In the modern world we always need to be ‘switched on’, accompany this with our busy lives and this can make learning something new not only difficult but virtually impossible. So we try to make the process as efficient, or quick, as possible to align with our fast paced lives, but as a consequence the content is not thoroughly processed or digested and this affects retention.
When retention is interrupted then the learning process takes longer, making ‘quick learning’ inefficient.
Below are some tips to help learning (outside of the instinctive process) naturally happen, to alleviate stress and to enhance efficiency during the process.
Motivation
Pacing – you can think, speak your thoughts out loud and loosen your body up at the same time. Narrating your thoughts out loud can also help with retention and retaining the details of the topic you are learning.
Music – if you need to take a brain break, get up and dance like crazy, or just chill out and listen to the tunes. Doing this can help motivate you, clear your thought palette and make you more productive… with the right song that is 3-5 minutes time-out, distracted from stress, which is manageable for any schedule.
TV – this is good for taking a brain break, but manage your time and keep an eye on the clock. So if you are taking a 30 minute lunch break, watch a program, and it resets your brain before you hit the books again. Quite often those in corporate jobs will do this after working long hours as it resets the brain for bed and can help them wind down to get to sleep quicker.
If you have finished writing an assignment, definitely use this tip before quality checking your work as it clears the palette.
Nutrition – we have all heard this one before: ‘you are what you eat’. Certain foods make us more productive, other foods can put us to sleep. Feed your brain but don’t get too reliant on stimulants like coffee and alcohol, which both can give you great bursts of energy, it is short lived and over time you may find yourself developing stomach problems. Coffee can also dehydrate you, so if you have a cup of coffee, have a glass of water at the same time.
If you do go down the chocoholic route, try and pick one with a high cocoa content, it is better for you and you still get the same fix.
If you can eat them, blueberries are great for focus. Apples will also give you a natural boost.
Use tech to your advantage. Lack of productivity due to life tasks can be demotivating and in some instances cause resentment, so it is good to use items like tech to listen to your studies, many providers have audio as well visual materials. You can set reminders, though you can become the equivalent of ‘nose blind’ if you set too many. You may just start to ignore them.
Use AI to help summarise topics, give you ideas, extract text, provide you with the main points, but if you do use generative AI to help with work, make sure you proof read anything before submission, and ensure that it is your own text.
Be careful as those wonderful devices can massively encourage distraction through multitasking. Several studies have alleged that too much multitasking can lower intelligence, while other studies have highlighted the comeuppances when trying to do too much at once. Our brains have simply not evolved to the level of multitasking society has adopted day to day, just yet.
Study when you are in the mood, again this is not always practical, but if you have a bad study session due to not being in the mood then this can affect your motivation for the next session.
For retention
Don’t cut corners unless it is good to do so. It works sometimes and it can be an efficient way of working, but don’t rely on it, especially if you need to retain the information.
Repetition can be permanent, so if you need to remember something, repetition over set periods of time can be great, but keep in mind you can also retain a permanent unwanted habit, which can be incorrect information or an unsustainable unhealthy way of working that can cause stress on our body (such as RSI).
Type up the course material or study notes, this may sound counter-productive but it works
Acronyms, anagrams, pictures – a picture paints a thousand words, visualisation can also help you remember the content. Cardboard plane.
To stress relieve
Music, as mentioned above, puts some music on in the background (at low level), or if you take 3 minutes out and dance like there is no tomorrow, music can help with motivation and change your mood.
Take regular breaks, human attention spans vary greatly, in recent years they have reduced but that is just the way of the world, we are multitaskers. Breaks and break durations
Go for a walk or do something active. You don’t have to aggressively exercise to keep your brain in good health, a balanced eating plan with general activity is all you need. Find an activity you like doing but one that will not affect your studies.
A drop of lavender, if you like a particular essential oil, put it on your cuff, sleeve, or light some incense and this can help keep the stress levels down.
Don’t force it, of course time constraints can dictate this.
OVERALL…
Do what works for you. You know your body, brain and mind better than anyone so follow the methods that work for you, BUT keep in mind that we also change throughout our lives, so adapt your learning to you and be prepared to adapt it further over time.