How can you learn faster?

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Mo Amini upvoted this

Nelson Wang, Co-founder at Habby.co
Answered Mar 24, 2016

When I first started writing on Quora one of my first posts got 354 views.

Just months later, one of my Quora posts 539,900 views, 11,200 upvotes and was published by Inc,
Forbes and Fortune.

One of the keys to my writing success has been the ability to learn faster.

Here are my top 10 tips:

1. Ingest information in multiple ways - A study by Judy Willis in 2008 states that “The
more regions of the brain that store data about a subject, the more interconnection there is.
This redundancy means students will have more opportunities to pull up all of those related
bits of data from their multiple storage areas in response to a single cue. This cross
referencing of data means we have learned, rather than just memorized.” So as an example,
let's say your learning to speak Spanish. You could combine many different methods of
learning to make it more effective including:

a. Flashcards

b. Writing exercises

c. Youtube videos

d. Audio exercises

e. Using an app like Duolingo or Busuu

f. Practicing with someone in person or over Skype

2. Stay fit - Almost every morning, around 6 or 7 AM, I'll do either a cardio workout (Usually a
4 mile run to the Golden Gate Bridge and back) or a 50 minute circuit training session with
P90X. When I do that, my mind feels incredibly clear and sharp. There's a study published in
 PLoS One that backs this claim. (This was also covered in the New York Times) Basically
this study involves 81 young women who were native German speakers who were randomly
divided in to 3 groups. In each of the groups they wore headphones and listened for 30
minutes to a number of paired words. One word as a Polish noun and the other was its
German equivalent. Each person was asked to memorize the unfamiliar word. One group
listened after sitting quietly for 30 minutes and the other group listened after riding
stationary bikes at a light pace for 30 minutes. Guess what happened? The group that rode
the bikes performed best.

3. Learn by experience - I was a terrible writer when I first. Like I said, one of my first posts
only got 354 views. But I kept writing. Now I've written over 50 posts, started my
own motivational blog and have over 2.4 million views. There are few things that beat
learning by experience. When I held my first marketing event, it was hard to get even just 30
people in the room. I had no idea how to build a landing page and registration site, no
experience in building an email invite and no idea on how to get the word out effectively.
After years of hosting marketing events, now I can get 100 people in a room easily and can
launch an event in less than a day. But...maybe my stories aren't good enough for you. Let's
use a celebrity. Richard Branson is a great example of this. He wasn't an expert on the airline
industry when he first started. It didn't matter, he dove in anyway. Here's the quick story
from Virgin.com : "Richard Branson was stuck in Puerto Rico while trying to get to the
British Virgin Islands. 'They didn’t have enough passengers to warrant the flight, so they
cancelled the flight,' he explains. 'I had a beautiful lady waiting for me in the British Virgin
Islands and I hired a plane and borrowed a blackboard and as a joke I wrote Virgin Airlines
on the top of the blackboard, $39 one way to BVI. I went out (and got) all the passengers who
had been bumped and I filled up my first plane.'" Now Virgin Airlines is one of the top
airlines in the world.

4. Stay focused on one task at a time - Research at Stanford has shown that focusing one
single task at a time is far more productive than multi-tasking. Travis Bradberry has written
that "The frequent multi-taskers performed worse because they had more trouble organizing
their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and they were slower at switching
from one task to another. Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your
brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain
lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully." Stay laser focused.
 5. Constantly test - When I would prepare for interviews, I would constantly practice role
plays. This form of testing helped me to prepare for commonly asked questions and also
taught me how to stay calm and collected when I get curve ball questions. Push yourself
through tests. Whether it's multiple choice, free form, role plays or flashcards, find ways to
test whether or not you really understand the material you're studying.

6. Express yourself - It turns out that writing about your fears and worries might actually
help your scores. According to Scientific American, "Psychologists at the University of
Chicago found that college students who first wrote about their thoughts and feelings about
an upcoming math exam for 10 minutes solved more arithmetic problems than did students
who sat quietly. And the writing task improved the scores of highly anxious ninth graders so
much that they performed as well as students with low anxiety on a biology final exam. The
authors say that the technique may be most useful for habitual worriers in high-pressure
situations."

7. Set up incentives - Studies have shown "findings (that) are consistent with the
hypothesis that reward motivation promotes memory formation via dopamine release." So
for example, after completing a study session of reading a chapter, you could reward yourself
with a short walk, a green smoothie or a funny Youtube video.

8. Space out your learning - Have you ever crammed for a college final before? I have. I
passed the test. But I don't remember 99% of what I learned in those cramming sessions.
Let's face it: cramming isn't effective. A study done by Nicholas Cepeda (York University,
UCSD) shows that periodically reviewing information is a better approach than cramming.

9. Stop wearing that 3 hour sleep badge with pride - We get it, you work hard. But don't
lose sleep over it. It's simply not worth it. And there are a ton of studies that show getting
enough sleep will help you learn faster and your memory will improve.

10. Don't sprint non-stop - It's hard to sustain that and studies have shown that having
regular breaks will actually boost productivity and improve focus. For example, nowadays, I'll
spring really intensely for about 30 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. I'll usually
meditate during that time or drink a green smoothie to relax. When I'm done with that 5
minute break, I usually feel re-energized and ready to crush it again.

