hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about ten mind tricks
to learn anything fast now let's begin number one the sleep sandwich imagine you have an important
presentation and only one day to prepare how do you learn a lot of information in the least amount
of time most people try cramming they study their notes or review their lines for hours they'll pull
an all-nighter if they have to but despite all of their hard work they end up forgetting about 50%
of the stuff they wanted to remember most of the content they crammed into their head never sees
the light of day why is that because it never finds a place in their long-term memory you can
expose your brain to countless new stimuli but it only retains a small percentage of them because
you need time to store information in your memory that's the problem with late-night cram sessions
you aren't giving your brain the chance to encode all the stuff that you need to remember that's the
number one reason why scientists recommend the sleep sandwich instead of one long study session
you should study sleep and then study some more the sleep sandwich is an excellent way
to learn faster because sleep helps you retain more information in fact storing memories is
one of the most important functions of a good night's sleep while your conscious goes to bed
your unconscious is actively storing all kinds of stuff in your long-term memory but when you pull
an all-nighter you're preventing your brain from actually learning and retaining those memories
not to mention you're hurting your brains overall performance tiredness leaves your brain feeling
foggy slow and unproductive so come on don't bother studying until 4:00 in the morning if you
need to squeeze in some last minute learning study for a few hours get a good night's sleep and then
pick up where you left off in the morning number two mastery through modification have you ever
heard of the illusion of mastery it's a common pitfall that you might run into when learning
something new if you study for a few hours you get a handle on a few basic tricks and suddenly
hey you think you're a master learning to draw is a great example many people think of themselves
as competent artists after one good sketch they see the quality of their first drawing and they
assume they know everything they need to know it feels easy boring even but just because something
feels simple doesn't mean you have it mastered so how do you stop yourself from falling into
this trap a great way to really learn any subject is to use modifications all right let's say that
you've gotten really good at drawing faces from the front it's starting to seem a little stale
and you feel like you aren't learning anything so it's time to put yourself to the test just make a
small modification to your original routine draw a face from a slightly different angle
yeah challenge yourself to go faster or use a different drawing tool each one of these minor
changes plays a critical role they stop your practice from becoming boring or repetitive
they help you work on your weaknesses and most importantly they keep you humble throughout the
learning process number three weaving subjects in 2008 a group of researchers discovered something
counterintuitive about learning you'll learn something faster by studying something else in
this study researchers ask people to identify certain artists based on six of their paintings
half of the participants saw each artists paintings and blocks while the other half
saw their paintings all scramble together who do you think retained more information the scrambled
group performed significantly better hmm why is that well because interweaving different styles
and subjects helps solidify new information in your memory number four chewing gum some people
chew gum to freshen their breath others just like that minty fruity taste but did you know that
chewing gum could help your brain learn faster a series of studies found that chewing gum has all
kinds of cognitive benefits for starters people who chew gum tend to be more alert and experience
less stress this was first discovered by a 2011 study which had people take a number of quizzes
in a distracting environment under normal circumstances the chaotic testing room would
have thrown people off it was designed to create anxiety and significantly lower their productivity
but even in that distracting environment people who were chewing gum stayed more focused and
produced less stress related hormones in other words chewing gum help them stay calm and help
them concentrate oh but that's not all a 2009 study discovered that the act of chewing makes
you more vigilant and it lengthens your attention span in 2015 another group showed that chewing gum
helps you stay happy and motivated while you work two more studies from the early 2000s found that
different flavors of gum actually make your brain more receptive and flexible obviously there are
dozens of studies showing the many advantages of this very simple habit it helps you learn
faster perform better and concentrate longer so the next time you sit down to work don't forget
to grab a stick of gum number five intellectual hydration did you know something as simple as a
glass of water can boost your brainpower a 2012 study discovered that hydration during a test
can have a huge impact on your grades in fact college students who drank water during their
exams performed up to ten percent better that's a full letter grade higher all because of a few
sips of water now of course hydrating doesn't just affect your test-taking skills it helps you digest
information store new memories and solve more complicated problems why is that well because
water keeps your brain functioning like it's supposed to but here's the best part there really
is no wrong time or place to stay hydrated let's say you're sitting down on your couch to enjoy
a book it would only take a few extra minutes to make yourself a cup of tea but that one cup does
a lot more than just keep your body hydrated according to a 2014 study it quickens your
short-term memory strengthens your long-term memory and it leaves you feeling enthusiastic
about learning something new so whenever you're studying reading or even listening to a podcast
grab something to drink trust me your brain will thank you for it number six multiple mediums do
you study the same way every single time have you been using flashcards or study guides for every
test that you've ever taken if you have you might need to mix things up try using multiple mediums
while you study you could use flashcards draw a diagram and say the information out loud by
blending styles together you activate new parts of your brain you store more detailed sensory
information and you begin understanding concepts from different perspectives so don't fall back
on the same old tricks every time experiment with multiple mediums to learn more information faster
number seven speed read the average person can read about 200 words per minute that's around
2 minutes per page yeah I know that seems fast but it's not as impressive as it sounds in fact
that's the same speed people used to read a hundred years ago but here's the problem
the total amount of information in the world is doubling every single year so how do you keep up
the simplest answer is also the best if you can absorb information faster you can learn faster
in a matter of weeks you can teach yourself to read between 700 and a thousand words per minute
you won't be able to read everything the world has to offer but you'll definitely blaze through
a good chunk of it number eight musical stress relief many people can't study without music in
the background some people swear it helps them be more productive others need music to concentrate
so that raises the question does music really help you learn faster many studies have shown
that music makes your mind more receptive to new information it also improves your memory by
engaging different areas of the brain but the biggest advantage of listening to music often
flies under the radar music is a major stress reliever it significantly reduces test anxiety
and it increases overall feelings of relaxation so you can perform at your best in other words
music boosts your mood it speeds up your cognition and it helps you think clearly that means you can
be more confident and productive no matter what you're working on number nine practice in pieces
what happens when you read through all your notes in one sitting how much do you really remember
probably a lot less than you hope the human brain isn't designed to store massive volumes
of information at the same time we can interact with all kinds of stimuli every day you hear
thousands of sounds and see millions of shapes but your long-term memory is a lot slower that's
why practicing in pieces is such an efficient way to learn instead of spending a whole day
going through all your notes just go through a few pages each day if you spend smaller chunks of time
learning small chunks of information then you'll find yourself retaining a whole lot more number 10
the hard road when you have to learn something new you probably start searching for shortcuts right
everyone wants to know the fastest and easiest way to memorize things but the truth is taking
the hard road is almost always more efficient in the long run take something like handwriting
your notes it's a lot slower than type and less convenient but those handwritten notes really
stick in your memory even if it seems like a waste of time you'd have to retype your notes again and
again to have the same cognitive impact my point here is that shortcuts don't always help you learn
faster more often than not the most challenging path is also the most effective hey thank you
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