Time for Education

Not Enough Time

Time—it’s something most of us wish we had more of. We live in a day and age of deadlines, efficiency, and speed. The pressure to do more, be more, and know more during our brief time here on this earth can weigh us down and make us feel like we can’t keep up. Most days, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to accomplish all we want to do.

As I navigated my career, there were times when I needed to fit continuing education into the jam-packed schedule of my life. That usually meant something had to get bumped or adjusted—which is never fun. I discovered (as have many others like me) that online and self-paced educational programs make the addition of schooling about as easy as it can be. This type of education has been empowering and confidence building at key points in my career.

Teaming Up for Continuing Education

The International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT) and The Packaging School, two organizations that recognize the need for knowledge gathering outside of the traditional classroom methods, both offer incredible opportunities to strengthen or further an understanding of topics related to the packaging industry. The companies teamed up in 2017 to find a way to help the modern professional seeking continuing education, and the Beverage Institute by ISBT was born out of that partnership. The Beverage Institute currently offers eight e-learning courses centered on different facets of the art and science of beverage technology.

Meet Nathaniel Morrison

For Nathaniel Morrison, founder of Premium Herbal Products, the courses offered by ISBT were a great way for him to get up to speed when a new career opportunity presented itself: “Taking a course like this and being able to educate myself was really helpful. In my career now, owning my own business, I need to be able to get up to speed on topics I am not familiar with very quickly and troubleshoot on my own. Going through this experience gives me the confidence that I can get up to speed and deal with whatever technical issues may come up.”

The convenience of online learning is hard to beat when you already have multiple irons in the fire. Nathaniel said,

“I like the autonomy of it—you can do it on your own time, login / log-off whenever you need to, so that was really convenient. I appreciate how it is all pre-recorded and on-demand.”

You can’t miss anything because all you have to do is rewind the video if there’s something you didn’t quite catch the first time. Many of the lessons in ISBT’s courses are micro lessons—short enough that you can watch one or two while you take a coffee break or wait in car line to pick up your kids.

Learning that Adapts to Your Schedule

Most people simply can’t afford to stop everything and make time for career-advancing education. But most people don’t want to stagnate in their career either. The ability to adapt online learning to your schedule and demands makes it highly desirable to those who want a third option.

Take the Time to Make the Time

For me, the need to keep learning is something I’m going to foster. I’m going to carve out time to do that in whatever fashion I can. The same holds true for people like Nathaniel. We want to be better, and we want to have time to do the other things that are important to us. And because of companies like ISBT and The Packaging School, we don’t have to choose. Will it require a bit of discipline? Yes—but do you really need to watch Parks and Rec for the fourth time in two years? Nah, me either.