Learning How to Learn

Quote of the day: We are all pupils of life

That quote has been running through my mind since I finished university and started working. It dawned on me that we spend most of our schooling being told what to study. But we often must question the teaching method or why we look at a particular subject. We are very much passengers in our learning journey.

At university, I developed an organization system for my study topic for a future post. Yet, structuring what I wanted to learn has been difficult. I got so used to having a curriculum set up for me to follow that I didn’t develop as an autodidact. So, I had to reprogram myself somehow regarding my learning.

This prompted me to start thinking about the learning processes. Hence, learning how to learn. This is, of course, to set my knowledge journey and dictate to myself what to study and when to study it.

To ‘learn how to learn’ effectively, we must understand how the brain functions and how our learning process is structured.

Learning Process:

We have two modes of learning. These are diffuse and focus modes. In the diffuse mode, we learn with a bit of distraction. However, our brain is at total capacity to connect information that we have already seen before.

The focus mode is the mode in which you are focusing on the subject at hand. For example, you are studying a mathematical concept, and you are not distracted to think about anything else except the concepts.

The goal is to interweave these modes of learning and, as such, improve your learning. You can begin by entering the focus mode to grasp the basic concept of the topic. And then, when you feel like you are stuck, you can take a break or switch topics. This enables you to enter the diffuse mode, which can facilitate connections with other areas that you have studied.

Knowing these modes of learning is not enough. You also need to combat procrastination, which is often one of the main reasons why you don’t stick to studying the subject matter. The simple technique to combat procrastination is like the Pomodoro technique, where you set aside some time to focus on the topic at hand before taking a break. The break will allow you to enter into the diffuse mode.

How long the time of focus should be is a matter of determining initially when you begin to be easily distracted in your studies.

Crucial to learning is the ability to remember or, as I like to put it, create a library of knowledge in your brain.

Many techniques are outlined there, but one that is very efficient is “active recall.” You try to recall the information as you first encountered it. Repetition is also another simple technique you can add to your sleeves to make the journey of learning easy. There are applications such as Anki that help with that.

Learning how to learn is just the beginning of a learner’s journey.

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