Set an INTENTION.
Create your own schedule. Committing to spending a certain amount of time doing drawing warmups or just record the weather conditions or zoom in closely and look at an insect or flower center. Schedule time to practice what you are learning will help you stay on track. Set an intention AND a time in your daily check list or calendar!
Organize your materials.
Create a special library or notebook just to focus on nature journaling. Put together a backpack or satchel of your supplies, always at the ready to run out the door to your backyard or the park and make time for focused nature observation. Your journal can be as elaborate or as plain as you would like. Remember, it’s all about you creating what you want.
Make your time learning special for you.
Keep distractions low, learn at a time that suits you best when you know you can concentrate. You might have to turn off all devices that are likely to beep, knock or ping you, especially if it’s social media. Set your learning area up in a way that inspires and motivates you.
Think about everything you love about learning, and the joy it gives you, and put ‘prompts’ for this where you spend the most time learning.
Decide what makes sense to you.
There’s one thing we need to be careful of in this day and age with information from anywhere and everywhere filling our screens, and that is sampling everything. Sampling everything can stop our learning in its tracks. Although you may be struggling with developing new skills, it’s best to avoid jumping around. Decide what makes sense to you.
It's easy to find yourself “sampling everything”. Here is some advice from a life coach: “There are tons of opportunities for you to learn that will come across your cell and computer screen. The key to your progress, happiness and sanity is to be able to discriminate between those which will be a contribution to you on your journey and those which will end up being little more than a distraction or worst yet a diversion to you on that journey.”
Celebrate your learning.
Aim for “progress, not perfection”. Remember to celebrate all your learning, every day there will be something! Allow yourself to be a learner and let yourself be a beginner if you are learning something new. Enthusiasm will get you started but good daily habits are going to make sure you stay on the path to success.