Are you learning something new?

Here’s what you can do to be more efficient.

We at Nonstop io Technologies Pvt. Ltd. are always learning new things and here are some tips-n-tricks we use while learning new things.

1. Slow Down. The more you understand, the less you have to memorize.

Don’t just read. Stop and think. When you a question in front of you don’t just go for the answer. Imagine that someone really is asking the question. The more deeply you force your brain to think, the better chance you have of learning and remembering.

Memorizing is helpful in passing an exam. But apart from that, memorization is not going to help.

2. Talk about it. OUT LOUD.

Speaking activates a different part of the brain. If you’re trying to understand something, say it out loud. If possible, try to explain it out loud to someone else or in front of mirror to yourself. You’ll learn more quickly, and you might uncover ideas you hadn’t known were there when you were reading about it.

3. Do the exercises. Write your own notes.

There are plenty of evidence that activity while learning can increase the learning. For instance, if you are just watching someone else do workouts that will never affect your body, you’ll have to do it.

Research suggests that we tend to retain more information when we take notes by hand.

4. Listen to your brain.

Pay attention to weather your brain is getting overloaded. If you start to forget what you just read, it’s time for a break. Once you go past a certain point, you won’t learn faster by trying to shove more in.

5. Drink water. Lost of it.

Your brain works best in a nice bath of fluid. Dehydration( which can happen before you ever feel thirsty) decreases cognitive function.

“You are not hungry, you are bored. Drink some water and learn the difference.” — Unknown

6. Design/create something!

Apply what you are learning to something new you’re designing, or refactor an older project. Just do something to get some exercise.

“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes

7. Make it the last thing you read before bed. Or at least the last challenging thing.

Part of learning happens after you stop learning. Your brain needs time on its own, to do more processing. If you put in something new during that processing-time, some of what you just learned will be lost.

These tips are the starting point. Listen to your brain and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. Try new things.

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” — Albert Einstein

One last thing! Did you know “You can clap up to 50 times on Medium.”