contact with other people. It is the interaction with other human beings that allows us to establish our knowledge . For example, by discussing our doubts we will be able to expand our knowledge and, at the same time, we will be able to explain what we already know in order to discuss it, fostering a context that will always be beneficial for all participants.

This advice is especially useful in language learning. It is clear that learning the grammar rules is something useful to understand how the language is structured, but without sharing what we know in that language with other people, we will hardly be able to move forward and know what mistakes we make.

7. Do not limit yourself to one source of information

Whether it is in the nearest library, in bookstores or in the vast and extensive world of the Internet, the subject we have decided to tackle can be deepened through various resources .

While it is appropriate to start with a single source of information, in order to have a first contact with what we want to master, we should never be satisfied with resorting to a single point of reference. It is possible that we will find a free online course that is quite complete, but this does not mean that it has all the information we are interested in.

The spirit of the self-taught person is characterized by never settling for what he has already learned: he always wants more. Even experts are constantly looking for new information, new articles, books and blogs.

8. With effort everything is possible

There is a widespread idea that intelligence and talent are innate and therefore cannot be changed. Actually, this is not entirely true, given that an important factor in improving our skills is effort and c reation of habits that favour learning and do not let our energies be wasted .

We may want to learn how to paint and see that there are people who in a few attempts are already capable of doing still lives, while we are still in the basics. This does not mean that we will never paint well, but we need to spend more time on it. With effort everything is possible, success is something that sooner or later will come.

9. Discarding the trivial

It’s good to try to know as much as possible about a topic or to watch many tutorials where we are taught several ways to do the same thing, whether it’s painting, playing a song with the guitar or learning a language, but we must know how to discard the trivial.

We will find many things that we have seen before, and others that we really don’t need to know. Spending time on unnecessary things will waste our time and make the way to the finish line seem like a titanic thing .

But this must be done carefully. If we are beginners, it is better not to take any risks and try to soak up like a sponge all the information and useful advice from experts in the field we are interested in. This way we will have a good background at the beginning.

10. Measuring progress

Measuring progress is extremely necessary to ensure that we are on the right track. It often happens that no matter how much we want to we don’t write down what new achievements we have made, we get stuck and eventually get frustrated .

While there are self-teaching resources that make it easy for you to write down what you’ve accomplished, especially language applications that tell you which lessons you’ve done and which you haven’t, in other situations you’re responsible for writing down everything you’ve already seen.

It is highly recommended to write down in a diary or agenda what has been given, have a more or less meticulous record of how the session went and, if possible, set weekly goals.

11. Defining the best format for learning

Learning on one’s own can be done in many ways, and this is the main advantage of learning on one’s own . The problem lies in knowing how to choose the most appropriate way to do it.

Video tutorials are perfect for music or language skills. They are also useful for learning how to manage a program, drawing, doing a physical activity without getting injured…

The articles written, both in blogs and in specialized pages, and other resources can touch several topics and be very useful to go deeper into them. A good way to know if an article is good for learning something is that it has at least about 1,500 words, and accompanies them with pictures.

If you prefer the physical format to the computer screen, it is a good idea to buy a specialized book . There are all sorts of books, but those that have exercises that help you understand what you are trying to learn are especially useful.

Then there are the audios, which are ideal for those who have little time to stand in front of a computer screen or at a table and read. They can be listened to while you are on public transport or exercising.

12. Defining our time and place of study

We do not always have as much free time as we would like, which is why, in order to dedicate ourselves to the study of something that interests us, we need to define our time and place of study

This must be done in a very thoughtful way. We are interested in choosing a time of day when we have no distractions and that the place where we go to study is a good learning environment. If we are one of those who find it difficult to start or who feel that this new hobby takes time away from other priorities, we can start very gently, dedicating only one hour a week to it .

Once we see that an hour a week is something we can cope with, we can increase the number of sessions and their duration until our study time has become a habit for which we always have desire and time.

13. Practice Makes Perfect

Finally, and as something that seems quite obvious, the idea that practice makes perfect must be fulfilled.

Without practice we will never learn what we want to master . We must be patient and constant, and be aware that with effort, time and desire we will one day have reached our goal.

Main habits to avoid

Finally, we will discuss three habits to avoid to ensure that the self-education process flows smoothly.

1. Repeat errors

As we have already seen, one should not be afraid of making mistakes, as long as one sees this as an opportunity to understand what we have done wrong and how we can improve it. What you shouldn’t do is assume that making the same mistake over and over again is inevitable , and not devote any energy to avoiding it.

This is what we would call a vice, something that we do out of inertia and that, even though we know it is not right, we keep doing it over and over again, trusting that everything good we do will make up for it.

It may be true that we do the rest of things so well that vice is not a big problem, but it may not be so. It is necessary to try to solve it, because perhaps not solving it determines the quality of the rest of the learning.

2. Being disorganized

In a world where social demands are many, disorder does not help . If we want to dedicate ourselves to learning something on our own, to make sure we achieve it we must take the bull by the horns and establish an order.

11. Defining the best format for learning

Learning on one’s own can be done in many ways, and this is the main advantage of learning on one’s own . The problem lies in knowing how to choose the most appropriate way to do it.

Video tutorials are perfect for music or language skills. They are also useful for learning how to manage a program, drawing, doing a physical activity without getting injured…

The articles written, both in blogs and in specialized pages, and other resources can touch several topics and be very useful to go deeper into them. A good way to know if an article is good for learning something is that it has at least about 1,500 words, and accompanies them with pictures.

If you prefer the physical format to the computer screen, it is a good idea to buy a specialized book . There are all sorts of books, but those that have exercises that help you understand what you are trying to learn are especially useful.

Then there are the audios, which are ideal for those who have little time to stand in front of a computer screen or at a table and read. They can be listened to while you are on public transport or exercising.