The Ultimate Guide to Learning Anything Faster

Can you imagine that warm fuzzy feeling that starts from within you and radiates outwards as you experience the wonder of discovering a new skill or a new way of living? Those moments can get you speechless interestingly

Here’s the best thing about life – you never have to stop learning. Yes, life allows you to learn new techniques, skills, and even learn from experiences.

From learning how to ride a new bike to use a new gadget and to learning new skills for career advancement, there’s no end to what you can learn.

Learning, no doubt unlocks the potential to maximize your chances of success in any field. It’s no surprise that learning is an integral habit of successful and famous people.

This is also applicable to organizations and businesses in case you find yourself there; they incorporated this ability into their core policies to help them achieve their goals.

So, if learning is the ingredient of advancement, why is it difficult for you to utilize this ability?

Well, a part of this answer lies in the common misconceptions that have slowly enmeshed with your perception and outlook on learning.

Now, before I explore the nitty-gritty of learning prepared here with you, let’s explore these misconceptions and how best to overcome it.

Figure 1: The Misconceptions Associated With learning

Source: GTBlog

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF LEARNING

Are you ready for a paradigm shift?

Well, get ready and be mind conscious as I discuss the misconceptions about learning with you below.

1. There are no Shortcuts to Learning

Why don’t you start with the most potent misconception about learning? Learning is not the dreary and lengthy process that society might make you believe.

Contrary to what conventional society might preach, there’s a short cut to learning without losing out on essential aspects.

All you have to do to break this archaic mindset is to seek out the experienced people and know-how in your field.

Get tutored and learn from their experience because people have different approaches to learning.

Remember, some people have ventured into this field or niche, and the wealth of their experiences – success and mistakes, will help you get to your destination faster.

You can avoid the brick wall, which, according to Forbes, affects about 80 percent of businesses within the first 18 months of inception.

2. Taking Notes is a Waste of Time

The human brain, albeit all-powerful, cannot retain every learning process you go through.

Therefore, it needs reminders in the form of notes and other forms of media to recollect these lessons.

So, imagine yourself leaving with the misconception that taking notes is a waste of time.

Now, it sounds silly, right? Or imagine going through tons of courses in a demanding profession like engineering, without taking notes.

No doubt, this cripples the learning process since you won’t be able to recollect and utilize what you learned. Austin Community College, in an online publication, stated the importance of note-taking in engaging the mind and serving as a way to keep concise records.

Figure 2: Percentage of the language spoken by internet users

Source: World Economic Forum

3. Learning Vocabulary and Grammar Structure is the Best Way to Learn Languages.

Renowned Linguist, Stephen Krashen advocates for learning new languages through conversations as opposed to traditional methods.

Yes, traditional methods such as mastery of vocabulary or grammatical knowledge can’t help you to master languages faster.

According to Krashen, the efficient way for you to learn and master languages is by listening to conversations and reading books. He called this form of learning, in his video, a comprehensible input.

Now, it’s time to jumpstart the brain, “powerhouse” for your ideas, dreams, and of course, for learning new things.

HOW TO JUMPSTART YOUR MEMORY CAPACITY

Admittedly, your brain is involved in every action, thought process, and the habit you create. So, for you to optimize your learning process, you have to keep your mind in top shape.

And to this, I prepare this guide for you, and it comes fully equipped to help you boost your memories, improve your brain activity, as well as increase your cognitive ability.

1. Work on Your Memory Retaining Ability

Jigsaw puzzles provide an excellent way to increase your cognitive and recollection ability; it doesn’t matter if you are putting together a 2,000 puzzle piece of a cartoon character or a tourist attraction.

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, a research group, also researched the impact of Jigsaw puzzles on cognitive ability, and according to this group, games like jigsaw utilizes different cognitive skills.

In simpler terms, playing brain-stimulating games like jigsaw helps to boost your memory, retaining talent by engaging all your five senses.

Trying your hands at a set of brain-stimulating card games like Solitaire and Poker is one of the many games you can use to boost your cognitive ability.

You can also take memory-boosting or cognitive restructuring exercises as this aids your memory capacity, and help you improve your mood and reduce stress.

2. Enhance Your Vocabulary

Having a rich vocabulary doesn’t only help in making a good impression, but also boosts your cognitive and stimulates your memories.

Therefore, learning new words every day through a variety of vocab-building apps will accelerate your learning rate.

According to research on neuroimaging studies, multiple regions of the brain are involved in vocabulary building, especially your auditory and visual processing.

Therefore, simple vocabulary exercises such as; writing down unfamiliar words, researching on them, and using them repeatedly within the next few days, will boost your brain capacity.

3. Dance to Your Heart’s Content

Sometimes, listening to songs and dancing have significant impacts on increasing your brainpower.

You can signup for some dancing class during your leisure either online or within your locality, and you can as well do this yourself by listening and dancing to songs to interest you.

Admittedly, this activity excites your brain and makes you feel happy, alive, and get your brain mentally refreshed. In addition, you can do this with friends or family as this kind of exercise.

Figure 3: Brain picture. Effects of dancing on the brain

Source: Pinterest

4. Take a Deep Breath

We live in a fast-paced society.

Most times, we fear to take a deep breath to relax due to the fear of unknown and known factors.

Well, doing this might have a dampening effect on your memory capacity. Taking a deep breath increases the oxygen levels in your blood, lowers your anxiety, and increases your brainpower.

On the other hand, a short break is vital and what you to boost your memory capacity for learning, especially when you are getting stressed out.

The average time limit for maximum effectiveness or productivity is one hour.

Therefore, spending more than one hour on tasks may stopgap your learning or assimilation rate, but if you have discovered your limit, you exceed this.

