The best time to learn
Driving:
I have friends who first got their driver's license in Japan, where it's pretty common to study hard, get your license, and then never drive again. They call it "paper driver." Most of them, when they moved here where I live, had to re-learn the entire driving experience, because their original learning pretty quickly wore off.
On the other hand, my childhood friends and I could not wait to get our licenses, and then we immediately drove every time we got the chance. The learning stuck.
Academics:
I did very well in school. I studied, aced the tests, got wonderful grades. And then quickly forgot most of what I had "learned."
On the other hand, most of my learning as an adult has been self-led, seeking out whatever resources I needed to gain information and skills for which I've had a practical use. Most of that learning has stuck.
CiviCRM:
I've also designed, conducted, and facilitated numerous formal trainings for system administrators in CiviCRM. And I've spoken with many participants in those trainings some weeks or months later. For better or worse, I can tell you that most of the topics we covered in those trainings are either completely forgotten or reduced to vague memories.
On the other hand, some of the most effective trainings I've conducted have been ad-hoc, on demand sessions for people who needed answers to specific questions for their daily work. That learning sticks.
Here's the thing:
To be fair, when you need access to skills and knowledge, any prior training, however distant in the past, can be better than none at all.
But I’ll maintain that the best time to learn is when these two things are true:
You have a genuine curiosity or other personal motivation to learn.
The instruction is followed by frequent real-world opportunities to use, test, and solidify that learning.
Learning for the distant uncertain future can be nice.
Learning for the immediate future tends to “stick” a whole lot better.
All the best,
A.