Effective Tips for Learning ANYTHING Faster and More Easily! (Life-Changing)
Backing up your brain. We learn every day, but not comprehensively what we need for certain developmental stages of our lives. School and education have challenged us plenty in this regard; some of us even swear on their mother’s lives that they’ll never pick up a book or enter an educational institution again. However, life has changed a lot in the last 20 to 30 years, especially with regard to our education and training. While the generations of our grandparents and parents were largely loyal to the same company or business for life, nowadays any professional commitment that lasts shorter or longer than two to three years is a suspicious minus point on the resume. The trend is clearly toward lifelong learning. If you can't or don't want to keep up, you'll fall by the wayside professionally and, unfortunately, won't be able to easily extricate yourself from a fateful mediocrity. If you want to go back to school, further your personal education or broaden your horizons, we have three effective learning techniques for you in this article. They'll reliably help you get back on track, even if you said goodbye to traditional cramming a long time ago.
1. The Feynman Mode.
This learning technique supposedly lets us learn four times faster than any other. We have the physicist Richard Feynman to thank for this turbo principle, who received a Nobel Prize in 1962 together with two other research colleagues for his ingenious work. The special feature of this learning approach is the distinction between a mere memorization of the material and its actual understanding. The Feynman learning mode was designed for learning in a group. However, you can play through the individual steps just as well on your own. The steps are as follows: First, explain the topic in detail at a kindergarten level. The first step of the Feynman Technique is to explain the subject, imaginary or real, to a completely ignorant audience without any prior knowledge of the subject. This is really about explaining complex issues such as the Cold War, relativity, or expressionism in your own words as simply as possible. Secondly, note down what is unclear. As we make these remarks, we are sure to notice one or two details that are not present to us. Make notes of what information you still need to track down on this topic. Third, fill in knowledge gaps immediately. Follow up by filling in the knowledge gaps immediately. At this point, go through all the passages point by point that have not yet been answered sufficiently. Fourth: Explain the topic again in detail. Now this learning technique starts again at the first point. You explain the subject again to yourself or to your imaginary audience. If you can present it completely, very good, if not, the Feynman technique starts again from the beginning; until not a single audience question remains unanswered. In this way, you practically guarantee yourself that you have actually understood what you have learned and not just dully memorized it.
2. The Pomodoro Principle.
If you can still remember those kitchen alarm clocks in tomato form – in Italian, pomodoro – you will immediately know where the Pomodoro Principle got its melodious name. It was invented by the Italian author Francesco Cirillo. The strength of this learning technique depends on the time allotted to the various sections. In a nutshell, cramming according to the Pomodoro Principle is done in four simple steps. First: You set your learning goal in writing, using paper and pencil. Second: You study for 25 minutes with concentration and without distraction. Third: You take a five-minute break. Fourth: You receive a reward for your effort. This learning technique focuses on efficiency, but at the same time takes into account that our brains are only capable of full concentration for a relatively short period of time. In addition, this method focuses on the fact that more frequent breaks make our brain more receptive to new things. The necessary tools such as pencil, paper, and a kitchen timer are deliberately chosen to be simple. On the one hand, they are available in practically every household and are extremely user-friendly. On the other hand, they do not distract us from the actual task. To formulate a concrete learning goal in advance is the duty we impose on ourselves. With a clear goal in mind, everything becomes easier. The 25 minutes of concentrated learning are then a feasible challenge to our self-discipline. This is where one of the strengths of this method lies dormant: no distractions, no multitasking. It is really only a matter of internalizing this one chapter, this one section or this one topic as well as possible in 25 minutes. When the kitchen alarm clock then announces the end of the learning unit, we have earned a five-minute break. We can use this time as we wish. The important thing is that our brain is not challenged any more during this time. Open a window, do some stretching exercises, or take a quick walk around the block, because the clock keeps ticking. After those five minutes, you get to treat yourself to a reward for your effort and consistency. The reason the reward principle works so well is because we use the tactic of positive reinforcement here. Our brain not only remembers what we have learned, but also registers that the effort is followed by a reward. This can be a cup of coffee, a short break on the Internet, a piece of cake or chocolate, or whatever makes your heart happy. Also important: the initial penciled goal is crossed out. This simple gesture lends our mind a sense of satisfaction, suggesting to us a sense of achievement. After that, however, learning by the clock then starts all over again. Only after four such segments is a 15- to 20-minute break planned.
3. The Murder tactic.
Don't worry, it doesn't get criminal or brutal with this learning strategy. Rather, Murder stands for "mood," "understand," "recall," "digest," "expand," and "review." We owe this learning technique to the American scholar John Hayes, who established it in 1989. The individual stages require that we first get into a good, balanced mood for learning. Then we internalize the material and try to understand it. The next step, "recall," aims to make us remember what we have learned. The more of it that has stuck, the better. To be able to digest the material better, we split it up into smaller units. Now it's time to expand the knowledge we've acquired in this way, adding those parts that we're still missing or that are lacking in a big picture. The final step is to check the learning success and, if necessary, to repeat the procedure until the workload is complete.
Our conclusion
Efficient learning: The means make the goal. Of course, you can also pick out some useful building blocks from these three methods. Even a mix & match is allowed, if it seems to be helpful for your learning success. In any case, it is always a good idea to deal with an imaginary audience. Only in this way can we reliably help our brains find where the actual gaps in our knowledge are lurking. Dumb memorization has long since become obsolete. Knowledge should ideally be forever, or at least if we are to benefit from it.