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Boost Your Motivation to Learn Hard Things | Scott H Young
Problems of anxiety when learning something
Sometimes you are excited to learn, but you still avoid getting started. You may worry about the fear of failure, feedback, or performing. If you expose yourself to the thing you find unpleasant and nothing bad happens, your fear will lessen.
Reframing is often helpful in overcoming this problem. Begin each studying session with the idea that you will find it hard.
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Common patterns to the problem of motivation
There are three common patterns to the problem of motivation:
- Drive: You don't have a strong enough desire to learn.
- Anxiety: You have a strong aversion to learning.
- Distraction: You have something else that draws your attention.
The difficulties we have in learning are not just related to strategy. Sometimes you know what to do, but don't do it.
Having a weak drive to learn
Without a drive to learn, it's hard to get going. Weak drives include expectations from family, teachers, or employers. It's the things you have to do, but don't want to do.
You can change this, but you need an inspiring goal to get you started. If your project doesn't excite you, no advice will help.
Problems of distraction when you're learning
Distraction is not always bad. The problem is when distraction becomes compulsive. Create rules that will prevent toxic distraction.
- Set time limits and caps on all digital distractions.
- Work on one project at a time, see it through until the end.
- Never quit on the uphill. Don't stop when you've just got a question wrong.
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When to Study
Studying time is more efficient if it is spread out over many sessions throughout the semester, with a little extra right before the exam.
Cover each piece of info five times from when you fi...
What and How to Study
Testing yourself, so you have to retrieve the information from memory, works much better than repeatedly reviewing the information, or creating a concept map (mind map).
After the first time learning the material, spend the subsequent studying to recalling the information, solving a problem or explaining the idea without glancing at the source.
What Kinds of Practice to Do
- Mock tests and exams that are identical in style and form.
- Redo problems from assignments, textbook questions or quizzes.
- Generate your own questions or writing prompts based on the material.
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Practice loops
Practice loops are useful as a concept to think about learning any skill. A practice loop is an activity or group of activities you repeat over and over again while learning somet...
Loops and drills
Many loops aren’t straightforward repetitions. You may never write the same essay twice. The loop isn't writing a particular essay, but the overall process for writing essays.
In the same way, each thing you learn may have more than one loop. Drills are smaller loops to focus on smaller parts of the bigger loop.
Designing Your Practice Loop
Step one involves figuring out what your loops are. These are the activities you repeat over and over when learning something.
Next, analyze the loop for different parts to see whether you can make improvements. It will result in faster learning.
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The circular path
... when you're trying to improve something look like this:
- You start with some ideas.
- You get excited for a while (1-2 weeks).
- Maybe you take some s...
The staircase path
... when you're trying to improve something looks like this:
- You get an idea.
- You build a specific project around it (short-term).
- Once you finish it, you move to the next idea and the project around it
- Each project builds on the last, expanding options.
What defines the shape of your path
- Focusing on one thing at a time until you finish it: if you focus on one project at a time until completion, you will make infinitely more progress than the person who does multiple projects at once.
- Having the right method: doing something that’s outside your usual routine requires not just commitment, but new methods.
- Actualization vs. possibility: the more you can adjust your life to the joys of doing and actualizing, over daydreaming and philosophizing, the more solid your life’s foundation will become.