In continuing my series of posts on self improvement I figured I would cover something important that for some reason is not taught in school: how to learn efficiently, and how to actually get good at whatever skill you wish to be good at.

Principles of Learning:

Difficulty Is Good: There have been a multitude of studies that link difficulty or effort to the retention of information. For example you will retain information you write down much more efficiently than information you type down. I’m not saying to only write notes, personally I type mine. I am mentioning this because we can leverage this principal to learn better. For example, if you are stuck on some sort of problem try figuring it out yourself for at least a little while instead of just looking up the answer online, this will facilitate better learning. Additionally, when you are struggling when learning a new skill persevere because that is when you are learning most rapidly.

Strategic Repetition: By understanding how the brain works we can more efficiently learn. Each time you do something, experience something, or make a decision you are reinforcing neural pathways within your brain. Thus by practicing or repeatedly looking at information you can increase the degree to which it is firmly embedded in your mind. For this reason I suggest spaced repetition systems for memorization. These systems use an algorithm to present information to you only when you are right about to forget it. Thus, they allow you to efficiently memorize vast quantities of information. They, are commonly used by language learners or medschool students but space repetition systems can be utilized to memorize literally anything more efficiently and free options like anki are great.

Utilizing breaks and timing: One great method of studying is called pomodoros. Personally, what I did in school was do 50 minutes of studying then a 15 minute break. Experiment to determine your ideal timing window. Another method is an hour of work then a 20 minute episode of anime or a show. However, keep in mind that if you feel you have entered a flow state it is sometimes better to continue working through your break. But taking the breaks is generally a good idea. Why? Because a multitude of studies have shown willpower is limited and so is focus. By taking strategic breaks you will end up doing more work. Additionally you can take advantage of timing in order to remember stuff better. I find if I study or do some reading right before bed I end up retaining more information, this can be a good strategy also.

Consistency is King: Like I mentioned earlier repetition is important. Basically the idea here is half an hour of practice/learning/reading every day is much better than several hours of learning in one sitting. This is once again due to how the brain works. Additionally, something as small as five minutes a day of practice can add up to over 30 hours of dedicated practice by the end of one year. For example, I did roughly forty minutes of self piano learning every day for about 8 months, I was not amazing by any means after that, but I was able to play classical pieces like Chopin’s waltz in A minor and make them sound quite good. You would be quite surprised with what you can accomplish with daily practice.

How to take notes and actually learn:

First, don’t take notes in class. Unless you are taking some sort of easy class then grasping the information in class while taking notes is nearly impossible. Instead either: record your lecture, get notes from a friend, or utilize the same textbook sections that are covered in class plus online resources. So basically you want to pay full attention in class, forgoing notes but then at a later date you will create your notes by looking at recordings, the textbook, or other info from fellow students. Personally, I took no notes in class and fully focus, but then after class ends I look at the textbook section and create my own notes. When I am creating my own notes I essentially summarize the key points of the text IN MY OWN WORDS. Copying is mindless, but taking information and simplifying it into something clear and concise will force you to learn it very very well. If you cannot explain it to a middle or elementary schooler in simple terms then you do not understand it fully. I’m not saying reaching the level of being able to simplify things to this point is easy, but aiming to reach that level will accelerate your learning. My background is in chemical engineering, physics, and computer science (I was able to double major in ChemE and CS while getting a minor in physics following this advice, so it certainly worked for me), it literally took me hours to be able to reach the level of understanding where I could explain things like heat and mass transfer in simple terms. But once you reach the point where you can explain things simply you know you had a good understanding. This principle holds true from things like cooking all the way to things like quantum physics. So basically pay attention in class, then simplify the information into notes at a later time. This also holds true for people out of school. Now that I have graduated when I am reading a book and find a valuable insight I literally stop what I am doing, open my notes app or a file, and reword the core meaning of that insight so I can look at it later and so I remember the valuable info in the book better. I highly suggest trying this practice.

Anyway, as always I am open to suggestions or constructive criticism from the comments and will edit the post to include additional info based upon said suggestions.

MGTOW discord on self improvement if y’all are interested:

https://discord.gg/N9pw2T77