Though many of us are still working from home, cancelled weekend plans and no commuting time may leave us with more free time than usual.
Just as it’s important to keep your body active during this time, it’s important to keep your mind active too.
Although it might be tempting to spend all your time at home in front of Netflix, it could be a great opportunity to do some personal or professional development.
Spend some time thinking about where you might want to increase your knowledge or skill level within your job or even a brand new skill that you want to learn.
There are lots of online resources that offer remote learning courses at a low cost, or even free. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Choose your topic with Udemy
- Price: From £12 a course
- Udemy claims to have the world’s largest selection of online courses. You can choose from over 100,000 video courses that cover every discipline you can think of, from HR and business strategy to photography and design.
Join Skillshare’s learning community
- Price: Free with a monthly subscription for premium content
- Skillshare calls itself ‘an online learning community’ and has thousands of classes on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing and more. There is some content available for free, but most is only available with a premium subscription. The good news is they’re currently offering a two-month free trial so you can try out some of their content for free before deciding if it’s for you.
Google Digital Garage
- Price: Free
- Google Digital Garage contains lots of online courses designed to help you grow your career or business. You can choose from individual modules or take a full course end-to-end. Most courses are free, approved by industry experts and are mainly digital marketing focused, but some cover more general topics like effective time management and increasing productivity.
Learn to code with Codecademy
- Price: Free
- Programming is a hugely valuable skill in 2020 and social distancing could be the perfect time to take the plunge and start learning. Codeacademy offers learners the chance to gain a solid foundation in fundamental concepts across a range or programming languages. It uses interactive tutorials to teach practical skills and make your learning engaging and fun.
Bolster your CV with Linkedin Learning
- Cost: From £15 a month
- Linkedin Learning claims to cover the most in-demand business, tech and creative skills with courses from experts in each discipline. They charge a monthly fee then let you watch as many courses as you like, and they’re available in several languages. You can also advertise your new skills with a certificate for your Linkedin profile to show off to current and potential employers.
Find free courses with Reed.co.uk
- Cost: Free to £££
- Reed.co.uk sources courses from a range of suppliers and has many professional, regulated courses available for free. They cover practical skills like bookkeeping, customer service, people management, project management and equality and diversity. If there are any qualifications you need to carry out your current and future role, this is a good place to look. You may find that many of these will incur a fee.
It’s worth spending some time browsing the thousands of courses available as you may even find there’s a brand new skill you’d like to explore.
Investing in your development, free from distractions, means your time spent self-isolating will benefit you in the long run and may help you take the next step in your career.