How to Earn While you Learn

Before I used to learn new information in the following way:

I got up early, took a shower with cold water to have energy, had breakfast and then I had a coffee to start studying.

I felt awake, but after a couple of days the information I had learned was no longer on my mind.

Why?

Anyone would say that I was not studying properly.

That I was not studying with active recall or spaced repetition, which are the most effective techniques for learning according to science [1].

And no, that was exactly what I was doing.

(By the way, active recall and spaced repetition refer to asking ourselves what we learn and doing it spaced out in time).

So, if I was studying in the most appropriate way according to science,

Why was I forgetting the information?

Why did you have to start from scratch every time?

Because I didn't space the information out enough.

Because I didn't know that chemicals in the brain influence learning.

Let's see two things:

How many times you must repeat the information you study to remember it forever.

What is the chemical that will help you remember the information you learn and how to get it.

Let's start with the first: how long do you have to repeat the information to remember it forever.

As much as I'd love to promise you foolproof strategies, life doesn't work like that. Everything fails at a certain moment, even one fails.

And since you yourself fail, you can't rely on sparingly repeating the information so many times (because you're also lazy).

So instead of focusing on how many times you should repeat the information you study, do this →

Add emotion to what you learn.

And no, I don't mean to encourage what you are studying.

I mean looking for the information you learn to be more emotional.

Science has shown that it is easier to remember information this way [2].

How to make the information you learn more emotional?

The easiest way is to relate it (hypothetically) to your daily life.

For example, if you are learning how to create a web page, think about how you would explain that to your partner if you wanted them to understand.

You may be wondering what happened to the chemical.

What happened to that that was going to allow you to better remember the information in your brain.

In the post we talked a bit about asking ourselves what we study and doing it spaced out over time.

The problem is that you probably don't have the time to ask yourself the information that you learn very often.

What to do in those cases?

Is it worth playing the victim and saying you can't improve because you don't have enough time?

Not really.

Especially since there are always better strategies.

And one of those strategies has to do precisely with a chemical substance that has a very particular result:

That substance is adrenaline, and it can be achieved by exposure to cold or by consuming caffeine*.

But the key is to do it right after learning [3].

Tell me in the comments if you prefer to take a shower with cold water or drink coffee. I read you

*this is informative and not medical, for more information consult a professional.

[1] Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266

[2] Cahill L, McGaugh JL. Mechanisms of emotional arousal and lasting declarative memory. Trends Neurosci. 1998 Jul;21(7):294-9. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(97)01214-9. PMID: 9683321.

[3] Cahill L, Gorski L, Le K. Enhanced human memory consolidation with post-learning stress: interaction with the degree of arousal at encoding. Learn Mem. 2003 Jul-Aug;10(4):270-4. doi: 10.1101/lm.62403. PMID: 12888545; PMCID: PMC202317.