Practice is an important factor in mastering any skill. You want the hours you put in to be as effective as possible so you can improve steadily. Here are four keys to making sure your practice is effective. Learning a new skill, like playing an instrument or programming, isn't easy.
Start slow if you’re new to what you’re practicing so you can make sure you’re doing quality work, like landing one dance move well before moving onto the rest of the routine.
Once you feel comfortable, increase your speed, but don’t lose sight of the quality of your practice.
"There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself." ~Brian Andreas Do you ever forget to take care of yourself? I know. You're busy, and finding the time to take proper care of yourself can be hard.
Learning ability is probably the most important skill you can have. Take it from Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel, authors of " Make It Stick: The Science Of Successful Learning." "We need to keep learning and remembering all our lives," they write.
Retrieval is so effective is that it strengthens the neural pathways associated with a given concept.
When you're attempting to recall an idea, method, or technique from memory, you're retrieving. Flash cards are a great example: They force you to recall an idea from memory, unlike a technique like highlighting where you're not burning anything into your brain.
When you try to put a new idea into your own words, you're elaborating.
For example, if you're in physics class and trying to understand heat transfer, try to tie the concept into your real-life experiences, say, by imagining how a warm cup of coffee disperses heat into your hands.