How To Educate Yourself At Your Job

When on-the-job training fails, take matters into your own hands.

At times of lows and boredom or when there was not that much work to do, I always did my best to stay ahead of the game by seeking out learning opportunities. The ones I most frequently made use of are listed below:

• Spreadsheets📎: Almost any workplace will be using Excel or Google Sheets. Teach yourself how to use either of these (I wrote an article “How to improve your technical skills whilst working at a non-technical job”). Do tutorials through YouTube to just explore, or play with Google Apps Scripts if you want to get into coding with JavaScript. Find something to improve, and try to automate it. This will also improve your creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Typing skills⌨️: play on Typing Club! You’ll learn to blindly type on the QWERTY keyboard. This web app looks like a game (and has fun games integrated), so anyone who can see your screen might wonder what on earth you are doing. Ignore them all! And in case your employer has something to say about this: tell them you’re learning to type faster so that you will eventually do the same amount of work in a fraction of the time. You’re doing them a favour!
• FreeCodeCamp👩‍💻: FreeCodeCamp is an open-sourced platform where you can learn how to code, in-browser, for free! This stands out less than using a code editor and terminal, ha.
• Audio materials🎧: Listen to an audiobook on Audible, or turn on a podcast on your favourite podcast app about a topic you’re interested in. Open some YouTube channel about language learning and have it running in the background to increase the exposure you get to a language and to increase listening comprehension. Or have Despacito on repeat and look up the lyrics to then translate them in order know what you are actually singing.
• Look for ways to spice up your days by taking advantage of company-offered trainings or tours🏫. It will increase your understanding of the company as a whole and what role your department has in the bigger chain. And you’ll get to experience what other jobs and roles exist within the playing field! Negotiate with your employer why a certain training or tour would be beneficial for your current position, and you might be able to go on a company-paid road trip or outing.
• If you are lucky enough to have your employer take part in a corporate volunteering program👫🏽, explore something new and do good while you’re at it! By now I think it’s very obvious I like to write, but here on Vostel Blog there’s another piece I wrote about my first time experiences with volunteering!
  If the company you’re at does not offer this, propose it. It will give them a good name when you tell others you’re out volunteering during company time (corporate branding anyone?)!

What would you add to this shortlist? Let me know your thoughts.