“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

<ol><li>Learners proficient in fast-paced games are significantly faster at performing new cognitive tasks.</li><li>By pretending you are teaching something to someone using simple language, you understand it better.</li><li>Bilingual people may have a leg up when it comes to understanding new things and processing information, regardless of the learned language. </li><li>Learning new material right before sleeping provides a significant retention advantage.</li><li>Establishing as many connections as possible is an effective way to learn, and the best way to do that is to relate new information to known information. </li><li>The brain processes visual information faster than text. Include relevant visuals (charts, symbols, diagrams…) with learning materials to improve retention.</li></ol>

Boost Learning Speed

Is the idea that we learn unconsciously through our senses in a self-regulated way, without requiring external reinforcement. More simply, you can learn to intuitively identify different situations or images through directly experiencing them in a fast-paced manner.

Perceptual Learning

We have 2 modes of thinking: focused (highly intensive mental processes when you are acutely aware of what you are thinking), and diffuse (a more relaxed mental process associated with sub-conscious thinking).Sometimes the first solution found prevents you from seeing a wider range of possible solutions. To sidestep that, repeatedly intersperse short periods of intense focus on new information with periods of relaxed diffuse thinking.

Learning By Switching Focus

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You go to the gym to train your muscles. You run outside or go for hikes to train your <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/top-10-benefits-endurance-training.html">endurance</a>. Or, maybe you do neither of those, but still wish you exercised more.
Well, here is how to train one of the most important parts of your body: Your brain.
When you train your brain, you will:
<ul>
	<li>
Avoid embarrassing situations. You remember his face, but what was his name?</li>
	<li>
Be a faster learner in all sorts of different skills. No problem for you to pick up a new language or new management skill.</li>
	<li>
Avoid diseases that hit as you get older. Alzheimer's will not be affecting you.</li>
</ul> 
So how to train your brain and improve your cognitive skills?
<h2>1. Work Your Memory</h2>
Twyla Tharp, a NYC-based renowned choreographer has come up with the following memory workout:
When she watches one of her performances, she tries to remember the first twelve to fourteen corrections she wants to discuss with her cast without writing them down.
If you think this is anything less than a feat, then think again. In her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1480589837?tag=s7621-20">The Creative Habit</a> she says that most people cannot remember more than three.
The practice of both remembering events or things and then discussing them with others has actually been supported by brain fitness studies.
Memory activities that engage all levels of brain operation-receiving, remembering and thinking-help to improve the function of the brain.
Now, you may not have dancers to correct, but you may be required to give feedback on a presentation, or your friends may ask you what interesting things you saw at the museum. These are great opportunities to practically train your brain by flexing your memory muscles.	
What is the simplest way to help yourself remember what you see? Repetition.
For example, say you just met someone new:
"Hi, my name is George" Don't just respond with, "Nice to meet you". Instead, say, "Nice to meet you George."
Got it? Good.
<h2>2. Do Something Different Repeatedly</h2>
By actually doing something new over and over again, your brain wires new pathways that help you do this new thing better and faster.
Think back to when you were three years old. You surely were strong enough to hold a knife and a fork just fine. Yet, when you were eating all by yourself, you were creating a mess.
It was not a matter of strength, you see. It was a matter of cultivating more and better neural pathways that would help you eat by yourself just like an adult does.
And guess what? With enough repetition, you made that happen!
But how does this apply to your life right now?	
Say you are a procrastinator. The more you don't procrastinate, the more you teach your brain not to wait for the last minute to make things happen.
Now, you might be thinking "Duh, if only not procrastinating could be that easy!"
Well, it can be. By doing something really small, that you wouldn't normally do, but is in the direction of getting that task done, you will start creating those new precious neural pathways.
So if you have been postponing organizing your desk, just take one paper and put in its right place. Or, you can go even smaller. Look at one piece of paper and decide where to put it: Trash? Right cabinet? Another room? Give it to someone?
You don't actually need to clean up that paper, you only need to decide what you need to do with it.
That's how small you can start. And yet, those neural pathways are still being built. Gradually, you will transform yourself from a procrastinator to an in-the-moment action taker.
<h2>3. Learn Something New</h2>
