Author: Ifeoluwapo Bezalel
We all love to express our creativity. It’s one of the areas where we can truly be ourselves and stand out from the crowd. The compliments from people about our work make us feel like we just cured cancer. And this makes our effort worth it.
Yet investing time and effort to learn something new can be exhausting. Commitment can feel like a chore when you can spend time scrolling through Lai Wasabi’s skits and having a good laugh. Rather than spending hours researching or designing.
Without experience and clear guidelines to follow, navigating a particular niche can feel frustrating. Over time, people become bored and give up too soon before reaching the end. To prevent this, it’s essential to make learning an enjoyable experience, rather than a chore.
If you struggle with the learning process as a creative enthusiast, here are five things you can do to make learning fun:
- Pick a skill you’re passionate about.
The key to enjoying learning is to choose a skill you love. Passion keeps us going when willpower and motivation fail. It’s difficult to persevere when you’re learning a skill you don’t have an interest in. But when you love what you do, you’ll see reasons to keep on going because there’s a strong purpose behind it.
Whether it’s Graphic Design, Architecture and Tech, Writing or Web Design, ensure it’s something you love. This way, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
- Design a fun learning spot.
Our learning space is where we spend most of our time thinking of ideas. It’s one of the most strategic places to find innovative solutions to complex problems. But it’s impossible to do so when it looks like a boring classroom.
Nothing kills our energy more than a learning space that reminds us of those 8 a.m. classes – stiff chairs, strict faces, and pressure to meet deadlines instead of inspiration to grow. We all want to feel energised while learning. The best way to achieve that is to curate a lively scene that helps us forget we’re learning.
- Get a mentor.
It can be overwhelming to navigate a new route when there’s no one who can help you along the way. You may end up feeling discouraged and confused when you face rejection and criticism about your work.
Having a mentor who is more experienced in a field can help you master ways to handle them. They can help you avoid the mistakes they made since they’ve walked the road ahead of you. By doing so, you’ll have the cheat code to learn and grow faster. Then learning would become an activity you can always look forward to.
- Don’t stick to one thing.
Repeating the same activity without trying out different methods is the fastest way to get tired and give up. It’s essential to evolve with the times and stay current with the latest trends in the creative industry.
Trends are one of the ways to show your uniqueness in a competitive industry and incorporating them into what you’re doing can help you stand out. It’s important that you’re informed about them so you can provide the best solutions for your audience’s problems. However, relying on them can leave your target audience confused, as trends can die quickly. People move with trends, and you should recognise when it’s time to move or you’ll be left behind.
- Trust your time and season.
Most creatives lose the willpower to stay consistent because they use the yardstick of someone else’s progress to judge theirs. Doing this is the fastest way to take the fun out of anything. You’ll stop enjoying what you’re doing, and you won’t appreciate your journey. Meanwhile, when you understand that your time differs from everyone else, you’ll be patient and enjoy the process.
Learning as a creative doesn’t have to be a hassle if you find ways to expand your experience and make learning fun. By incorporating these techniques throughout your learning process, you’ll learn smarter and faster.