I waste far too much time on Facebook. If left to my own devices I can spend hours looking at rubbish all day, avoiding getting on with my life. Then, just occasionally, I find a nugget.

A friend recommended a MOOC called Learning How To Learn.

"A What?" I hear the moodscope collective cry.

A Massive Open Online Course.

MOOCs are available from a wide range of institutions, including some of the top American universities. They offer FREE online courses. You can choose to pay for a certificate, but if it's the course content that interests you, rather than the qualification, then it's there just waiting for you to take advantage of it.

I know from my own experience that at certain times, the idea of taking a course seems far too daunting. The pressure – usually self-applied by my ego – to complete and succeed can make the signing up too scary, and the very thought of the commitment to turning up at class each week makes me run a mile.

But MOOCs are a whole different world. They usually comprise short videos, each of 5 to 20 minutes. I say to myself "I'll just watch one video". I can choose when and where to watch it, I can watch it as often as I please. There are forums available for discussing the course with other students.

You needn't tell anybody that you've signed up, so, if it isn't for you, you can just drop the course, and, if inspired, may spot something else you fancy. Many MOOCS are just four weeks long.

I am currently enjoying 'Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills' by The University of Michigan. Reading moodscope blogs and the comments they inspire, it seems to me that many of the tools outlined in this MOOC might also be very useful to other moodscopers as we negotiate our way through life and relationships.

Might learning help us through the difficult times? Are you ready to put another arrow in your quiver or string in your bow?

Susannah

A Moodscope member.