It might sound obvious, but the more you use your brain, the better it's going to perform for you.
For example, <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/531251/you-play-any-musical-instruments-your-brain-very-different-from-others">learning a new instrument</a> improves your skill of translating something you see (sheet music), to something you actually do (playing the instrument).
Learning a new language exposes your brain to a different way of thinking, a different way of expressing yourself.
You can even literally take it a step further, and learn how to dance. Studies indicate that learning to dance helps seniors avoid Alzheimer's. Not bad, huh?	
<h2>4. Follow a Brain Training Program</h2>
The Internet world can help you improve your brain function while lazily sitting on your couch. A clinically proven program like <a href="https://www.brainhq.com">BrainHQ</a> can help you improve your memory, or think faster, by just following their brain training exercises.
You can also try these <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/11-brain-training-apps-train-your-mind-and-improve-memory.html">11 Brain Training Apps to Train Your Mind and Improve Memory</a>.
Scroll down to continue reading article
<h2>5. Work Your Body</h2>
You knew this one was coming, didn't you? Yes indeed, <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-exercising-makes-you-more-productive.html">exercise does not just work your body</a>, it also improves the fitness of your brain.
Even briefly exercising for 20 minutes facilitates information processing and memory functions. But it's not just that-exercise actually helps your brain create those new neural connections faster. You will learn faster, your alertness level will increase, and you get all that by moving your body.
Now, if you are not already a regular exerciser, and already feel guilty that you are not helping your brain by exercising more, try a brain training exercise program like <a href="http://exercisebliss.com">Exercise Bliss</a>.
Remember, just like we discussed in #2, by training your brain to do something new repeatedly, you are actually changing yourself permanently.
<h2>6. Spend Time with Your Loved Ones</h2>
If you want optimal cognitive abilities, then you've got to have <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-rules-that-will-deepen-your-relationship.html">meaningful relationships</a> in your life. Talking with others and engaging with your loved ones helps you think more clearly, and it can also lift your mood.
If you are an extrovert, this holds even more weight for you. At a class at Stanford University, I learned that extroverts actually use talking to other people as a way to understand and process their own thoughts.
I remember that the teacher told us that after a <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/640712/this-test-understands-you-better-than-you-understand-yourself">personality test</a> said she was an extrovert, she was surprised. She had always thought of herself as an introvert. But then, she realized how much talking to others helped her frame her own thoughts, so she accepted her new-found status as an extrovert.
<h2>7. Avoid Crossword Puzzles</h2>
Many of us, when we think of brain fitness, think of <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/374975/science-explains-why-crossword-puzzles-are-good-for-your-mental-health">crossword puzzles</a>. And it's true-crossword puzzles do improve our fluency, yet studies show they are not enough by themselves.	
Are they fun? Yes. Do they sharpen your brain? Not really.
Of course, if you are doing this for fun, then by all means go ahead. If you are doing it for brain fitness, then you might want to choose another activity.
<h2>8. Eat Right - and Make Sure Dark Chocolate Is Included</h2>
Foods like fish, fruits, and vegetables help your brain perform optimally. Yet, you might not know that <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/289595/15-surprising-and-science-backed-health-effects-dark-chocolate">dark chocolate</a> gives your brain a good boost as well.
When you eat chocolate, your brain produces dopamine. And dopamine helps you learn faster and remember better. Not to mention, chocolate contains flavonols, antioxidants, which also improve your brain functions.
So next time you have something difficult to do, make sure you grab a bite or two of <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/12-foods-that-can-improve-your-brain-power.html">dark chocolate</a>!
<h2>The Bottom Line</h2>
Now that you know how to train your brain, it's actually time to start doing.
Don't just consume this content and then go on with your life as if nothing has changed. Put this knowledge into action and become smarter than ever!
<h2>More About Boosting Brain Power</h2>
Featured photo credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VzgPqkWPPSU">Unsplash via unsplash.com</a> 
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You go to the gym to train your muscles. You run outside or go for hikes to train your endurance. Or, maybe you do neither of those, but still wish you exercised more. Well, here is how to train one of the most important parts of your body: Your brain.

8 Ways To Help You Learn Everything Faster

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Boost Learning Speed

Perceptual Learning

Learning By Switching Focus

CURATED BY

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