4 Ways to Learn Like a Professor

It’s back to school season, but learning isn’t just for students. Here’s some advice on how you can continue your learning no matter your circumstances.

1) Focus Your Energy

“Center your attention and effort on what is currently before you. . . . Do that thing ‘with all your heart [your feeling and passion], might [your energy], mind [your focus and attention] and strength [your physical will].’ . . . Centering means to be wholehearted—totally invested and engaged.”

—McKay Christensen, “‘Lay Hold upon the Word’: The Power of Wholehearted Living,” 9 May 2017

2) Learn Little by Little

“In our busy lives, how can we make time to continue learning? I believe in consistent, incremental progress—small steps over time. . . . We need to schedule some time each day to study the scriptures. We can also regularly read a little in other books. We learn ‘line upon line’ and ‘precept upon precept.’”

—James D. Gordon III, “The Joy of Education and Lifelong Learning,” 15 March 2013

3) Broaden Your Vocabulary

“Increasing our vocabularies is one area in which we should take greater interest. All knowledge, as far as I know, is conveyed by the medium of language, and our mastery of a language’s components, its words, will decide to a great extent what we can understand and what we can teach. There may be no greater barrier to learning than a small vocabulary. . . . We could learn a lot more at every stage of our lives if we inquired about the unfamiliar words we read and hear each day. Write them down, look them up, raise your hand. Asking “What does that word mean?” raises a fertile question indeed. Every word you learn can open up a new little world.”

—Shawn W. Miller, “‘They Shall Ask the Way to Zion,’” 3 August 2010

4) Read

“I consider reading to be the most important element in effective learning. If your goal is learning, you must commit yourself to reading. . . .  Before you can become excited about learning, you need to learn something to get excited about.”

—Lee Perry, “‘I Need Thee Every Hour,’” 2 January 1977