Learning is one of the best things we can ever experience. When we are growing mentally and
physically, it makes us feel alive. It gives us a sense of accomplishment. It gives us a sense of
momentum. It gives us passion.
Hopefully this post helped you learn something today. ;)

And yes, that's officially the first emoticon I've ever used in a Quora post.
#There'sAFirstForEverything

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Dean Yeong upvoted this

Timothy Kenny, Author of "Accelerated Learning for Entrepreneurs"
TimothyKenny.com/book
Updated Apr 10
Originally Answered: How can I learn faster and remember longer?

You will forget half of what you read after 2 weeks and 90% after 2 months.
Many answers here are saying that taking notes and reviewing them is boring or not necessary. This is
simply not true. You will not retain what you learn from a book unless you get multiple repetitions of
the information over time.

People tend to want the shiny new thing ("fresh" information) when really they would be better off
reviewing what they have already read/forgotten. One you fully realize how much time you are wasting
by not reviewing your notes (because you are forgetting so much of what you read) you will start to
enjoy it. Most of my best ideas come from going back and collecting and synthesizing disparate notes
and quotes from the books I have read.
My General Process Looks Like This:

1. Consume your information

This means you underline your book, take notes from an audio or video course or collect the best posts
from a forum into a word document or page in OneNote.
2. Boil it down

Transfer your highlights or underlines to a separate piece of paper so you have your own set of notes.

3. Boil it down again

Use a highlighter to go over your notes and find the most important pieces. You can circle chunks of
text in your notes to start organizing them.

4. Create Your final product

These are only useful for certain types of information. Some books are more general facts/information
and may not be worht the extra time investment if you only have a few pages of notes and not many
actionable steps.

A. Mindmap

Use your chunked notes to create a mindmap. Stick to one page and fit in as much detail as you can.

B. Action List

Go through your notes and decide what you want to take action on. Prioritize the list and put it
somewhere where you will look at it again, like the wall next to your computer.

C. Notecards

Cut up your information into two sided notecards. You can do this by hand or digitally.

Tip: You can leave notes at any stage in the process and come back later. You can also skip or combine
these steps depending on how aggressively you want to learn.
From my 8-courses-in-1 Udemy course, End Game: The Ultimate Accelerated Learning
System, with over 30 hours of HD video and 4.6/5 star rating from 79 reviews and over
1,000 students. Use the discount coupon link below (Code: "1013900QU1001"):

End Game: The Ultimate Accelerated Learning System

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Dean Yeong
I upvoted for your illustrations! Love them

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 Andrei Cimbru, Read 100+ self development books. Became a human guinea
pig to see what works
Updated Mar 30, 2016

3 ways to start learning like a boss

It’s not about memorizing information, it’s about processing it.

Just like in the world of computers, you should practice the habit of learning day-by-day so that you
will become a better processor, not a bigger hard drive. Cool? Ok! Let’s start.

1. Learn with a higher purpose

I am talking here more than just learning to pass an exam or learning to acquire a certain certificate.

Create a mission around the art of learning.

Always have the end goal in mind that is bigger than the struggle or monotony that you will go through
the daily practice.

Start with the end in mind.

For example, a big mistake I always did in the past was doing tutorials on coding. I always wanted to
create stuff, but I lacked the knowledge and confidence to actually tackle a significant project. So the
first step I would do is start doing tutorials. I finished so many tutorials I lost count. Understood
everything in the process, and then… that would be it. I already lost interest, it got boring, it was easy,
it was safe. I wasn’t tempted to go for bigger projects because inside my head the previous experience
thought me that the process was already tedious and boring.

Then I got hired by a company to develop games. I didn’t know jack squat about how games were
made. But that became my ultimate goal. Everything that I learned got me closer to creating that story,
that product. Some days were tedious, boring and repetitive and others were extremely exciting. But I
was engaged in the process of learning because my mission was bigger than learning how to calculate
the collision force between two objects.

I started practicing this with writing. If my ultimate goal was learning how to create the perfect
structure and title I would have gotten bored a long time ago. But my ultimate goal is to deliver a great
experience to my readers. That is what keeps me in the game, that is what makes each day a new
possibility to improve myself and my learning.
Instead of saying you want to learn how to code Ruby on Rails set a goal to create an online e-
commerce shop that can offer an innovative customer flow. Even if you don’t have a clue. This will
ultimately measure your learning process and you will see how your brain will approach the act of
learning from multiple angles instead of the linear one you get from tutorials.

“Learning is a process, it never stops. Attach it to something bigger than yourself and you will be in
awe with what you can achieve.”

2. Leave gaps in between information

*Linear learning = How people think they should learn. **How you should actually learn

Some of the greatest achievements in this world were accomplished by rearranging or trying different
approaches to old methods. We think that in order to learn we need to learn from one end to another.
That might work if you just want to become really good at copying people or at best, be at the same
level as they are. In his book, “Evolve your Brain”, Joe Dispenza talks about the pathways that are
created in between your neurons from habit. The more you practice a habit the stronger that pathway
becomes. It becomes like autopilot but eventually if you stop enforcing that pathway you forget it.
That’s how we get over bad habits.

