Learn Like a Pro

By Barbara Oakley PhD, Olave Schewe

04 January 2024 - 13 mins read time
Tags: Books L2L Self-Improvement

How to Focus Intently and Beat Procrastination

The Pomodoro Technique

Use this approach to structure your study sessions:

1. Prepare Your Study Environment:
   • Sit down in your study or work area.
   • Remove potential distractions: close unrelated computer tabs, silence your phone, and clear your environment of anything that might divert your attention.
2. Set a 25-Minute Timer:
   • Use a mechanical, silent digital timer, or a phone app.
   • If using your phone, place it out of sight and reach to avoid distractions.
3. Focused Study/Work Session:
   • Work or study intensely for 25 minutes.
   • If distracted, gently refocus on your task. Write down any intrusive thoughts on a to-do list for later.
4. Take a 5-Minute Break:
   • After 25 minutes, reward yourself with a 5-minute break.
   • Relax with a favorite song, a short walk, a cup of tea, or petting your pet.
   • Avoid checking your phone or email during this time.
5. Repeat the Process:
   • For longer study sessions, like 2 hours, repeat this cycle four times.
   • Consider setting a timer for your breaks if you find it hard to resume work afterward.

Music and Binaural Beats

Music tends to slow down learning for most students, particularly in subjects like math. While studying with music might make you feel better and enable you to study longer, it’s because part of your attention is devoted to the music, reducing the intensity of your focus on the study material.

How to Overcome Being Stuck

Diffuse Mode

Diffuse mode is when you are not actively thinking about a problem or material, allowing your subconscious to synthesize the information.

How to Get into Diffuse Mode

Engaging in relatively mindless activities is key to entering the diffuse mode of thinking. Activities like brushing your teeth, washing dishes, ironing clothes, walking, riding a bus, taking a shower, or simply lying down with your eyes closed work well. These tasks require minimal focus (just enough to avoid accidents like walking into a wall) but leave your brain free to wander and shift into the diffuse mode.

“Hard Start” for Homework and Tests

The Hard Start Technique leverages the diffuse mode of thinking for tackling tough homework tasks or test questions. Here’s how to apply it:

1. Identify Difficult Problems:
   • Quickly scan the test or homework.
   • Place a small checkmark over any problem that appears particularly challenging.
2. Start with the Hardest:
   • Begin by attempting the most difficult problem.
   • Expect to get stuck after a few minutes.
3. Switch When Stuck:
   • Once you hit a roadblock, promptly switch to an easier problem.
4. Return to Difficult Problems:
   • Circle back to the challenging problem(s) after completing one or more simpler tasks.

Key Takeaways from the Chapter

• Diffuse Mode:
  • Aids in understanding new challenges, whether in accounting, SEO, or sports like golf.
  • Helps make sense of complex concepts and problems.
• Shifting Between Modes:
  • Learning often requires alternating between focused and diffuse modes.
  • Getting stuck is a signal to switch from focused to diffuse mode.
  • Take breaks or shift to different tasks for subconscious neural processing.
• Hard Start Technique:
  • Start with the most challenging problems in tests or homework.
  • Move away when stuck, and return to these problems later.
• Writing First Drafts:
  • Avoid editing during the initial writing phase of a report or essay.
  • To prevent self-editing, cover or turn off your computer screen to avoid seeing what you write.

How to Learn Anything Deeply

Challenge Yourself So You Can Advance More Quickly

To accelerate your learning:

• Focus on forming new connections in long-term memory, rather than just reinforcing existing ones.
• Consistently challenge yourself with increasingly difficult material each day.

Ideal Spacing Intervals

• Golden Rule of Spacing: Revisit a topic only when you’re on the verge of forgetting it. This approach optimizes learning and memory retention.

How to Fall Asleep More Easily

Preparation Steps:

• Write a to-do list for the next day to clear your mind.
• Avoid bright screens before bed; use night mode on devices.
• Sleep in a dark room or use a sleep mask.
• Keep room temperature around 65°F (18°C).
• Leave your mobile phone in another room.
• Exercise during the day, but not before bedtime.
• Consider using a weighted blanket for better sleep.

