Understanding how to learn effectively is a crucial skill that shapes our personal and professional growth. Whether you are a student aiming for academic excellence, a professional seeking to enhance your skills, or simply a curious mind eager to acquire new knowledge, knowing how to learn efficiently can significantly impact your success. This article explores learning strategies and methods that can help you optimize your learning process and achieve your goals more effectively. Let's delve into how to unlock your full learning potential.
Understanding how the brain learns
How can we tune in to study, maintain attention, and improve the memorization process? Many life hacks help increase productivity and absorb the material with ease. However, some work on certain people and do not work on others at all. We suggest considering how the brain works during the learning process.
Before starting work with a computer, you must turn it on and wait for it to boot. The same is true for the brain. Sufficient brain activation is critical to learning effectively, and it relies on alertness and quality information processing.
Neuroscience states that the learning process is connected to the brain with the neural ability to perceive, process, and respond to various signals.
The lowest level of brain activation occurs during deep sleep, and the highest is at the moment of strong nervous excitement. Simple tasks are easy to perform with a high activation level, while intermediate levels are required for new and complex tasks.
Ways to raise your level of activation:
Rhythmic music: The brain quickly learns musical rhythms and adjusts to their tempo.
Interior colors: Warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow activate the brain, while cool colors like blue, violet, and green have a calming effect.
Physical activity: Increases blood flow to the cerebral cortex.
Breathing exercises: Shallow and frequent breathing activates, while deep and slow breathing calms.
When we have new experiences, changes occur in our nervous system, affecting the further processing of information. This is the memory, and it is energy-dependent. It will not be supported without need. If we do not use what we have memorized, this knowledge "falls to the bottom." We recognize memories if we see or hear them but do not remember them ourselves.
Memory loves emotions, and we remember vivid events best. Therefore, the knowledge gained during a fun game or a fierce competition will be stored for a long time. Another important process in the brain is memory consolidation. This is the transition from short-term memory to long-term memory. In other words, what I learned today is stored in my head for a long time. Consolidation occurs during sleep, so its role in learning is vital.
Top learning techniques
Even the best specialists constantly need to learn new things. Therefore, learning quickly and effectively is perhaps the most valuable skill in a career. The authors of the book 'Make It Stick,' Peter C. Brown, Mark A. McDaniel, and Henry L. Roediger III, are cognitivists who study learning and memory and believe that most people learn incorrectly. Let's discover popular techniques that help improve your learning process and study skills.
Spaced repetition
"Practice that’s spaced out, interleaved with other learning, and varied produces better mastery, longer retention, and more versatility." – Peter C. Brown, 'Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning'
"Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow." – Peter C. Brown, 'Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning'
There is no perfect recipe for quick learning. The result will depend on your characteristics, learning goal, amount of free time, and persistence. However, some secrets and life hacks can make life easier for beginners.
Many modern applications for learning foreign languages are based on the method of spaced repetitions. This method consists of the fact that for "absolute" memorization of a new word, a student must repeat it several times at gradually increasing amounts of time. Let's say the first repetition will happen a few minutes after getting to know the word, the second will come in a few hours, the third, the next day, etc.
The human brain is designed to remember better information and access it several times during a certain period. Write down new, unfamiliar words, and do not forget to return to them after a day, a week, or a month. When listening to podcasts, use the transcripts and listen to the recordings again after a few days.
Retrieval practice is based on the concept of active recall at a later time. Remembering the answer to a question improves learning more than looking up the answer in a textbook. Also, remembering and writing the answer on a card is much more effective than thinking you know the answer and turning over the card ahead of time. Use practice tests or questions to test yourself without looking at the book or notes.
2 Active learning
It is believed that effective learning requires practice and more practice. Many are convinced that if you repeat a lot, you will remember it for a long time. But even better is active learning. For example, retelling information in your own words is better than simply re-reading or cramming. Knowledge is better absorbed if you consider it in a wider context, and combining knowledge into so-called mental models makes it easier to remember complex material. Read about the secrets of effective learning in the book 'Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning' by Peter C. Brown.
Barbara Oakley advises against underlining a lot. Note-taking is more effective than summarizing the main points.
"Don’t fool yourself into thinking that simply underlining something with a pen or pencil will automatically implant it in your brain."
If you are visual, try mind mapping, a technique that allows you to organize information visually through a diagram. First, you write the word in the center of a blank sheet of paper. From there, you write the main ideas and keywords and connect them directly to the central concept. Other related ideas will continue to branch out.
Hands-on experience can be referred to as active learning. Practicing new skills rather than just reading about them is the best process for creating new brain connections.
3. Interleaving practice
It has been scientifically proven that alternation consolidates knowledge in memory and creates connections between them. There are two types of memory: short-term and long-term. One short-term memory aspect is working memory. The information in it can be kept from several seconds to several minutes.
