Learning is really about being able to use knowledge when you need it most.

The biggest myth about learning is that learning happens with you consistently do the same action or read the same passage over and over again. Science on the other hand states that learning happens when we try to get new knowledge out of our head

Biggest Myth About Learning 

Spaced practice doesn't mean doing it over and over again it means doing it now once and let time go by and then do it again

Big Idea From The Book

When you struggle to retrieve information and you find the answer you strengthen your understanding and memory of that point and are able to use it in many situations

Most people believe that we learn by rereading passages until we can say them with our eyes closed. Or that we are born with a certain set of skills and must utilize those skills in life but that is false. With the right practice and tools anyone can learn anything. Retrieval is the better way of learning the act of retrieval helps strengthen it.

Rethinking How We Learn 

Three things you can do to learn anything faster<ol><li>Create self-quizzes to retrieve more often</li><li>Reflect on my asking many questions</li><li>Empty Recall: Create a empty sheet and dump all the information you learned</li></ol>

Actionable Points

<ul><li>Do some of your work consciously</li><li>Think about how it relates to other things</li><li>Wrestle with the idea in your mind</li><li>Explain it to someone</li><li>Take notes on it or connect it to other maps</li><li>Do anything to make that new idea connect with other ideas in your brain</li></ul>

How You Help New Knowledge Go Into Long Term Memory

A study was conducted that had two different baseball players practice hitting the ball.<ul><li>One of them practiced the same style over and over and switched every 15 hits</li><li>The other players had varied styles over 45 different attemps</li></ul>The Players who varied there practice did far superior than the ones who didn't

MIX Up Your Practice

Most people believe that when you understand something right away you are learning better that is not the caseLearning is not easy here is why<ul><li>It requires you to seek ideas, patterns and rules</li><li>It requires extensive Cognitive Load</li></ul>

Embrace Difficulty

Learning is not as quick as many people believe to learn something new you must go through a series of steps including<ol><li>Storing: This is the art of storing information in your short term memory</li><li>Consolidation: learning over a long period of time typically overnight</li></ol>

Learning Takes More Time Than Most People Think 

If you want to learn Retrival is keyThe act of retrieving information especially when it is difficult to do increases the change that it sticks in your brain Retrival is the most effective way to learn <ul><li>Use Quizzes </li><li>Searching for the answer in your brain</li><li>Making mistakes and then correcting them</li></ul>When it’s hard to Retrival information it increases retention

Retrieval Is The Key To Learning 

<ul><li>Chunking is great for retention</li><li>Stimulate your brain by proper diet and foot and rest</li><li>Choose growth mindset other than fixed mindset</li></ul>

Effective Learning Practices and Skills

Handpicked sources to help you adapt to the mindset of lifelong learners

problemsolving

Problem Solving

health

Health

communication

Communication

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Lifelong Learners

We all want to be sucessful in our lives. Learning is the single most important way to get ahead in life. This book helped me seeing learning in a whole new light.

Discusses the best methods of learning, describing how rereading and rote repetition are counterproductive and how such techniques as self-testing, spaced retrieval, and finding additional layers of information in new material can enhance learning.

education

Learning & Education

books

Books

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned. Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

Peter C. Brown is a writer and former management consultant.

Peter C. Brown

Henry L. Roediger III is James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Henry L. Roediger III

Mark A. McDaniel is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE) at Washington University in St. Louis.

Mark A. McDaniel

Make It Stick

Write in the margins of your book. You bought it. It's your property. <ul><li>At the end of each chapter, write a pointed summary of the main chapter. Then, try to connect it to something in your life, such as a memory or other idea.</li><li>When you're done with the book, pack it away for a week, then revisit it and go through all your notes.</li><li>Write the main idea of the book on the inside cover. You can also make a custom index on the back cover with themes or topics.</li></ul> The idea is to connect new knowledge to existing knowledge and find the gaps in your understanding.

Conventional notes

If you want to improve what you get out of reading, you have to choose great books. There are only a few new books that might prove valuable, but most will be forgotten. So instead, let time filter the good books. Find the books that stood the test of time. Time is limited, so direct it to knowledge that lasts. Read old books. Read the best ones twice.

