Most professionals are aware that personal and professional development is critical for maximising your contribution in your current role, as well as for staying ahead of the curve and remaining in-demand and relevant to your industry (whatever industry that might be). This is why Training and Development is a high priority for all serious leaders, managers, and employees.

But in the course of a busy working day, it can be exceedingly challenging to make time for concerted professional development. While many employers will invest in intermittent training programmes for their employees, they are unlikely to have the time or capacity to allow their employees to continually learn for hours during the working day. There simply isn't the time or spare capacity to make this happen.

One solution many people will try is to fit Training and Development efforts around their personal time – scheduling hours of study and practice around their personal responsibilities of family and friends. This can be a successful strategy for some, but can be a barrier for many, who simply do not have the time to spare.

So, if Training and Development can't happen at home, and there isn't time to dedicate to it during the work day, how does development ever happen? Well one option that works well for both individuals and their employers, is to integrate learning opportunities into a workload. Rather than make training a formal enterprise, you simply start treating different tasks and different deadlines as learning opportunities that can add to experience and your CV.

One way this can work is by employees actively seeking to be more mindful about their day-to-day activities. This means being more present in even the most routine of activities. So, when a regularly-scheduled meeting would normally descend into quick and unconsidered reports on individual activities, a person being more mindful can seek to treat the experience as an opportunity to practice their people management and communication skills. If you're more open to learning, it's amazing how many more places you'll see learning opportunities.

Another tactic is to be more deliberate in your learning plans. Many people approach training & development as something vague and unfocused – “I'd like to be a little better at project management," “I wish I could be more productive." Instead of high aspirational aims, it is better to be focused and practical. Write down your learning aims, then set yourself goals to achieve them. Make the stages of achievement manageable and possible, and stay on course by tracking your progress.