Relaxation Technique:

1. Initiate Relaxation:
   • Start by thinking of the word “calm.”
   • Close your eyes and relax your muscles, beginning with your brow and eye muscles.
2. Breathing Exercise:
   • Breathe deeply through your nose, keeping your mouth closed.
   • Follow a breathing pattern: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds, and hold for 2 seconds.
   • Repeat this cycle.
3. Muscle Relaxation:
   • Relax your shoulders, chest, arms, and legs sequentially.
   • Visualize relaxing each muscle group.
4. Mental Focus:
   • Focus on a single mental object, like a still cloud, or imagine a blank screen and let dreamlike images populate it.
   • Avoid imagining movement as it can be stimulating.
5. Let Go of Worries:
   • Blank out fears and worries, especially during designated sleep hours.
   • Remind yourself not to solve life’s problems during these hours.

Key Takeaways from the Chapter

• Strengthen Neural Connections for Learning:
  • Engage actively with the material.
  • Utilize retrieval practice: work on problems, test yourself, recall main ideas, and explain concepts simply.
• Engagement Techniques:
  • Solve problems without looking at solutions.
  • Test yourself on the material.
  • Recall main points from texts.
  • Simplify and explain key concepts to yourself or others.
  • Collaborate with interested peers.
  • Create study materials like flashcards or study guides.
• Optimize Learning Sessions:
  • Break your study into multiple short sessions over several days instead of one long session.
• Challenge for Faster Progress:
  • Increase difficulty level when learning becomes easy.
• Connect and Relate Concepts:
  • Use elaboration or interleaving to relate new information to existing knowledge.
• Prioritize Sleep:
  • Sleep is crucial for neural growth and solidifying learning.
  • Spacing learning sessions gives more opportunities for sleep, enhancing memory consolidation.

How to Maximize Working Memory–and Take Better Notes

Simplify Your Study Approach

• Focus on synthesizing key ideas from books and articles.
• Key concepts are often straightforward; don’t get bogged down in minor details.

Translate into More Understandable Terms

• To ease the load on your working memory, replace complex technical terms with simpler ones.
  • Example: Use “twist” instead of “torque.”

Make a Task List

• While studying, keep your working memory focused solely on the subject matter.
• Create a task list to offload unrelated thoughts from your working memory, storing them in a more reliable format.

Prepare for Note-Taking

• Before noting down information from a chapter or article, familiarize yourself with the text’s structure.

Split Notes Method

1. Create a Two-Column Layout:
   • Draw a vertical line a third of the way across the page.
2. Note Main Ideas:
   • In the larger right-hand section, write down the main ideas of the text.
3. Summarize on the Left:
   • Use the left-hand column for summarizing keywords or brief phrases.
   • This can be done while writing or after completing your notes.
4. Self-Quiz for Review:
   • Cover the right side of your notes.
   • Use the left column to test if you can recall the detailed content.
5. Highlight Key Points:
   • Mark particularly important information or potential test material with a star.

Review Your Notes

• Timely Review: Revisit your notes on the same day of taking them. This habit is often observed in high-achieving students.
• Review Method for Split Notes:
  • Use the keywords and phrases in the left-hand column to quiz yourself.
  • Test your recall of the detailed information in the right-hand column.

Partnering in Note-Taking

• Shared Note-Taking Benefits:
  • Using notes from other students for exam review can be nearly as effective as using your own.

Strategy for Missing Classes

• Efficient Alternatives to Live Classes:
  • If commuting or poor teaching affects class attendance, consider alternative study methods.
  • Watching lecture videos, studying from borrowed notes, and problem-solving can be more efficient.
  • Example: Dr. David Handel skipped medical school classes due to long commutes, using the saved time for effective self-study.

Key Takeaways from the Chapter

• Maximizing Working Memory:
  • Break down complex material into smaller chunks.
  • Translate technical terms into simpler language.
  • Create task lists to free up working memory.
  • Extend working memory by writing ideas down.
• Effective Note-Taking Strategies:
  • Employ the split notes method or create concept maps.
  • Review notes on the same day they are taken.
  • Actively practice and recall key ideas from your notes.

