Learning How To Learn | Part 2

In my previous blog I talked about some key ways you can learn without feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Learning requires you to break things down and spread out the process so that you are doing it bit by bit. This spacing and repetition allows material to be transferred from your working memory to your long term memory. In Barbra Oakley’s, Learning How to Learn Course, she breaks down further how to overcome procrastination and how to master your memory.

Understanding Procrastination

Procrastination shares features with addictions in that it offers temporary excitement and relief from something that is stressful or painful. A person then creates stories to support this avoidance like, “I’m not good at math”. Gradually, over time, a person continues these small ways of avoiding until things pile up and get out of hand, just like someone with an addiction who avoids dealing with life’s responsibilities.

One way to overcome procrastination is to do Pomodoro sessions studying, working or even completing a task. Another approach is looking at your beliefs and how you approach tasks. Focusing on the process and creating positive beliefs will help release the pain associated with the task.

Process vs Product

I’ve always believed that if you can put things into perspective you can completely shift your relationship to a situation, person or view of yourself. This same approach can be very helpful when overcoming procrastination. It’s totally normal to start a new task with a few negative feelings about beginning that task, like learning new material for a course. What matters is how you handle that feeling.

It’s important to re-frame and focus on the process, not the product. In this course the process is defined as the flow of time and the habits associated with that flow of time. Consistent habits lead to the task being done. Using strategies like the Pomodoro technique and breaking down the larger tasks into smaller tasks takes you away from judging the overall task and gets you into a work flow. 

The product on the other hand is the actual thing that you need to complete like an assignment or work project. Each time you stay attached to that feeling of discomfort and that pain receptor is activated in your brain you are keeping yourself stuck in a pattern. This pattern also correlates to the cycle of anxiety where your nervous system rewards you for avoiding a perceived danger. The more you avoid it the more your system will send out bigger alarms each time faced with the same situation. The best way to break this cycle is to face the situation bit by bit and re-frame your perspective.

I’m currently writing a book and feel that walls come up often when I think about having to work on it. I’m making a connection to the book being finished rather than the process of spending time on it four days a week. When I used this method, I can’t tell you how much that changed. Instead I’ve learned to focus on the process rather than the end product. 

Using the Habit Cycle

The habit cycle is described in this video as an energy saver that helps us move along through our day without having to think about what we are doing. Here the cue is the trigger that causes a reaction to a stimulus. From there you go into automatic mode of the routine without thinking and then feel a reward after completion. The key to changing a habit is to change the beliefs around it. When we automatically have a negative belief around something we will avoid doing it, like studying. 

Often people will try to use willpower to overcome this avoidance, however it doesn’t work. Rather it’s important to change your beliefs around a task so that when that cue comes up you have a new positive association making it easier to establish that good habit. 

Here are a few ways to help you shift your habit cycle:

1. Cue – find a positive environment to support how you feel about the task. Turn off any distractions and create a new association to the task that supports your values and goals.
2. Routine – actively focus on rewiring  the old habit and creating a new ritual. This could be taking a sip of tea, connecting with your body and feeling what it will feel like to stay connected to your intentions.
3. Reward – match the rewards to the size of the task. Find something that is helpful to your well-being and allows you to truly celebrate internally what you just accomplished.

Lifestyle Changes to Keep The Flow Going

There are key organizational elements that prevent you from wasting time trying to figure out what’s next. These are vital to the process of learning because they help both your conscious and subconscious mind process other important information instead of wasting energy on minute tasks that can be organized in an automated way.

Consider implementing the following lifestyle strategies:

1. Planning system

Have a set planning and tracking system for both personal and professional tasks. This allows you to be clear on what you are doing and when. Also, plan to do the thing you like the least first, it’s worth it!

2. Reviewing

Spend some time each morning and before going to bed reviewing what is coming up as well as reviewing any material that you are learning. 

3. Reminders

This can be tricky if you end up tuning them out. If you do, plan reminders for each specific day so that there is variety and you are consciously doing what you need to be doing at that time.

4. Set Times

It’s important to set boundaries around when you are working but also when you will have fun and free time. This allows you to get into a rest mode (which could also be used as a diffused mode time) and is essential for learning. Those who maintain healthy leisure time do better in school. 

5. When using the habit cycle to assist you ensure that you commit to small routines, keep an experimental mindset along with savoring the rewards so that you will crave to do the same process again. 

Mastering Your Memory

I often hear people talk about how they have a bad time remembering things for one reason or another. My question is: what strategies did you use to try and remember something? In order to remember you need to take the time to review, retrieve information and also use all of your senses to make it memorable. This is why it’s key to take advantage of all of your senses when learning. 

Research shows that students who use memory strategies outperform those who do not. Scientists used brain images to see the difference and found that those who used these types of tools speed up acquisition of big chunks, and become semi-experts more quickly. Memory Strategies

Using Your Senses

Get creative and create a memorable, outrageous visual image representing one key item. Once you do that you could write the key concept on a flashcard with the image beside it and the explanation on the back of the card. Using platforms like Anki, which create flashcards for you and help you practice, retrieve information and space out the repetition are great. It’s ideal to write your own flashcards because the physical movement of writing makes your brain work harder to remember the facts. Talking out loud is also beneficial, again as it involves using all of senses when learning something new. 

Meaningful Groups

As mentioned in my previous blog, chunking allows you to group similar concepts and deepen your understanding of the material. One way to do this is to create an acronym using the first letter of key terms to create a new word that will help you remember all the main parts of the brain.

Memorable Sentences and Phrases

Again using the first letter of the terms you need to remember around a concept can be helpful. This takes practice and once you get going the creative part of your brain will become quicker and even more creative. 

Memory Palace Technique

I’ve actually used this technique for remembering my grocery list before. You imagine walking through your home and seeing the images of what you need to remember. For example, a loaf of bread in the entrance, milk and eggs in the family room. The more shocking, ridiculous and outrageous, the easier it will be to remember. 

Overall the more creative you can be the better as it helps create new neural hooks for information to be transferred into your long-term memory. It’s also key, as mentioned in my previous blogs, that practice makes permanent. Just reviewing information alone isn’t enough and gives the illusion of knowing something when really you are just familiar with it.