Choose great books

Reading the words on a page or screen is the easy part. The problem is that this is often the only way we learn to read. There are different approaches to reading. <ol><li>Reading to entertain. This is what we are taught in elementary school.</li><li>Reading to inform. You skim to get a feel for the book.</li><li>Reading to understand. You read to chew on things and digest them.</li><li>Reading to master. You read a variety of books and articles on the same topic, evaluating them and forming your own opinion.</li></ol> You don't need to read everything the same way. We spend most of our time in levels 2 and 3.

Levels of reading

You will instantly know if you picked up a good book. It is well written, packed with ideas and insights and is well organised. Naturally, you will want to read the next page. Good books finish themselves. Trying to finish a bad book is a grind. Instead, skim a lot of books and read a few. You don't need to finish a bad or mediocre book. When you realise you can quit a book without guilt, you create the space and opportunity for a great book.

Give up quickly

One of the benefits of reading is that you can master the best of what other people discovered. But it is only true if you can actually remember and apply the lessons and insights you read.

How to get the most out of your reading

The best way to get more out of books is by taking notes with the blank sheet method. <ul><li>Before reading a book, write down what you know about the subject using a mind map.</li><li>When you finish a reading session, add to the map with a different colour.</li><li>Review the page before you start your next reading session.</li><li>When you're done reading, bind the sheets and review them periodically.</li></ul> When you use this method, you will literally see your knowledge grow as you add new information. You'll start to connect ideas across disciplines and develop your own ideas.

Taking notes - The blank sheet

Goals of reading. Understanding inspectional, analytical and syntopical reading.

How to properly read a book

Reading more isn’t helpful if you can't retain and apply your new knowledge. This guide offers a system to help you read more deeply and remember what you read for years to come.

writing

Reading & Writing

Reading Better - Farnam Street

﻿Skimming helps you reach a decision point: Does this book deserve more of my time and attention? Why?Unless you’re reading for entertainment, if you can’t answer that question, you can toss the book.Mastering intelligent skimming will:<ul><li>save you a lot of time because most books are not worth reading</li><li>offer knowledge of the book’s blueprint and contents so you know where to find stuff if you need it in the future</li><li>and improve retention, if you decide to read the book in its entirety because you’ve primed your brain with the contents.</li></ul>

Deciding To Read The Entire Book

This is used when you’re taking a book that’s notably above your level.
A superficial reading means that you quickly read from start to finish without stopping to ponder the things you don’t understand. The reason this works is that by reading the book from start to finish, you’ll have a great overview of what’s going on. You might only understand 25% of what’s going on but that’s better than nothing. Should you decide to go back and re-read the book, a lot of the things that gave you pause the first time would have been resolved.

Superficial Reading

Superficial reading is the first step towards analytical reading – that is, understanding and interpreting a book’s contents. If you stop and go over everything you don’t understand on your first reading, you get lost. Sure you finish the book but you’ve lost sight of where you’ve been and where you’ve come.
Inspectional reading should be able to answer the questions, what kind of book is it? what is it about? and what is the structure, or blueprint, of the book “whereby the author develops his conception or understanding of that general subject matter?”

Just Read It

<ul>
<li>Read the cover and preface. </li>
<li>Read the table of contents, which will give you a feel for the map of the book.</li>
<li>Understand the language of the book. This means skimming the index. Not only will this give you an idea of the range of topics covered but it will also tell you the other people the book connects to and the jargon used in the book.</li>
<li>Identify the pivotal points. </li>
<li>Read the end. Authors generally do a good job summarizing their work in the last few pages. This is where they sum up what they think is most important about their work.</li>
<li>Listen to an interview or podcast of the author.</li>
</ul>

How To Systematically Skim A Book

Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you can read it with satisfaction and comprehension.

There are two types of inspectional reading: systematic skimming, also known as pre-reading or intelligent skimming, and superficial reading. 
The first type of inspectional reading is systematic skimming, which you can easily put into practice today.

Inspectional Reading

There are millions of books out there. Most of them aren't worth your time. This article shows two powerful ways to get the gist of any book in under 60 minutes.

productivity

Productivity

Progressive Overload: Adaptation is a natural response to stress; therefore, you must challenge your system.Monitoring and Recording:Begin with a weight that allows you to perform 8-12 reps with proper form in all four sets. Only after comfortably completing all four sets should you consider increasing the weight.