How to Memorize

Sentences as Memory Aids

• For Memorizing Numbers:
  • Use sentences where the number of letters in each word corresponds to digits.
  • Example: “How I wish I could calculate pi” helps remember seven digits of pi (3.141592).

Key Takeaways from the Chapter

• Connection Between Memory and Understanding:
  • Memorizing key information frees mental capacity, enabling higher-level conceptual thinking and pattern formation.
• Effective Memorization Techniques:
  • Employ active recall (retrieval practice) and space out practice sessions over several days.
  • Use memory aids to accelerate learning, such as:
    • Acronyms.
    • Sentences.
    • Vivid images.
    • Memory Palace technique.

How to Gain Intuition and Think Fast

Start Interleaving

Incorporate interleaving into your internalization technique. Interleaving involves alternating between different types of problems, such as switching between module 3 and module 7 problems.

The Value of Retrieval Practice, Spaced Repetition, and Interleaving

Consider the duration for which you need to retain the material:

• For a test in a week, review daily for a week.
• To remember it for a year, review it every three weeks.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CHAPTER

• Two Memory Pathways: Your brain uses two pathways for long-term memory: declarative and procedural.
• Practice for Procedural Memory: Practice, including spaced repetition and interleaving, strengthens procedural memory.
• Intuition through Internalization: Internalize problem-solving procedures for better intuition.
• Distinguish Problem Types: Use interleaving to differentiate between different types of problems.

How to Exert Self-Discipline Even When You Don’t Have Any

Plan Your Goals and Identify Obstacles

Research experiments have shown the effectiveness of planning in achieving study goals:

• In one experiment, students who planned when and where they would study spent 50 percent more time studying compared to those who did not.
• Another study found that students who planned their responses to obstacles in their studying process completed 60 percent more practice questions for an important test than those who didn’t plan.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CHAPTER

Self-discipline is crucial for success, but it’s a finite resource. To enhance your self-discipline:

• Eliminate temptations, distractions, and obstacles from your environment, making it easier to make the right decisions.
• Modify existing habits that may hinder your ability to study by identifying the habit’s trigger and changing your response.
• Plan your goals and anticipate obstacles, predefining the best approach to overcome them.
• Engage others in your work to boost your commitment and accountability.

How to Motivate Yourself

Value—Find What’s in It for You

Consider the value of your actions. For instance, if your goal is to obtain a project management certificate, think: “Completing this homework set brings me closer to the certificate, while neglecting it takes me further away from achieving it.”

Goals—Aim for Something

Visualize your future. Close your eyes and imagine your life as a doctor: your daily routine, work environment, and where you’ll live. Contrasting this future with your current situation will inspire you to continue pursuing your goal. You can also use negative contrasting as motivation.

How to Read Effectively

Preview the Material

While a quick review may not seem very informative, its purpose is to create a framework for better comprehension during your regular reading. If you ever find yourself lost in the details, consider doing another preview to reestablish the big picture.

Practice “Recall Reading”

• Read a page carefully, focusing on picking out the key ideas.
• Look away from the text and either mentally summarize or write down those key ideas.
• If recalling the key ideas is difficult, it’s okay to reread the text, but pay closer attention this time.
• For better retention, attempt recall the next day to check if the information has been stored in long-term memory.
• In particularly dense material, consider rereading it the next day before attempting recall.

Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of recall reading. In one study, students who used recall remembered 25 percent more of the text a week later. Another study revealed that recalling material just once doubled long-term retention, while repeated recall led to a remarkable 400 percent improvement in retention compared to studying only once.

Key Takeaways from the Chapter

• Preview the text before reading it in detail. Getting an overview of the content allows for better comprehension and memory of details.
• Avoid passive rereading. Instead, focus on active reading strategies.
• Practice active recall while reading. Periodically, try to recall the key points of a page to reinforce understanding and retention.
• Find ways to engage with the text actively. This can involve taking short breaks to answer questions, summarizing in your own words, or discussing the material with others.

How to Win Big on Tests

Review Your Answers

• If you have extra time at the end of the test, use it to review your answers.
• Check if your diffuse mode thinking has any insights to add or suggests changes to your answers.
• Research has shown that changes made during reviews tend to be from incorrect to correct.