10 Proven Strategies to Accelerate Your Learning in the Workplace
Want to learn faster at work and actually remember it? Discover 10 proven strategies (with humour, tools & quick wins) to boost retention and outsmart your colleagues.
Introduction
“Accelerate your learning.” It sounds like something your manager shouts just before sending you another 60-page PDF to “skim through by tomorrow.”
But here’s the thing: learning faster at work doesn’t mean frying your brain or mainlining coffee.
It means learning smarter — and yes, there are science-backed ways to do it.
If you’ve ever wondered why you forget training within 24 hours but can remember that awkward thing you said in the office kitchen three years ago, this guide is for you.
Let’s break down 10 proven strategies, quick wins, and a few tools (including AI) to help you learn faster, retain more, and maybe even look clever in meetings.
James Mason
1. Spaced Repetition: Don’t Cram, Space It Out
Your brain hates cramming. It’s like binge-watching a Netflix series — by episode eight, you don’t know who’s dead, who’s married, or why the dog is suddenly a character.
Instead, space your reviews over time. The science calls it beating the “forgetting curve.”
Quick win: Use apps like Anki or Quizlet. They’ll remind you what you’re about to forget — like a clingy ex, but useful.
2. Retrieval Practice: Stop Reading, Start Remembering
You don’t learn by staring at your notes. You learn by dragging the information out of your head. Testing yourself is like a workout for your memory.
Quick win: After training, shut your laptop and scribble three things you think you learned. Then check your notes. Congratulations, you’ve just tricked your brain into remembering.
James Mason
3. Microlearning: Snacks, Not Buffets
Ever tried to eat an entire buffet in one sitting? That’s traditional training. Microlearning is like having a tapas plate — small, tasty chunks that actually stick.
Quick win: Turn a one-hour training session into 4 bite-sized bursts. Bonus: you’ll look more productive disappearing for “learning breaks.”
4. Interleaving: Mix It Up
Your brain loves variety. If you drill one topic for hours, it snoozes. Mix it up, and suddenly it’s paying attention.
Quick win: Instead of hammering one Excel formula until your eyes glaze, rotate between SUM, VLOOKUP, and INDEX/MATCH. It’s like cross-training for your brain.
James Mason
5. Apply It Fast (or Lose It Fast)
We forget up to 70% of new knowledge if we don’t use it within 24 hours. That’s right — your last corporate training might as well be a deleted email.
Quick win: Apply something new immediately. Even if it’s tiny. Learn a shortcut? Use it today. Otherwise, it’s gone by Friday.
6. Teach Someone Else (a.k.a. Fake It Till You Make It)
Teaching is like standing up in front of the office and explaining why the printer is on fire — suddenly you realise what you don’t know. That’s the point.
Quick win: Next time you learn something, grab a colleague and explain it to them. Bonus: if you’re wrong, you’ll both learn.
7. Personalised Goals: Make It About You
When learning connects to your career, you care more. Employees with defined goals are 4x more engaged (LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2024).
Quick win: Write down: “I’m learning X so I can do Y by Z.” Example: “I’m learning Excel so I can stop emailing Finance every time I need to add numbers.”
The Office Bantomime Team
8. Multimodal Learning: Hit All the Senses
Read it, hear it, draw it, do it. The more ways you experience information, the stickier it gets.
Quick win: Turn your notes into a doodle, record yourself explaining a concept, or build a mind map in Miro.
9. Reflection: Ask ‘Why?’ Before Bed
Reflection is like the after-party of learning. It’s where the good stuff sinks in.
Quick win: End your week with three questions:
- What did I learn?
- Why does it matter?
- How will I use it?
That’s not journaling — that’s your brain consolidating.
On Retrieval Practice:
“Your brain isn’t a filing cabinet. It’s more like IT support — you have to raise a ticket (recall) to get anything back.”
10. Sleep, Breaks, and Exercise: The Boring but True Bit
Look, your brain isn’t a robot. No sleep, no recall. No breaks, no creativity. No exercise, no energy. Ignore these, and all the strategies above collapse like a Jenga tower.
Quick win: Instead of scrolling through emails at midnight, go to bed. Your boss will prefer a sharp brain tomorrow to your late-night “Noted, thanks” reply.
How to Actually Retain What You Learn
Retention = Spaced review + Retrieval + Teaching + Sleep. That’s the formula. Write it down. Actually, don’t test yourself on it tomorrow.
On Applying Knowledge Fast:
“Training you don’t use within 24 hours is basically office gossip — gone by lunchtime.”
Tools to Supercharge Your Learning
- Anki / Quizlet – for flashcards that nag you (in a good way)
- Notion / Evernote – for digital learning journals
- Miro / MindMeister – for mind maps and visual thinkers
- LinkedIn Learning / Udemy – courses that don’t feel like homework
- AI assistants – for quick summaries, practice quizzes, or simulated awkward customer calls
Can AI Really Help?
AI can summarise a 30-page report, create quizzes, or role-play your scary presentation. But don’t just copy-paste answers. Struggle = memory.
Use AI as your learning sidekick, not your brain replacement. Otherwise, you’ll end up like that one colleague who “knows everything” but can’t answer a single question without Googling.
On Sleep & Retention:
“Your brain saves files overnight. Skip sleep and it’s like hitting ‘Don’t Save’ on everything you learned.”
Books Worth Having on Your Desk
- Make it Stick – Peter C. Brown
- A Mind for Numbers - Barbara Oakley
- Peak - Anders Ericsson
- How We Learn - Benedict Carey
Each one is science-backed, jargon-light, and won’t put you to sleep (unlike half your company training).
Final Thoughts
Accelerating your learning at work doesn’t mean working more hours or memorising jargon. It means using smart, proven strategies to learn once, remember forever, and apply immediately.
Do it right, and you’ll not only retain knowledge — you’ll stand out in meetings, adapt faster, and maybe even get promoted before “that guy” who still doesn’t know how to use Teams.
So, next time someone says “we need to accelerate learning in the workplace”, smile, because you already know how.
📌 Dive Deeper Into Corporate Culture
Want to know why office life feels like a mix of comedy and chaos? Explore our Corporate Culture tag for satirical guides, survival tips, and absurd truths about modern workplaces.
👉 Keep laughing through the corporate chaos at Office Bantomime.
🔎 Curious why your workplace behaves the way it does? Explore Corporate Culture — the unwritten rules, decoded (with jokes).