Mixing topics and different types of tasks is not easy but effective. Alternating old and new materials is more effective than alternating theoretical information and solutions. It's about doing different tasks that require different strategies. Continuing to work on a topic after it has been sufficiently mastered can lead to "over" learning. Therefore, working on various tasks during one study session is more useful.
4. The Pomodoro Technique
Sometime in the distant 1980s, one Italian student, Francesco Cirillo, was tired of spending excessive time on homework. He wanted to finish unpleasant matters and rest. To work more efficiently, he decided to use a kitchen timer in the form of a tomato. The mechanism went off every 10 minutes, and he divided his university assignments so that each would take no more time to complete.
The main goal of the Pomodoro Technique is to unlearn multitasking and constant distractions (such as social media) and improve the skill of concentrating on what is essential. You can effectively plan your day with this time management method. There should be no mental strain during breaks. You need to allocate 5-10 minutes for something that does not require thinking.
5. Microlearning
Today, microlearning has a large set of tools. These can be flashcards, apps, games, YouTube videos, infographics, newsletters, podcasts, or text messages that help expand knowledge, sharpen skills, or change behavior. In reviewing products after training, employees must memorize large amounts of information given to them in seminars and webinars. Often, they can't figure out what to highlight, for example, to effectively sell a product. Microlearning solves this problem. Thus, employees can receive messages and answer questions about the launch of a new product for a certain period of time while competing with colleagues.
Such game-based testing helps to identify weak points in understanding and consolidation of information. The correct use of microlearning promotes memorization, reflection, and application of knowledge from practice. During its creation, it is necessary to consider people's desire to learn at any time or place.
Practical tips for effective learning
Here are some tips to get you started:
Create a dedicated learning space
Scott H. Young, researcher and entrepreneur, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller 'Ultralearning,' shares his strategies that helped him find time to study. According to him, if you have little time, you need to simplify the learning process as much as possible. One way to do this is to set up the environment so you can get down to study immediately. If you have to spend 20 minutes preparing your equipment every time, you won’t have time to train. Make it easy.
Determine the hours and place for studying or working. It can be a comfortable library, a cozy coffee shop, or someplace at home set aside for work. When you are there, you focus only on work.
2. Use the power of visualization
"Visualization is an enormously powerful tool for learning. When you visualize, you use your mind’s eye to see concepts and processes in action. This can help you understand and remember complex ideas more easily." – Barbara Oakley
We all have very efficient visual and spatial memory. One of the techniques built on our natural capabilities is called "Memory Palace." This technique involves reproducing in memory a familiar place — such as the floor plan of your house — and using it as a notepad to record information. For example, you need to remember a shopping list in a store. Just imagine this list in your apartment, remember it visually, and that's it! All you have to do in the store is "walk" with your imagination and recreate the list.
Equally effective are using metaphors, analogies, associative phrases, and making up stories and songs. Exercise is one of the best ways to improve memory and learning ability.
3. Take breaks and maintain a healthy lifestyle
In her book 'A Mind for Numbers,' Barbara Oakley says relaxation is vital for hard and productive work. Sleep helps build the neural connections needed for the thinking process, and the so-called "cleaning" of toxins during sleep helps keep the brain working effectively.
"To prevent procrastination, turn off all beeps and pings on your phone and computer, set a timer for 25 minutes, and focus. Work hard during this time, and don't forget to reward yourself with a small treat afterward." – Barbara Oakley
Incorporate regular study breaks to refresh your mind. Consuming nutritious foods, regular physical activity, and sufficient sleep can also ensure a healthy lifestyle. These practices enhance cognitive function and overall well-being, ultimately improving learning efficiency.
Recommended resources
Watch the TED Talks YouTube video: 'Learning how to learn | Barbara Oakley' or read the book 'Learning How To Learn' by Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski.
The same author, Barbara Oakley, PhD, teaches how to develop a mind for numbers and gives practical tips on studying math and science in her book 'A Mind for Numbers.'
When practicing the Pomodoro Technique, you can use these mobile apps: Flat Tomato (iOS), Clockwork Tomato (Android), Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer & To-Do List (iOS), Pomododo (Android), or just a simple alarm
Ultralearning requires you to consider the big picture and develop your own learning strategy. In his book 'Ultralearning,' Scott Young argues that studying is a matter of motivation. But you don't have to force yourself to learn something or feel guilty about not reading much. Motivation to achieve a real goal works.
5 'Don’t Go Back to School' by Kio Stark emphasizes the importance of curiosity, community, and real-world experiences. Whether thinking about changing careers or simply seeking personal growth, it provides a guide for lifelong learning and finding fulfillment beyond traditional education.
In 'Unlimited Memory,' Kevin Horsley offers his method of training attention and concentration, which helps turn faceless information into well-structured data that will stay in your head for a long time. Kevin Horsley is an international professional lecturer, motivational and creative thinking coach, and multiple memory record holder.
7. The Headway app offers summaries of all the books mentioned above and even more on learning and study skills.
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