10 Mindful Activities to Complement Learning

From corporate onboarding and training to a college lecture theater, in-office training session, a professional development learning course at a city hotel, to home remote education or watching tutorial YouTube content, focusing on learning has become more of a challenge for everyone in our always-on, connected world. 

To prepare yourself to absorb knowledge, memorise the facts, understand the details and come out the other side with a good grade, improved knowledge or feeling a better person, here are 10 mindful ways you can improve your learning, be it to make you a better leader or learn a new set of skills. 

1 Calm Down Before Sessions 

For people who find any form of education stressful, take 10 minutes before the lesson or course, especially at home, to turn off unnecessary devices and distractions. Similarly, close other tabs or apps on your browser, PC or phone, and disable notifications. 

Have a relaxing drink to put you in the right frame of mind, and then make sure you have everything you need before the session starts so there are no extra stresses. A great tip beforehand is to think of one or two questions on the subject, so you won’t be caught cold if there are any interactive elements. 

2 Take Written Notes

Sometimes the old ways are the best, and writing notes forces your memory to absorb information and then recap it through the act of writing it down. Note down key sections, phrases, any new information and summarise answers to questions. 

You can then recall the learnings from a lesson quickly, and reading something on paper is a mentally different process than staring at something on screen only for it to vanish from your mind seconds later. 

3 Focus on Your Breathing and Meditation

An additional part of the calming down process, but something you can do during any learning experience is to focus on your breathing, even if in a public place. Take long, steady breaths, hold them for a few seconds and exhale slowly. This helps calm the body, ideal if you’ve focused on other tasks before the lesson. 

It can work if your find yourself distracted during a lecture, and helps bring you to a mental calm place afterwards, so you can consider what you learnt and commit those snippets of information to memory.

If you’re at home or have a private space or office, you can go further by meditating for a few minutes before any course. Focus on your inner self, try to address any lingering distractions, and open your mind and ears for the learning to come.  

4 Take A Calming Drink

Energy drinks have mixed benefits and downsides when it comes to learning, despite younger students chugging them in vast quantities. They are not helpful at retaining information, whatever their marketing, and the energy properties can have your mind flying around during a lesson. 

A simpler solution is a plain coffee, with the caffeine working the same as those energy drinks without the other chemicals. Or you can go with spring alkaline water which helps with hydration, has none of the side-effects of other drinks, and helps with stomach discomfort and other issues that might distract you. 

5 Use Creative Doodling and Sketching 

 If you’re not the writing type, you can still use a pencil and paper to aid your memory through the art of sketching. Typically, note down key words or phrases and then draw or doodle around them with imagery that helps reinforce or highlight the meaning for you. 

6 Use Headphones for Mindful Listening

Any digital lessons, podcasts or other audio information can flow over and around you coming out of your phone or PC’s speakers. Instead, use headphones for better immersion that will block out what the rest of the world is doing and allow you to better focus on the messages from the lesson. In a busy environment, noise cancelling headphones are the best option if you are regularly trying to learn in such a situation. 

7 Use Breaks For Powerful Relaxation

Longer courses have plenty of breaks and rather than hammering the coffee and baked-treats table, you can use the time to go through some of the above steps. Or, if available, take time to go for a calming walk where you can focus on what you’ve learnt and commit it to memory, or clear your mind of any lingering distractions for the next part of the course. 

8 Prepare for the Quiz

Many courses or business training sessions have a little quiz at the end to see who was paying attention. Keep one piece of paper or a note app screen free to copy down facts, quirky details and other bits of information you hear during the course that scream they’ll be in a pop quiz.

While you might not score 100%, you should certainly be in the top few, armed with your information and can feel a lot better about your achievement. You may also get noticed by the course leader or moderator as being a good attendee. That adds to the positive vibes you can gain from the course. 

9 Think How You Would Explain the Course to Others

Most of us take a course or business training with our inner-focus. But consider how, as a manager or leader, you would explain the benefits of a course to your workers or superiors. Focus on the aspects that add value to their roles to view what’s being taught or discussed from a different perspective and to activate broader parts of your mind. 

10 Post-Course Lesson Journaling

Even if you get a PowerPoint or PDF of the course material, take the time to write down your personal highlights of the course for your own benefit, and in case anyone asks you what you learned during the course. This, along with any other notes, acts as a useful way of memorising key information. And, if it is a recurring course, you’ll look really smart next time it comes along.