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Inspiration

Keep learning to stay in the game

n the continually changing payments industry, it's Taking notes increases retention
essential to respond quickly and appropriately to
shifting conditions. This requires updating skills When reading articles or books, even in a quiet location,
I and knowledge regularly so that instead of being it can be difficult to keep your mind from straying. Here
dragged into new ventures, we take charge and create are steps that will help you stay focused and maximize
them. retention:

1. Skim the text to get a sense of the central ideas and
Useful information abounds, so much so that it can be dif- main points being conveyed.
ficult to discern what is most important for success. One
approach that might seem counterintuitive is to work 2. Jot down any questions that come to mind after
some idleness into each day. For a short time, stop watch- skimming and before you read the text in detail.
ing, reading or listening to your favorite media sources, so
your brain can process what you've already taken in and 3. Read as you normally would now, but pause to take
not become overloaded. notes as you go. You may find answers to the ques-
tions you've already jotted down, form new ques-
Breaks are essential tions or gain new insights you want to remember.

"Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is 4. Immediately after reading, write down the essen-
as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, tial points you can recall. Relax, this isn't a test. Just
and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfigur- think about what stood out and consider why certain
ing as rickets," essayist Tim Kreider wrote in a 2102 article concepts captured your attention.
for The New York Times. "The space and quiet that idleness
provides is a necessary condition for standing back from 5. Now, review your notes, and then read the text
life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connec- again. Add to your notes as your understanding and
tions and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of grasp of the material grows.
inspiration—it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any
work done." In addition, steps 3 through 5 can be adapted easily to vid-
eo and audio instruction materials.
Beyond working in idle time, it's also helpful to break up
your study and work times into 25-minute blocks with Another helpful action is to share what you're learning
five-minute stretch breaks in between. For more informa- with peers who are also committed to ongoing learning.
tion about working this way, see Francesco Cirillo's Work Explaining what you've learned to others helps you un-
Smarter, Not Harder website, https://francescocirillo.com/prod- derstand it better yourself, and the exchange of ideas of-
ucts/the-pomodoro-technique. ten proves invaluable to professional development—some-
thing that will pay benefits for years to come.
Then, it's a matter of getting the most out of those 25-min-
ute blocks. The most obvious thing is to make your en-
vironment as distraction free as possible. This may be as
simple as closing your office door or putting on earphones
when you're watching a presentation or listening to an au-
diobook. Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
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