As a kid, did you get excited about the first day of school? I presume so: Readers of an e-letter on communication strategies have to skew toward nerdiness.

We loved shopping for pencil cases and binder notebooks, fussing over the finer points of wide-lined versus narrow-lined paper. We wondered whether our teacher would be as funny or as mean as the older kids said. We looked forward to seeing friends we had missed all summer.

(Come to think of it, my back-to-school memories are age-specific. Fill in your own experiences.)

My question is, Do you bring the same excitement to your own learning, now, as an adult?

We know that if we’re not growing, we’re dying, or at least stagnating. (Is there a difference?)

The challenge is to make learning a priority. How do we persuade ourselves that professional development is as important as today’s urgent tasks?

I have two strategies, which may work for you, too.

  • Commit to showing up for events. I belong to an in-person networking and professional development group that meets monthly. You may attend classes or conferences. Webinars count, if you don’t try to multi-task.
  • Learn in snippets. I read books for personal growth and for fun. My professional learning these days comes mostly from e-letters, blogs, and podcasts.

Here are a few of my “textbooks” – people I follow online.

Also, I cheat a little. Because I’m a writer and editor, I figure I learn from every book I read, even (especially?) novels. I recently finished Octavia Butler’s Kindred as part of my project to read works by authors in the African diaspora.

What or who are you learning from these days? Please share!