Progressive overload and how to track it

General exercise breathing protocol: maintain a breath-hold during the lowering/eccentric most dangerous part of the movement & exhale on the concentric portion - 312.Breathing strategy for reps: you don’t have to reset breathing and focus on it every rep as that can be energy consuming – if hitting 3-8 reps, every third breathe reset and go

Breathing in weight training

Breathing properly during & after exercise is critical for telling your body you’re safe:(1) maintain a breath-hold during the lowering/eccentric most dangerous part of the movement & exhale on the concentric portion(2) try physiologic sigh for 2-5 minutes post-workout and/or between strenuous bouts (double inhale through the nose followed by long exhale through mouth) Box method - 5 each side inhale/exhale

Breathing during and after the workout

If training for hypertrophy: err on the side of greater recovery – towards 3 days for the same muscle group – because you want to allow protein synthesis to occur (takes 48-72 hrs)Getting into an ice bath immediately after a hypertrophy session negates the benefits so much, you might as well not do the session – it’s about 10% attenuationSauna (or hot bath) increases blood flow and augments strength & hypertrophy – but now you need to seriously consider proper hydration

Frequency And Recovery

Hypertrophy target: a minimum of 10 working sets, per muscle group, per week, 5-30 reps per set

You did not get hurt deadlifting because deadlifts are dangerous. You only get hurt deadlifting because you either got in a bad position – you got in a bad position because you either started in a bad position or you ended up in a bad position. You did too much volume, too much intensity, or too much complexity.

<ul><li>Workouts can be done fasted or fed – personal preference</li><li>If you start your exercise with poor hydration, it’s really difficult (almost impossible) to catch up</li><li>Fluid content in food is actually very high if you are eating a non-processed, high-quality diet</li><li>Identify whether you’re a high-sodium or low-sodium sweater to determine sodium needs. General hydration rule: 500mg sodium intake pre- and post-exercise. If you’re a high-sodium sweater you might want to increase</li></ul>

Nutrition & Hydration

Soreness is not a barometer of an effective or good workout! You want to feel the muscle group worked but should hover around a soreness of 3 out of 10.

Standard workout split

(1)choose exercises that will take you through the full range of motion(2) choose exercises you feel stable and comfortable with(3) priority is to maintain good form(4) balance between movement areas

Choosing exercises

You’re better off cutting your workout short and hitting a focused 30 minutes than going through the motions for 60 minutes

The driver of strength is intensity but the driver of hypertrophy is volume

Going back to the basics of hypertrophy training

food

Food

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

sports

Sports

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

Episode 65: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance

Suppose you are measuring your productivity in any task. For example, let's take writing.<ul><li>If you write for two hours, you may produce two high-level pages.</li><li>But writing for four hours may only give you three pages. Or you may keep the same productivity levels, but your work will lack originality.</li></ul>Therefore, you will obtain fewer results for every extra step you make. Still, overachievers will double down their efforts if the requirements increase. And if they fail, they will think the amount of work is the issue to solve.

How to Apply The Law To Your Tasks

The Law of Diminishing Returns is an economic concept. But it also works in your private life.The results in time will follow the graph below.<ol><li>You start working on a task without concrete results for the first few minutes.</li><li>Your efforts will grow.</li><li>Successes add up over time until they reach the optimal stop point. Here, you become less concentrated and lose focus.</li><li>If you continue, the side effects will increase, and you will experience foggy ideas.</li><li>At last, instead of improving, every input will receive a negative output.</li></ol>

Why do we achieve less by doing more?

You may set decent boundaries if you are good at setting goals.Limits are as simple as your goals. But instead of targeting a purpose far away in the future, they focus on what you can do now to achieve a healthy mindset.How much work can you do optimally?How many hours can you remain focused in a distraction-free environment?

3 – Set overachieving boundaries (1)

Everybody is concerned about lifestyle. But only a few talk about mind style, which is as important, if not more.Emotional control is one of the best abilities you will learn with mindfulness. And, for an overachiever, controlling your emotions is everything.If you practice mindfulness long enough, you will gain the capacity to observe your thoughts from an external point of view.However, mindfulness requires time and a lot of training before it becomes effective. Yet, the only fact that you are taking 10-15 minutes a day to do it will improve your mental strength.

