9 Tips to Help You Become a Better Learner
The Art of Learning
Learning is not Easy
It takes time, effort, and consistency. You might’ve heard about the 10 thousand hour rule. Which simply translates to “If you want to become great at something, you have to do it for ten thousand hours.” That’s 1.14 years for you. (And 15 years in dog years if you’re curious.)
Our ability to learn is a glorious gift that enables us to acquire new skills and make amends to ourselves.
Just like shape-shifting but slower and less obvious.
But no matter how glorious of a gift it is, most of us struggle at it and some of us suck at it because we were never taught how to learn.
Learning is hard. But we can learn how to learn. This is something I never knew until I stumbled upon a Ted-Talk by Barbara Oakley on YouTube. Here’s the link if you're interested “Learning How to Learn”
This motivated me to learn how to learn. Since then I came across a lot of different methods and techniques which not only helped me understand how I learn but also gave me a fresh perspective on how we as humans learn and how our brains work when we are exposed to new experiences. That’s why I wanted to share with you guys what I have learned so far.
9 Tips that can Help You Become an Effective Learner
Learning how to learn is a package of skills that contains a lot of other small skills, techniques, practices, and methods that can improve how you learn.
By implementing them in your learning process you can form a system that is not only time-efficient but requires less effort and mental power. Ultimately resulting in better learning.
1. It’s All in the Mindset
First of all. Before even starting anything, what you need is the mindset. Your mindset is what you believe about yourself and the world. It’s a lens through which you perceive and experience things. It can greatly influence your behavior and affect your motivation to do anything.
Having the right mindset before you even start is extremely important. Because it can either make or break your decisions. It’s like putting on the right pair of shoes before going for a run.
So what is this Right mindset? According to Professor Carol Dweck, the author of the book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”, there are two types of mindsets: Fixed and Growth.
Fixed Mindset:
Is when you think that you cannot improve and all the efforts would go to waste if you even try. Often times students tend to have a fixed mindset. They believe that no matter what they do, they will never be able to get any better.
For example, someone with a fixed mindset is likely to say, “I will never get good at mathematics.” Because of this mindset, they never excel at the subject. It restrains them from indulging themselves in the subject to understand it more deeply and to get a grasp on the complicated problems. They try and try but the thought inside their head that they will never get it makes them hopeless and then they quit trying.
“Becoming is better than being.” The fixed mindset does not allow people the luxury of becoming. They have to already be.”— Carol S. Dweck
Growth Mindset:
On the other hand growth mindset is simply acknowledging the fact that you can learn and grow. That there’s room for improvement and you can get better at anything if you try.
This positive thinking about your ability to learn and belief in your efforts greatly empower your mind to do its best. This mindset creates hope and sparks a motivation that can drive you to put more effort and time into your learning.
This simple yet very effective thing that may not seem to make any difference, is what makes all the difference. As the saying goes: Whether you think you can or you think you can’t. You’re always right.
2. Know, How You Learn
Every person learns differently. What seems easy to some is difficult to others. Everyone has different opinions and perspectives. Every person has a different level of understanding and they all learn differently.
Some people learn just by watching, while others have to actually do things to properly understand them. Some find learning through reading easy while others by only listening. This difference in the processing of information is what makes our learning ability unique from person to person.
So being aware of how you learn best or what type of information you process better is very crucial for your learning. If you know what type of information you understand easily then you can use only that type of information to learn not only comfortably but effectively.
3. Know Your Why
Knowing the “Why” to things is extremely important. This “Why” can be your motivation for learning. In schools when we are taught a subject, we are not exactly told the reason why we’re studying it or why that subject is important.
This lack of knowledge about the motive contributes to the lack of interest that we often face.
When the why part of the equation is not clear, we get confused and are not sure whether what we’re learning is important or not. And when the “why” goes missing, the motivation goes too.
So it is extremely important to know why you’re learning. Make the why clear, and the way to your destination will be clear by itself.
“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” — Leonardo da Vinci
4. Break It Down
While learning, it’s important to have an image of what you want to achieve. Often when we try to achieve something, we set unrealistic goals. Then we try our very best to achieve them.
But when we don’t see any visible progress we start to believe that we’re not learning or achieving anything. This discourages us from learning any further and destroys our motivation.
