Wildly variable results with online learning. Here’s the honest breakdown of what delivered.

Online learning laptop desk studying

Worth It: Anything by David Perell on Writing

Write of Passage is expensive (£1,000+) but if writing is part of your work, the ROI is real. His essay archive is publicly available and free — probably 60% of the value for zero cost.

Worth It: Coursera’s Google Data Analytics Certificate

Practical, well-structured, covers Excel, SQL, R. Takes about 6 months at a reasonable pace. Requires you to build things, not just watch. At £30-40/month for Coursera Plus, about £200 total.

Not Worth It: Most Social Media Marketing Courses

The algorithm changes faster than any curriculum can keep up with. A highly rated Instagram course 18 months old — half the tactics already penalised by the platform. Follow active practitioners instead.

The Key Question for Any Course

Does it require you to produce something — write, build, analyse, create — or just watch? Every course that changed how I work required output.

And sometimes: Hiring someone on Fiverr to do one small project in a skill you’re learning teaches you more than a course would.