Before the Internet, fax machines, and email, the business world moved a lot slower. If you drafted a contract with a client, the best you could do was courier it to them if they lived nearby. Otherwise, you placed it in the mail and waited for a response. Today, things are instantaneous, expectations are now measured by hours or minutes, not days, and things are changing so rapidly that if you don’t dedicate time each day to securing new knowledge, you’ll fall behind.

So how can you get a little professional development in each day?

 

Quick Ideas for Professional Development

Here are some tips to fit it in every day.

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I read the Skimm each day. It gives me the top news stories in quick, digestible pieces delivered to my email, which means I can read it while waiting on my coffee or walking on a treadmill.

You could also create a Feedly account so you can read your favorite blogs or news sites each morning or join another content delivery site. Some people love Blinkist. This subscription service lets you access summaries of over 2,000 nonfiction books. You get the meat without the time investment in reading cover to cover.

Set Goals and Research

Professional development is great but only if it moves you towards your business goals. And remember, professional development doesn’t always have to be reading. Spend at least one day a week plotting where you are and where you want to go professionally. Look at last week’s activities and decide whether they brought you closer to your goals or took you farther away from them. Make the necessary course corrections to get back on track. Research what you need to achieve your goals and chart a plan to get there.

Make a List

Create a list of professional development skills or knowledge topics you’d like to explore and assign them a due date. For instance, let’s say you wanted to learn more about how Facebook ads can benefit your business. Do a preliminary search and unearth a good article or video and then assign it to next week’s “Tuesday over coffee.” In the time it takes you to drink a cup of coffee, you can begin exploring a topic that will bring you closer to your professional goals.

If you find out it will take longer than a cup of coffee, assign a continuation to another day. But make your exploration as targeted as possible and do the research to find your article or video prior to your consumption time. Otherwise, you could use all your professional development time scouting resources not learning from them.

Encourage your employees to do the same and reward them for their efforts through printed recognitions, company apparel, or a fun giveaway.

What do you want to learn? Start making a list today.