A Skill We all Need — Learning How to Learn

Making small changes can go a long way. Be it habit formation or learning. Chunking is breaking large concepts, data etc into small bite sized information . Which may be logically related and can be easily consumed.

When you encounter something new and important, first reaction of our mind can be to memorise it. We need to consciously move from rote learning to understanding the concept. If you understand something it stays with you.

Revisiting the book or notes will give you a false sense of knowledge. When you scan over the text/data you get the false sense of security where you know the general structure but miss out on nooks and crannies. Instead, test what you have learnt. Attempt questions and take questions and find out what you know. Recall is better than revisiting. Another small habit to accommodate is to reduce highlighting and increase writing understanding by writing summary notes.

Slogging all nighters might be hampering you more than you know. Sleep is a greatly under-appreciated superpower we all have. Benefits ranges from mental health, physical health and also learning. When we sleep thoughts get consolidated. Brain does the clean up and keeps what it needs. Spaced repetition any one? Sleep is essential for forming long term memories.