Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink.
Today, we are going to learn about 10 mental hacks to learn anything faster.
Now, let’s begin.
1.
Instruction Mastery What’s the easiest way to learn about a
new subject?
Instead of teaching yourself, try to teach somebody else.
Take all the information you learned and create a lesson that anybody could understand.
First, find a friend, partner, or family member willing to listen.
Next, sit them down and talk through all the concepts you’re trying to understand.
You may discover, upon teaching someone else, that you don’t know as much as you thought.
Your friend or partner might ask simple questions that poke holes in your understanding.
Or maybe you find yourself relying on complicated definitions to explain topics you can’t
fully comprehend.
But these mistakes are good.
The goal here is to find your strengths and weaknesses.
By teaching someone else, you learn what you understand and what you don’t.
That way, you can go back and review what you’ve learned.
You can shore up the weak spots in your knowledge and achieve a greater understanding of almost
any concept.
So don’t just learn about a subject.
Teach someone else what you’re learning.
If you can present information in a way that’s cohesive, simple, and complete, you’ve mastered
the subject.
If you can’t, you know exactly what areas to tackle first.
2.
Burst Learning Do you study for hours on end?
Cramming is one of the most common learning strategies, but it’s also one of the least
efficient.
When you study for hours at a time, your brain gets tired.
You feel cloudy and unfocused, because you’re ingesting more information than your brain
can handle.
Instead of cramming for hours, divide your study sessions into short bursts.
Study for 30 minutes, then rest for 30 minutes.
Study again.
Rest again.
Repeat the process until you feel like you’ve mastered your subject.
Why is burst learning more efficient than cramming?
Because it counteracts mental fatigue.
When your brain stays fresh and attentive, you absorb more information.
You learn faster, because your brain isn’t exhausted from hours of continuous labor.
If you’re a notorious crammer, it’s time to reinvent the way you learn.
Study in short but hyper-productive bursts to make the most of every session.
3.
Reward-based Motivation Your mood and attitude significantly impact
the way you learn.
If you’re bored and spiteful, you’re not going to learn very much.
But, if you’re motivated and enthusiastic, you’ll absorb more information.
So how do you keep your brain feeling positive when you want to learn something new?
Rewards can be a great source of motivation.
Studying isn’t always the most exciting activity in the world, but you can spice up
each study session with a stimulating reward system.
Rewards give your brain something to get excited about.
You might reward yourself with a break, a snack, or a trip outside.
Use any reward that gets your brain excited to work and learn.
But remember to stay disciplined.
Don’t reward yourself unless you have earned that reward.
If you start cheating your own system, your brain isn’t going to learn much of anything.
4.
Mental Spacing Mental spacing is another great way to structure
the learning process.
This technique encourages learners to take long breaks after studying or reviewing difficult
information.
Why?
Because your brain thinks, understands, and stores information even when you’re not
actively studying.
Let’s say you study for one hour.
Your brain probably didn’t retain all the information you studied.
It needs time to make sense of those new concepts.
Instead of studying more, do something else.
Go for a walk.
Spend time with your friends.
Eat a meal or play a game.
During each of these activities, your brain will continue mulling over the information
you learned.
In the back of your mind, you’ll make connections, create associations, and experience epiphanies.
You might be talking to a friend when suddenly a difficult concept clicks into place.
That’s the advantage of mental spacing.
If you hadn’t taken a break, your brain wouldn’t have made that connection.
So space out your study sessions.
Give your brain plenty of time to think.
Because you may experience these eye-opening epiphanies when you least expect it.
5.
Educational Games Educational games are another way to speed
up the learning process.
Normally, when you study, it may feel like you’re banging your head against a wall.
You might think of a thousand things you’d rather do than stare at charts, diagrams,
and textbooks.
But what if you convert that information into a game?
Educational games activate completely different parts of your brain.
Suddenly, learning feels competitive, sensory, and maybe even fun.
The best part is… there are dozens of different games you can create and play all on your
own.
