Learning how to learn

Stop! Don’t read that book. Put down that article. Turn off that instructional youtube video. It’s a trap… I wish I would say this to myself more often.

Reading something, understanding it, and thinking you will remember it, just because you read it is a trap. You won’t. At least, not without some work.

This led me on a quest to get better at learning, and more importantly, retaining the things I learned. These are my notes from the course, leaning how to learn.

Neurons

Your brain learns by building connections between neurons. These connections are organic, and form over time. Every time you access a set of neurons, the connections grow stronger. Building better neuron connections make things easier to recall. I like to think of it as walking through deep snow. At first, It’s , slow going, and you want to turn back. The more times you walk through that trail, the more the snow gets packed down, and the faster and easier you can walk.

Focused vs Diffused mode

You have two modes of thinking. Focused mode. Coding, solving a math problem, learning a new word in a new language. You’re building up small bundles of neurons, memories, and storing them in your library. That’s the first mode.

The 2nd mode, diffuse mode, or as I like to call it, ‘big picture’ mode. That’s the mode your brain functions in where thoughts can bounce around, and form new connections, new ideas. Entering focused mode is easy and intuitive… just… focus. Diffuse mode can be a bit trickier. Go for a walk, a run, go to sleep, do the dishes, take a shower, you get the idea… In this mode you’re using those paths stored in your mental library to draw new relationships between your existing memories. Purposefully entering this mode, and recognizing when you could benefit from exiting focused mode are skills worth exercising.

Learning something new

How do you learn something new? You can’t do it quickly. Not if you want to retain it. (Don’t cram before your test…) It takes time, repetition and purposeful practice to build the neuron connections. Anki is an app that automates spaced repetition of quizzes on flash cards. Oddly, learning something unrelated can make you better at remembering the other things. Partially because interleaving learning means you slow down and take more time, and partially because once you get in the habit of learning, it becomes easier.

Tips and tricks

Use your time efficiently. Avoid distractions like TV, your phone, social media, hacker news etc. Your brain is hardwired to move your focus away from something perceived as painful (studying) and towards something that releases a little moment of joy, like scrolling through social media. We of course all know this You can get ahead of this by pre-emptively blocking distracting sites, putting your phone in a separate room while working, not working near a TV, etc.

Tackle the hardest thing first thing when you wake up in the morning. While I know this works, unfortunately it’s not really an option for anyone with little kids. IYKYK… That’s okay though, I’ve found you can get similar results by planning the first couple hours of your day the night before, and being very disciplined with your email/notifications during that time (both personal and professional!).

Use memory tricks to your advantage. Practice creating a ‘memory palace’. This is a physical place you are intimately familiar with. Associate different physical areas and objects with things you want to remember. Your brain is much better at remembering physical things than abstract concepts. Perhaps we evolved this need from our prehistoric days when we navigated before smartphones…

Focus on process over product. Don’t worry about ‘I want to speak Japanese’, instead focus on figuring out how to spend 2 hours a week practicing, and do that every week.The result will take care of itself.

Practice self awareness. Meditation can help here. In time you can get better at recognizing procrastination. Consider using pomodoro to combat procrastination.

Final thoughts

It’s hard to avoid the crux of googling something, looking something up in a book, on your phone etc. That being said, once you start actively and purposefully learning, you will be amazed at what your memory and mind can do for you. The more I’m doing this, the more I’m thinking, wow, our human memory is really, really, underrated.

A big take away from this course for me was that learning and retention take time. Don’t buy a book and expect to master the subject simply by reading it. Similarly, think twice before reading something. What’s the point if you won’t remember it? Similarly, plan your learning/work time, and plan your downtime. Studies have shown time and time again that those who maintain a balance of studying and social/downtime/exercise/etc do better on tests than those that study longer. The professor of this course brought up an esteemed colleague from MIT that famously would never work past 5pm, however was incredibly successful.

Finally, learn by teaching others! Explain it to a friend, bore your spouse, or perhaps… start a blog.