But when we get older, we get caught up in the monotony of our daily lives. The grind of our jobs, the struggles at home, the tussles with friends and family members makes it hard for most adults to keep learning something new every day.

But there can be several immense benefits of building a habit of learning something new every day, such as:

• It gives you a wide range of perspectives and broadens your usual narrow field of knowledge.
• It makes you a better conversationalist and gives you several topics to use as ice breakers at social situations.
• It keeps the spark of curiosity alive in your brain and makes you more likely to think of innovative and out-of-the-box solutions to everyday problems.
• It makes you more confident.
• It adds depth to your character and makes your story more inspiring to the people around you.

When you know there are so many benefits of learning something new every day, why not try and build a habit of doing so? Of course, this is easier said than done. This articles contains some insights on how you can go about doing so without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed.

1. Read the news every day

While reading the news might not necessarily help you develop your curiosity, but if you consume content mindfully, you can start researching related topics on your own and look up connected bits and pieces of information.

This can lead you down that internet rabbit hole of seeking knowledge and uncover several dimensions you hadn’t previously heard of.

2. Listen to podcasts

Podcasts are an interesting, easy, and superbly effective way of adding to your knowledge without working too hard for it. While doing any menial chore that doesn’t require too much of your attention — like washing the dishes, hanging out your clothes to dry, or eating meals by yourself — you can simply plug in your headphones and start assimilating the knowledge of the world.

If you have never listened to podcasts before, this article discusses the steps you can take as a beginner to start listening to podcasts immediately and turn this into a daily habit of learning something new. 

3. Always ask “Why”

Whenever you come across a concept or bit of information you are not sure how or why it works, ask yourself questions to uncover its mystery. Then, do some research online to find the answers. 

Asking questions, no matter how silly they might seem to be, always helps you uncover new depths of knowledge you hadn’t know existed previously. You might hesitate, thinking they might shed negative light on your personality. But being curious never goes unrewarded. As the Nobel Laureate and world-renowned scientist Richard P. Feynman famously quoted,

“I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered, than answers that can’t be questioned.”

4. Treat mistakes as lessons, not failures

Children never get discouraged by failures. More often than not, they see each failure as a lesson on what needs to be done better the next time, and never let small failures dishearten them.

And as adults, why do we attach so much stigma to failures?

If you rewire your brain and start treating failures as opportunities to learn soemthing new, you’ll free yourself of the burden of unrealistic expectations and learn to take failures in your stride.

5. Turn to technology

Get a habit tracker and mark each day on the calendar when you succesfully stuck to your new habit of learning something new. Seeing an unbroken streak on your calendar will motivate you to let that remain unbroken. You will be inspired to push yourself harder, and as you slowly start enjoying the process of assimilating new information every day, you will feel that it no longer seems like a chore, rather, a habit you can’t live without.

You can also hire an accountabilty coach to help you stay on track. These are trained professionals who will give it their all to make sure you stay true to your new habit and don’t give up on yourself, no matter how hard things may get.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student or not. Learning something new every day is a great way to work out your brain muscles and keep yourself mentally agile all through life. 

But this is easier said than done, especially if you’re someone who didn’t enjoy studying much in school. This post discusses five steps you can implement right now to build a daily study habit.

1. Use a current habit as an anchor

Pick any current habit you have and use it as an anchor to start studying. For example, if you’re a passionate gardener and spend twenty minutes every day in the garden, you can plan your day such that after every gardening session, you’ll sit down to study for at least one hour. 

You can also tie it up to simpler habits like scrolling through social media, going for a run, or even feeding your pet. 

What habit you choose as an anchor depends upon you. It’s a personal choice based on how you structure your day. But the core idea is the same: your need to use your current habits as an anchor so that every time you do that, you’ll be compelled to start studying too.

Be very specific about your trigger. Don’t think of it as a precursor to your studying habit. Instead, think of these two as mutually exclusive. If you don’t study today, you’ll not be allowed to perform your other daily habits. If you have that clarity in your head, it will be easier for you to stick to your studying habit without feeling like giving up in the middle.

2. Start small

Don’t aim for lofty goals and plan to complete one book in a day. Starting a new habit is always tough, but if you start small and keep pushing on, you can do it and make it a part of your routine.

Instead, make micro goals first and stick to them continuously for a while before going for bigger goals. These micro-habits can be simple: 

• Complete homework for school/office/college today.
• Read at least one page of a new book today.
• Watch ten minutes of educational content on YouTube.
• Talk to a friend about what you learned and discuss your progress.

3. Monitor your progress and act accordingly 

Keep pursuing your goals for a fixed period of time, say ten days. Monitor your progress during that time and keep track of how far you have come in this time.

If you feel that your way of going about the daily studying goal is not working, you can mix up your triggers and find a different anchor. If the goal of studying daily is important to you, you need to find a way to keep yourself on track. If it somehow messes up your ability to keep pushing yourself daily, you need to change or adjust your goal accordingly to fit in with your schedule. 

4. Remove obstacles

When you carry out your periodic monitoring sessions, keep track of what stops you and how often. Then, based on your understanding of your habits, remove the obstacles that stand in your way. 

“To an astonishing degree, we’re influenced by the amount of effort, time, or decision making required by an action. The more convenient, the more likely we are to do it; the more inconvenient, the less likely we are to do it.” — Gretchen Rubin

Don’t make this new habit of studying daily super inconvenient for you. Find a middle ground that serves your purpose and gives you the motivation enough to keep pursuing your dreams. That way, you’ll be able to build a habit of studying daily without stretching yourself thin. 

Bonus: Have a partner

Having someone else do it with you can make building any new habit easier. If you can’t find a friend who’s also learning to study every day at the same time as you are, you can hire an accountability coach to help keep you on track. These are trained individuals who will hold you accountable and help you get back on track if you ever fall off the wagon.

You can also turn to technology and download a free habit tracker. This is a great way to mark your progress on the calendar and use it to motivate yourself to keep pushing on.