Use index cards to create an information-based card game.
Flip your cards upside down to play classic games like Concentration.
You can even design a point system to incorporate an element of competition into your study
sessions.
Choose whatever game sounds the most fun to you.
And don’t be afraid to gamify anything you’re learning.
Because educational games trick your brain into learning a whole lot more.
6.
Testing Knowledge Here’s a common mistake that many learners
make.
You study something once and assume your brain is going to retain 100% of the information
you studied.
But what happens when you put that information into practice?
You may forget huge chunks of information.
Unless you have a photographic memory, your brain is going to forget important pieces
of everything you want to learn.
That’s why experienced memorizers test themselves early and often.
Let’s say you’re studying a list of 20 definitions.
After reading through each definition, challenge yourself to recall those definitions on a
blank sheet of paper.
Even though you studied all 20 definitions, you learned only 10.
Go back and review the information, then do another test.
This time you might get 15 out of 20.
Repeat this process until you can score 20 out of 20 on your own test.
If you can’t get a perfect score on your own test, you don’t stand a chance of acing
someone else’s.
Use these tests to fill the holes in your knowledge.
That way, you’ll know every definition like the back of your hand.
7.
Modified Repetition Repetition is a critical part of the learning
process.
If you want to digest information, you need to read it, explain it, and understand it
several times.
But repeating the exact same exercises isn’t always the best way to learn.
Let’s say you’re flipping through flash cards.
You’ve run through the same deck five or six times.
You should have all those terms memorized; yet the same terms keep slipping your mind.
You need to diversify your approach.
Use new study methods to help your brain learn the same information from multiple angles.
For example, start with flash cards; then try quizzing yourself.
If that doesn’t work, create an education game.
Each time you study, you’re reviewing the same lot of information, but you’re changing
your approach.
A new approach activates new areas of your brain and creates important associations your
brain will use late on.
In other words, repetition is key, but you don’t have to do the same thing every time.
Spice up the learning process by mixing and matching your methods.
8.
Selecting Your Context Context plays an important role in the learning
process.
If you want to learn effectively, you need to immerse yourself in the right environment.
A bad environment looks and sounds like this: you’re sitting in a busy room, filled with
distractions.
Your phone is ringing.
You’re distracted by other people’s conversations, and you can’t seem to focus for more than
a few minutes at a time.
In this environment, you’re not going to get anything done.
You need a quiet, solitary space where you can concentrate free from distractions.
For some people, it’s a desk at home, where no one will disturb them.
Others prefer libraries or quiet coffee shops.
That part is up to you.
Find a place where you can work in peace.
Because the right context can make all the difference.
9.
Schedule Your Sessions Do you have a study schedule?
Do you plan your study sessions, almost like you’re going to work each day?
Many people procrastinate when they need to study.
You find other things to do, because learning isn’t something that has limits or deadlines.
You don’t need to study a certain number of hours.
There’s no one forcing you to learn.
It’s important that you do, but that lack of deadlines gives some people too much leeway.
You can turn yourself into a disciplined learner by operating on a tight schedule.
Choose a time slot each day to learn something new.
Schedule your study sessions in advance, and make sure you show up, day after day.
Don’t let yourself be late.
Don’t skip days or throw in the towel.
Instead, imagine that someone is counting on you to show up and learn each day.
If you take your schedule seriously, you’ll find yourself learning faster in no time.
10.
The Power of Monotasking Multitasking sounds like a good idea.
You want to get a lot done in a shorter amount of time; but here’s the problem.
When you multitask, you split your attention between several things.
Instead of committing your attention to one thing—and doing that one thing to the best
of your ability—you’re spreading yourself too thin and little details start slipping
through the cracks.
If you want to learn faster, stop trying to multitask.
You might think you’re being efficient, but you’re significantly slowing yourself
down.
Focus on one thing and one thing only.
When you’ve mastered it, move onto something else; it might sound slow, but monotasking
is the best way to learn.
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