Simple Guide to be more efficient with learning

Simple Guide to be more efficient with learning

Learning is the most important activity that we all have to master throughout our lives. Distributed throughout life, we have to learn lessons, knowledge, and wisdom. Those who do not learn, who put the book aside, and who prefer to live insignificantly and uneducated do not understand the meaning and purpose of education.

We all have great access to knowledge. But if we really focus on learning, we are not always able to practice learning effectively. What we do then is give up. But so that this doesn’t end for you, today I’m showing you ways to optimize your learning skills to absorb a lot more on a daily basis. Because learning is not an easy task that you just do, you need a good strategy that is designed for you. In this post, I will explain how learning works, how you interpret learning according to your personality, and I will show you three learning techniques.

How do we even learn? How does it work?

Neuroscience has discovered a lot about the human brain in recent years. In order to learn better, we should consult these scientific findings. Because if we know how the brain works, we can learn much better. The brain is in constant development; it is never fixed. This process is called neuroplasticity, and it lasts your whole life. There are 86 billion neurons and 150 trillion synapses in the brain. The number of neurons remains the same, while the synapses are connections between individual neurons. So when you learn, new synapses are formed, and knowledge remains.

These changes in the brain are solely responsible for memory and learning. So the quicker they form, the faster you learn. How this differs between people is unclear, but there is a new study that gives clues. A study of Albert Einstein’s brain revealed that his links between the left and right hemispheres were stronger. Which could mean, that a better connection between both halves of the brain, means we develop and learn better.

In order for a synapse to develop, two neurons must be triggered at the same time. This can be triggered by an event, in example a traumatic event. So what can you learn from this? Now, in order to acquire knowledge, you should target the formation of synapses. This goes through quantitative actions, just as it goes with qualitative actions. If you learn a lot, of course, the possibility of two neutrons being activated at the same time also increases.

In order to learn qualitatively, however, the action should be as impressive as possible. This is the same reason why you can take something that bores you harder than something that you’re passionate about. So try to find interest in the things you’re learning. When learning is fun, the event will be much more touching, and your brain will react more to it, making you learn more. You can also increase your learning success by exercising, dieting, and reducing stress.

Learning should be seen as a process that we can influence. The important thing is that we can get rid of all our bad habits. We can also learn to change our brains so that we are described as smart by our surroundings. Some people have it easier, but with more effort and strategy, almost everyone can acquire a great deal of knowledge and skills. Instead of learning pure facts, you should ultimately find ways to make the formation of synapses easier. This can be simplified by, for example, combining concepts. So you combine existing knowledge with new knowledge and activate two neurons at the same time. Find more about the brain and how learning works here.

First, learn yourself before you learn something else!

Yeah, right. You should first know yourself in order to learn effectively. This is because your individuality also affects your learning progress. If you are constantly learning through podcasts and audiobooks, you should be taught to do so. I mean, for podcasts, you should also be an auditory-learning type and not an optical-visual type. If you apply the wrong way of learning, you will make little progress. Instead, you should find out what kinds of learning you have. The differences depend on your brain. Here are the types you should know about yourself:.

On the one hand, there is the right half of the brain. If you are dominant here, then you are more creative and learn, especially on unconscious levels. It means that conscious learning is harder for you than unconsciously absorbing knowledge that interests you. Go against it by helping yourself with stronger emotional motivation. In addition, a learning diary showing your progress will be of great help.

On the other hand, there is the left half of the brain. If you are dominant here, then you are more rational, and you are drawn to logic and reason. This gives you an advantage in logical and rigorous thinking as well as in keeping with a logical learning course. Depending on which half of your brain is dominant, you’re thinking and creative abilities will change. To test which side of yours is dominant, here’s a test.

Besides that, there are four different types of learning that are very important for your learning progress. There is the auditory type that learns through listening, the optical-visual type who learns through seeing, the haptic-kinesthetic type who learns through sensing and touching, and the cognitive-intellectual type that learns especially through thinking and reading. Yes, depending on which type you belong to, and you can have several types at the same time, you learn more easily through the respective areas and harder through others. For a test, I recommend the VARK test. But you can also perform tests elsewhere.

Different learning techniques

Finally, some techniques that can help you learn:

Effort method:

This principle states that it is sometimes better to learn to make handwritten notes than to write notes on a digital device. Which means it’s worth writing things in notebooks, DINA4 blocks, or lubrication sheets. This can be applied to courses, lectures, or other events. In this case, everything should be written by hand as much as possible so that you can absorb it much more directly in the brain. On the other hand, it is worth using this in daily journalism, which makes it more efficient in its benefits. Finally, you should also write down all important thoughts you have and all important things you hear or read. As a result, you will not only have this ready as a note, but it will also be easier to take it into your mind. That’s why you should always have a notebook with you.

Feynmann Technique:

The Feynmann technique is a method of simplifying complex systems and thus making them easier to absorb in the mind. First, you should visualize what you learned in your head. This helps you better understand complex systems. Then you try to explain the concept in as easy words as possible. With this step, you will not only acquire rough knowledge, but you will also go into more detail. After you have explained your knowledge, look for gaps in your knowledge. As a final step, you fill the gaps with the things you have not yet understood about the subject or with new knowledge outside your learning material. By constantly repeating, you gain a deeper understanding of knowledge and become an expert.

Active Recall

One of the more well-known learning methods is learning by asking questions. In doing so, you constantly question your own knowledge through in-depth questions that you formulate in advance on cards. However, first you should learn the material so that you can search for it through your cards a day later. If you do not answer the questions, you learn the material again and start again the next day. However, if you can answer a card well, please leave it away for longer. For example, you can repeat these after 3 days. If you can do it again, repeat it after 7 days, then after 14 days, after a month, etc.

What you now need to do, is aply these things to your daily life. If you don’t have a good routine, you should check out our other articles about productivity.