Also, it’s advised to take a short break of at least 15 minutes after exhausting your learning time limit so as to get your brain refreshed. It doesn’t matter if the one-hour timeframe isn’t enough for the task. A short break will rejuvenate your cognitive ability.

5. Eat Healthy Foods

Welcome to the era of fast foods loaded with more than enough carbs. These junk foods and soda affect not only your body weight, but they also reduce your brain processing speed by inducing a “fog-like” state in you.

Instead of consuming these harmful foods most times, try foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as walnut, kidney beans, salmon, and broccoli. Foods in this category help your brain function by boosting your neurotransmitters.

Figure 4: The Right Percentage of Healthy Food for Daily Consumption.

Source: Chinese Nutrition Society

STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING

Welcome to the age of information overload – an era where we have unhindered access to information from a variety of media.

Yes, this is the information age where we are bombarded with so many skills and courses every day.

It’s no surprise to see many people grow disenchanted or distracted from learning due to information overload.

You also can avoid the brick wall that many companies and individuals face.

Yes, you can!

Admittedly, you can enhance your learning abilities by following these strategies!

Figure 5: Strategies for better learning

Source: CULT OF pedagogy

1. Avoid Being Restricted to a Specific Learning Style

As mentioned earlier, the misconception of learning styles has affected the reading ability of so many, and even you may be guilty of this.

Dr. Tesia Marshik, in a Ted talk, shares a remarkable fact: In his 40 years of research on learning styles, using different teaching styles for different learning styles has no impact whatsoever on the learning process.

Another study describes this misconception in the educational system without credible research as a difficult concept.

Thankfully, you are in an age where there are multiple sources of accessing reliable information.

So, take advantage of these sources and learn effectively.

2. Make it Meaningful for You

Here’s a question for you: do you remember all those formulas and figures you learned in school? Doubt, these memories, like many others, are in the deep recess of your mind, and may never re-surface.

Most people forget these teachings because they learned only the terms and how it corresponds to their everyday life. You’re more likely to forget things when you memorize randomly. Understand the relevance of what you’re learning and how it fits into the big picture.

3. More Hands-on Projects

Here’s another strategy for learning – your hands-on practice is a more efficient mode of learning. You learn better when you perform the task you are learning. Most of your learning process occurs when you start working.

Therefore, spend less time learning about the theories and start your hands-on experience. You can only effectively learn and become better through practical applications of what you’re learning.

For example, do you want to learn SEO? Then, start by writing a few contents and discovering for yourself what works or not.

4. Learn from the “Greats”

How can you become a better professional? Well, you start by studying the works of the greats in your chosen profession. More so, you need to take it up a notch.

How?

Studying their works alone is more of a passive learning exercise.

Remember, the previous learning strategy points to the importance of hands-on practice or active learning.

Now, replicate that strategy into this by mimicking the works of the top professionals in your field, until you can develop your technique and style.

Mind you; you aren’t the first to go down this path; Benjamin Franklin became better at expressing himself by copying the writing style of a magazine.

5. Learn to Teach!

Did you know that teaching is also an effective way to learn? When you learn to intend to teach, you learn and retain information faster and more efficiently. Recent research proved this theory, where two sets of groups studied similar work materials, with different expectations.

One group studied with the hope of taking a test, while the other studied with the hope of teaching later. Can you guess which group performed better? What’s your answer?

Of course, the latter group performed better.

So, let’s analyze why they were able to learn better? When you read to teach, you don’t only familiarize yourself with the terms and theories.

Instead, you break the topic into sizable bits, and this forces you to examine the question critically, helping you to understand it better.

Mind you, this sort of learning isn’t restricted to those in the educational field. You can make a presentation to your colleagues and friends. Gauge your performance, and the results will amaze you.

6. Take Multiple Breaks

We can’t emphasize this point enough. As mentioned earlier, taking a regular periodic break will maximize your brain’s ability to assimilate more.

Your brain has two modes – diffused and active, which must counterbalance each other for maximum productivity.

The focused mode is when you have optimum concentration, and can learn the intricacies of a problem.

Alternatively, you can see the big picture or have that a spark of epiphany during the diffused mode. A careful balance of these two modes is what you need to maintain your productivity and boost your learning ability.

An excellent way to utilize this principle is the Pomodoro principle. This involves a 25 – minute learning duration followed by a 5-minute break. No doubt, this technique saves you from mental fatigue.

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER STOP LEARNING

Despite these strategies, it’s often easy for most people to fall into their old unproductive routines.

So, how can you become motivated in the face of such clamping circumstances?

Well, here are a few reasons to help remind you of the importance of learning.

1. Becoming Happier

Let’s face it: learning is not all rainbows and unicorns. It may be challenging or frustrating at times. The thought of the long hours spent learning a new sport, new formula, or developing a software skill is enough to make you lose heart.

Although these learning processes look daunting, never forget the joy of breaking a record in achieving your milestone, building a website for a renowned company or writing your first article.

Without doubt, you become happier when you set and accomplish new goals.

2. Becoming an Indispensable Asset

Learning enables you to maximize your potential. It places you far above your peers since you’ve successfully acquired a new skill or method of completing a task.

Take a look around you, study the “earth-shakers” and indispensable brilliant minds, and you will find a common factor – they never stop learning.

3. You Become an Authority in Your Niche

The allure of reaching the pinnacle of your career is the reason why you spend countless hours studying and learning.

What’s more?

The ability to impact the knowledge into others while creating new models for active learning is enough motivation for most people to learn.

WRAPPING UP

Learning is dynamic and consists of multiple facets. Our ultimate learning guide is an ambition to capture all these components into a concise expose for you to enjoy and become the best version of yourself.

So, take note of these nuggets and carve a learning experience for yourself. Shalom!