These are the most valuable skills you can learn at home - and how long it will take to master them

As lockdown in the UK is set to continue, many of us are using our time at home to learn some new skills.

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While teaching yourself something new may seem overwhelming, there are plenty of skills we can learn from the comfort of our home, by reading blogs, doing online courses or using apps.

TheKnowledgeAcademy.com sought to find out what the most valuable skills that can be learned in isolation are. They asked 431 HR specialist which skills they would suggest people immerse themselves in learning while at home, and which are the most beneficial in the long run.

Simultaneously, they also sought to find out how long it would take to get to a beginner’s level in each one of those skills. To ascertain that, they asked a number of specialists within each field (between 52 and 103 people) to say how much time they believe it requires to get a grasp of the skill, if practiced for only one hour a day.

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From languages to exercise or computer coding, here we take a look at a range of skills to learn at home, and how long it might take to master each.

Learning a language

One of the most valuable skills one can have is knowing more than one language. This will not only benefit you when on holiday, but many employers would appreciate you having this skill as well.

Most bilingual people have said that, with perseverance, you can learn a new language in approximately two months.

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IT and digital skills

Some of the best skills you can acquire on your own are digital. We live in a world where technology is rapidly evolving, and we need to keep up with it.

Coding skills are essential in many fields and it can be very expensive to hire a developer, so why not use this time to learn how to do it yourself? The team at The Knowledge Academy learned that it takes approximately four and a half months before getting a grasp of coding, provided you set aside an hour every day to study it.

Other valuable digital skills you could look into learning include digital marketing, which takes approximately three months to learn the basic skills, and SEO (search engine optimisation), which can be learned in only 10 days.

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However, an SEO specialist had this to say about this particular skill, “SEO is vital for the long-term success of nearly every business. There are so many great resources and guides out there on how to start improving the SEO of a website.

"The basic things like meta title optimisation, internal linking and initial page speed improvements can all be learnt within a reasonable amount of time. I would say if you are reading the right material, you could learn this in 10 days or so.

"To master SEO however will take considerably longer. Google's algorithms are constantly changing so you will have to keep on top of that and some things, like learning how to earn the most powerful links, will take considerable time, resources and creativity.”

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Learn more about your hobbies

Some of the most valuable skills we can learn on our own come from hobbies, such as cooking, yoga, photography and pottery.

These are not only great for relaxing or benefiting our health - when it comes to cooking and yoga - but there is also an opportunity to earn some extra cash from hobbies through different social media platforms.

Relaxing pastimes such as the basics of pottery can be learned in one day, and, if you are willing to perfect the craft, you can turn it into a business.

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