Slot-Jot-Carrot: A Three Part Framework To Help You Become a Life-long Learner
It’s not enough today to be a working professional or a knowledge worker. You need to also become a continuous learning knowledge professional, even if no one taught you how. Follow this simple, three-piece framework to build a system of daily learning.
Has anyone taught you how to build a systematic approach to learning while juggling work and life? In previous eras, there was no need: professionals in their early 20s would enter a company’s doors and leave at age 60. Along the way, the organisation told them whatever they needed to know: whether to learn, what to learn, how to learn, and when to learn.
That doesn’t work anymore. Not in a world that is digital, distributed, and diverse. Where employers look at their companies as sports teams with high churn rather than as stable long-lasting families.
As new trends transform the way we work, learning becomes fundamental to keeping pace, if not staying ahead.
The key to staying relevant in today’s world is to keep learning.
But no one teaches you how to learn when you are older. Or how to learn when you are busier. As a result, we are unable to overcome our lack of focus, bandwidth, and energy in order to accomplish any significant learning goals.
In my quest to become a continuous learning professional, I put together a framework for myself. It has immensely helped our customers too. It works for learning anything and in any format, be it online or offline, self-directed or taught. All you need is three things in place. I call it the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework.
The best way to learn: do it daily
I am often asked about the best ways to learn, whether it should be through online/offline courses, or how to read more books, and so on. This gets you into the trap of thinking about learning as a one-off event; something to do to land your next certification, job, or social media post. Instead, the best way to get serious about learning is to create a daily habit of learning: whether it be online courses, doing self-directed learning, just reading, or formally enrolling for a course.
Have you ever caught yourself thinking this:
I don't have the time to spend on courses
I started doing X very diligently but something more important kept cropping up
There are so many things to learn that I am paralysed by choice
My organisation enrols me for certain programs, that’s the most I can do
I have these libraries and resources, but they are just so vast that I get lost
I know what I want to do but I just procrastinate.
All these are common thoughts, not just to professionals but students as well. But there is a way to make that learning simpler. With the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework you can find yourself learning a lot of things with ease, and finding room to make it possible to learn things that you never had the time for.
(To make this easier, Choose To Thinq has designed ‘Drip Learning Courses’ and ‘Compounds’ where we help you build a regular habit of learning future-oriented skills such as storytelling, orchestrating innovation, advocating for your company, and creating a personal brand for yourself.)
In my quest to become a continuous learning professional, I put together a framework for myself that helped our customers too. It works for learning anything and in any format, be it online or offline, self-directed or taught. All you need is three things in place. I call it the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework.
These are some of the things I achieved in the last 4 years using the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework:
Read 1400+ book summaries each day, without fail for 3+ years
Completed 7 MOOCs
Learning French on Duolingo for 1000+ days
Assimilated knowledge from complex books and courses
We have been recommending the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework to individuals and also using it in the design of our own little courses that have transformed people’s lives. And it is so simple, you can implement it from today.
The Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework - The secret sauce to learning anything
The idea behind this framework is that you need three things to build a robust learning habit. Here’s how to go about it.
1. ONE SLOT: Assign a dedicated slot for learning
The foundation that will make or break your learning habit is: a slot. Simply put you need to set aside a dedicated, protected time for learning. Put it on your calendar, mark it at a particular time - whether it is daily or twice a week or once a week, it doesn’t matter (though daily is ideal). A lot of you are good at sticking to a calendar. So first, make that appointment with yourself.
It doesn’t have to be as grand as a one-hour slot: start with 15 minutes. But the key idea is to have that one slot, and protect it, like a lioness would protect her cubs. Keep it safe, and even have a backup slot just in case. And to ensure you don’t miss that slot, put an alarm for it, or take an oath that you would not do any other activity unless you have completed what you have earmarked for that slot.
If you have a fluid calendar that’s not in your control, find a region instead - say early morning, or towards the end of the day. If not, do an event-based slot. For example: I will do this before my morning coffee, or I will do this once I have finished cooking dinner.
The idea behind a slot is - if you can do something regularly (doesn’t matter what it is), then you get into the habit of using that slot to progress yourself. It may seem like baby steps, but don't worry, babies make it quite far.
How I used Slot
In 2021, I took a 5 course specialization on Futures Thinking which spanned several months. Before I began, I chose two 30 min slots (Wednesday and Sundays) in which to work on this course. It took me about 4 months to complete the full set of courses, helped by getting my slot right. I could have perhaps done these courses in 2 months but this way, I didn’t burn out and could also reflect better on what I was learning. In the case of my daily Duolingo practice, I do it when I turn on my phone in the morning (before I check anything else).
2. ONE JOT. Produce and note down one item in that slot: an action or a takeaway
When you are learning, you are consuming information. What happens is that we tend to do this passively. As a result, information just washes over our brain, and we eventually end up forgetting whatever we have tried to learn. So, the process feels incomplete.
To make what you learnt memorable, write down a line or post a takeaway. Even a single line will do to begin with. Anything that forces you to reflect on what you just did 15 minutes ago, or what you took away from this overall exercise. It's a great way to engage with the content you have consumed and make learning more active. It’s also something you can use as a peg to move forward in the next slot, as against starting cold.
Additionally, you get a chance to revisit your own takeaways at a later time, acting like a refresher. Since these are your own words, you will engage with the information even better. Over time, these takeaways themselves will be useful to you.
How I used Jot
During my course on Futures Specialisation, I used a Notion notebook to write down 1 to 3 notes per video lecture. These notes helped me put together a presentation for my team as part of our Future Fitness sessions. In the case of my daily reading of a book summary, I share one takeaway with my team. Sometimes I also share this on social media, which helps build my social capital.
3. ONE CARROT. Give a reward to yourself after every successful effort
Creating a positive association with your learning slot is extremely critical. So once you have ticked your goal for the day, give yourself a reward. It can be a well-deserved coffee break or a piece of chocolate. Most behavioural modification models utilise the role of emotion and personal reward. A reward doesn’t always have to be food of course. It can be - sharing your takeaway with a group of friends, or posting it on social media (doubly useful if you are also trying to improve your social presence). Invariably someone will like it or comment on it, and you will build an identity of being someone who is a curious learner. All these act as rewards presented by your mind itself. So, whether the reward comes from your pantry, or from your social network, make sure you treat yourself to that reward.
How I used Carrot
Because I do my Duolingo practice before checking my daily social media feed or my morning cup of filter coffee, those are my reward shots for completing Duolingo.
That’s it. The three simple things that I have found are the cornerstones of building a habit of lifelong learning. Try the Slot-Jot-Carrot Framework to create for yourself a robust system of learning. One month you might be trying out a short course, another time you may decide to learn something bigger. This framework would have built your muscles for the task. Of course, you may falter, you may stumble, it happens to all of us. Just hit start once again and do these steps to get back on track.
Want to bring a learners’ mindset to yourself and your team?
Find out how Connections Cafe can help your distributed team learn something interesting each month while also bonding and having fun.
Unhappy with your reading habits? Want to build a lifelong reading habit by spending just 15 mins each day? Join the Daily Reader compound.
Unsure what trends will shape the way you work? Check out the Futurestack compound, that quickly introduces you to 26 different themes, from behavioural nudges to synthetic biology to cognitive load management and crypto.
Next: read the 5+1 steps that leaders can take to encourage curiosity at work