2 – Practice mindfulness (1)

Apply the Law of Diminishing Returns to fight your overachieving tendencies. Train your body with slow emotions, practice mindfulness, and set clear overachieving boundaries.

I spent most of my evenings trying to reach my goals. But my craft didn’t improve despite my efforts. On the contrary, it even got worse from time to time.At first, I was confused. Why did I get less even if I did more?But then, I figured it out - I trapped myself in the Law of Diminishing Returns.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

You are reading an excerpt from <a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/">The Challenge</a>, a newsletter where I discuss self-improvement, goal-setting, habits, time management, and health tips and tricks.Every week you will get:<ul><li>a challenge to pursue to improve your life</li><li>an infographic to track it.</li></ul>Subscribe now to help me continue publishing this type of content.

The Challenge

Overachievers are simple people. They wake up, get to work, and never stop until they collapse.How do I know? I was one of them.For most of my life, I thought doing more was the only way of achieving more. So, I have always tried to give my best, never taking breaks. Do you think this behavior brought me success?Definitely no. Na-ha. Nada.

The Pitfalls of Overachieving

If you loved the newsletter and want to support my work, subscribe and share <a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com">The Challenge</a> with your friends and families!Or, if you want to read more of my content, visit the <a href="https://www.cosmopolitanmindset.com">Cosmopolitan Mindset</a>.<a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com">Subscribe now</a> to help me continue publishing this type of content.

Before you go

<ul><li>Set limits for the maximum work you can do in one session/day.</li><li>And check your boundaries often. Sometimes, a good push of motivation will allow you to do more. Other times, you might get exhausted earlier.</li></ul>

3 – Set overachieving boundaries (2)

Sometimes, slower emotions can help you take a break from the game. And then, you may turn back stronger and with more energy. <ul><li>Take long breaks between tasks. Give yourself more time to refill with motivation and energy. </li><li>Resist the urgency of working. </li><li>Fight the voice in your head that tells you you are losing time and you should get back to work.</li></ul>

1 – Train your body to slow feelings (2)

If you work more, you won't necessarily get more. On the contrary, you may ruin your progress. And using the Law of Diminishing Returns, you could explain why it happens.The law is an economic concept. But it has many touch points with overachieving tendencies. If you wish, you could explain it like this:After a certain point, each extra input produces a decreasing output. But what does that mean?

The Brutality of The Law of Diminishing Returns

Every investment in the negative returns danger zone will have harmful consequences. In this state, you could ruin all your progress, and it is always better to cash out and leave.Sometimes, you are forced into this situation by close deadlines and urgent tasks. But you have to find the mental strength to quit. Otherwise, you will spend the following days repairing the damages.You are living an illusion – you have no power to reach your goals in this state. You are fatigued. Your judgment is impaired. And your bed is waiting for you.

The Negative Returns Danger Zone

Perfectionists always want more because they are unsatisfied with what they have now. And training your body to work with slower feelings is one way to solve the problem.You don’t have to feel the rush of emotions constantly. And the feeling of being involved in something could become overwhelming.

1 – Train your body to slow feelings (1)

Here are a few suggestions to use it to control your emotions.<ul><li>Practice body scans as soon as you can. Body scans are the easiest way to approach the practice. And you will observe improvements soon.</li><li>Record your streaks to remain motivated. Track your mindfulness repetitions as you do for any other goal.</li><li>Use mindfulness to recognize when you should stop working. Learn to identify the exhaustion signals of your body. And stop before it is too late.</li></ul>

2 – Practice mindfulness (2)

The Law of Diminishing Returns is brutal. But you can fight it.Self-conscience is always the first step. And if you are here, you might have reached that point already. So here are three ways to reclaim your progress and quit your negative tendencies.

3 Ways to Reclaim Your Progress and Quit Overachieving

Uncover the pitfalls of overachieving and reclaim your progress with 3 valuable tips. Unlock your true potential now!

Uncover the pitfalls of overachieving and reclaim your progress with 3 valuable tips. Unlock your true potential now

Make It Stick

Reading Better - Farnam Street

Inspectional Reading

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

Episode 65: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance

CURATED BY

Make It Stick

Reading Better - Farnam Street

Inspectional Reading

It's time to Read like a Pro.

Episode 65: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance

CURATED BY

It's time to
Read like a Pro.