So to avoid this, you have to set reasonable goals that provide you with a proper image of what you want to achieve. Don’t burden yourself with enormous tasks that seem impossible.
Instead, break your goals down into small segments. And think of them as many small tasks. That way, your hard work can easily be measured and you’ll be able to see your progress.
Perspective is what matters here. So remember. It’s not the mountain that you want to hike. It’s just hiking every day to get to the peak.
5. Rest and Repeat
Your brain remembers things based on how important they are. And it decides this by noticing how often something is repeated. So the more you repeat something the more important it gets. And the more important it gets the more it gets remembered.
But between those repetitions, there should be a feasible amount of space in which the information that you’ve learned can get processed and memorized for later use. And after this gap, you can relearn the things that you feel are fading away from your memory to keep them in your brain.
So next time when you’re on a mission to scoop up the entire syllabus in one night. Make sure to take a nice and long nap so that all the information can be processed and stored for when it’s required.
6. Deadlines get the Job Done
Setting deadlines is kind of outdated considering that we usually procrastinate until the very last moment. But hear me out okay.
Deadlines are important. They force you to get the job done. And without deadlines, who knows how much time it will take to complete even the smallest of tasks.
But sometimes even with those deadlines, things get out of control. The reason behind it is this productivity proverb that goes something like:
“Work expands to the amount of time that you provide it.”
This means if you give yourself a week to complete a task, then you’ll probably complete that task in a week. But if you only give yourself a day, you’ll get it done in only a day.
This is how work expands to the amount of time provided for it. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as the Parkinson’s Law.
So to not get shackled by this, give yourself shorter deadlines. Instead of a week, give it only a day or two. This single idea can bring immense change in how you manage your time and help you in getting over tasks that take ages.
7. Effective Note-Taking System
When it comes to learning techniques, note-taking is at the heart of it. It is a healthy habit for learning (As long as you don’t transcribe entire lectures.) It helps you to save and collect information that is necessary and can come in handy for later use.
But to get the most out of your notes you have to have a method that works best for you. You just need a system that stores all your important notes and is easy to use and manage.
Now there are a ton of different note-taking methods used for different purposes. But I would share with you a method that has helped me a lot and is regarded as one of the best note-taking methods for effective learning.
The Cornell note-taking method. It’s different from other methods because you don’t copy and paste but note what you have learned. (learn more about it here)
8. Magic of the Mind Maps
Mind maps are a way to visualize information and sum up a large chunk of information into a digestible size. They can come in the category of note-taking systems but that is not all. Because you can use them for literally anything.
A mind map can be your unique perspective to look at things. It’s like thinking, but on paper. Just like neurons in your brain, you can make connections to remember a jargon or arrange a hefty bulk of information in a comprehensible way.
Want to remember a complex name? Associate it with a corny doodle. Add drawings, colors, stickers, whatever really, to visualize and see what you’re dealing with.
I use mind maps all the time, and they have helped me a lot in streamlining my learning process. As a matter of fact, I used a mind map for this article.
Instead of shuffling through piles and piles of random stuff filled in my notes, I just try to visualize the mind map. And 9 out of 10 times I remember all of it.
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” — Mark Twain
9. Patience Patience Patience
Lastly, more than anything, the amount of patience that you have decides whether you’ll be successful or not. Patience is not only waiting. It’s also being comfortable with yourself. Being comfortable with the process.
We get blinded by our destinations that we don’t even see the process let alone enjoy it. This rushing for the final verdict only slows us down.
So there’s no point in expecting the results before they’re due. They will show up, in their own time. You just have to be consistent and patient. Try to learn stuff, not just do them. Think long-term.
Enjoy what you do, what you experience. Value your learning and become patient with yourself. Breath. Relax. You’ll get there. It’s a process. It’s a journey. And journeys take time.
“If you’re somebody when you’re successful, what are you when you’re unsuccessful?” — Carol S. Dweck
Hey there, thank you for reading. I hope this article was helpful to you in some way or another. I’d love to hear what you have to say. I’m still a beginner at writing and these are the things that I have used to get better at it. And every day I’m learning something new, trying new things. What can be better than that?