Remember how you rocked 11th-grade chemistry and now you don’t even know what Dihydrogen
Monoxide is used for?

Just like how bodybuilders grow their muscles by leaving appropriate resting gaps between workouts
you should leave gaps between the information you learn. Try skipping a chapter in a book or tutorial.
When you might get blocked in your progress you will either find a new perspective from which
you can solve the problem or understand better the missing concept and it’s purpose
when you actually need it.

You have to find the sweet spot between knowing the basics in order to get started and what is the
bigger task you want to tackle.
These habits will cement the pathway between your neurons much better than just repeating
information in your head, because that pathway was created in a moment where you were stuck, in a
moment when you were frustrated, in a moment when you tried to fill the gap from different angles.

In that moment you will own the information, not repeat it.

This way you have more anchors that hold on to that information. Some people call it experience.

If Repetition is the mother of Learning, then Experience is the grandmother.

3. Discipline yourself with time pressure

Do you remember that one time you studied for that exam the whole weekend? And by studying I
mean: reading 2 hours, cleaning your room 1 hour, cooking food for 2 hours, surfing the web for “more
information” for another 3–4 hours, watching those 3 cat videos, reading another chapter from your
study and then putting a Facebook status of how much you spent studying today?

Or maybe you just went linearly through all your study without actually leaving any gaps to properly
process the information.

I remember I used to do this a lot.

I would have this exam where my brain would go blank as if I didn’t even study. The funny part is that
during the exam time I had that blocked gap combined with time pressure and I knew exactly what
information I needed in order to complete my task. But it was lost in the back of my head somewhere.
If one of my colleagues would whisper me a 5-word sentence, it would help me solve a third of the
tasks in my paper. It was amazing how focused I could be in those 40 minutes of stress time.
Sometimes I would pass, sometimes not. What would be even more interesting is that after the exam,
in the next 10 minutes debating the tasks with my colleagues suddenly I realized I knew how to do
everything perfectly.
Now I always study like I’m in an exam. I learned this from some of my friends who are designers or
artists. They set a 1 one hour timer, where they sketch something and try to fit in as many details as
possible until the timer is over. Then they would throw away the paper or delete the file. Tomorrow
they would start all over again within the same 1-hour framework.

This made them really good.

They would not have time to research everything and they would also be under the clock to create an
output. At the end, they would analyze their results, where they needed to work on more and
tomorrow they would focus on covering that gap again.

Great business people like Elon Musk or Richard Branson focus on minutes instead of hours in order
to fulfill all their daily tasks. It made them more efficient because 60 minutes creates a different
urgency in your head than one hour. You have only 24 hours in a day, but you also have 96 quarters of
an hour available. This method can help you be more mindful with how you organize yourself.

* Stop bookmarking yourself to failure

I’m giving this one away as a BONUS because it’s very important to grasp.

I used to bookmark everything. I would spend 3 hours a day researching stuff and then bookmarking it
for future “in-depth” research. And that’s how in one year I ended up with 3400 bookmarks about
topics that interested me. I would not be fully immersed in what I was saving because I was tricking
my head into thinking I would come back to it later. I was using my Bookmarks folder as an external
hard drive for my brain but I wasn’t really improving my cerebral processor because I wanted to find
out the best practices first. My neurons would have a mental orgy from how much information I would
find and save “for later”. I felt like I knew so much.

I will tell you what is the best way to learn anything.

Get good at something and then expand around that.

Don’t trap yourself with “I’ll bookmark this for when I need it.”

DO IT NOW.

——— —

Subscribe here if you connected with my writing.

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Robert Unyx
Wow! This answer is really great. Very refreshing. The whole web and Quora as well is filled with...

William Beteet, TEDx Speaker, Published in TIME, Laugh Factory Comedian

Updated Aug 10

1. Read Books on Learning - We’ve all had the experience where we spend a lot of time and
energy doing something, only to realize that there’s technique that makes the task way
simpler. Well that’s the case with how we think, many people are just inefficient thinkers and
so it takes us a longer time to learn. There are countless books with techniques on how to
drastically improve your memory or learn how to do complex problems in your mind. Invest
in these resources as soon as possible. One I would recommend is “How to Develop a Brilliant
Memory Week by Week” By Dominic O’Brien

2. Immersion - It’s easier to learn something when you study nothing but that for weeks at a
time. When everything you read, watch, write, and talk about is that subject. This is especially
true for foreign languages, that’s why many of my friends who are polyglots recommend
taking bootcamps and while living in a country that speaks that language. The intensity of
that experience will leave a lasting imprint on your mind.

3. Scale Up - When you want to learn something new, start watching documentaries on the
subject, write down words that you do not know and look up the definition. From there buy
introductory books, read them, after every session write down what you remember in a
Google Doc. Try to work the new themes, concepts and words into your conversations in
 everyday life. After you’ve a couple introductory text, start reading graduate papers on
specific concepts that interest you. Do the same process of looking up words you don’t know.
This process will allow you to sounds like a graduate student in a subject in just a couple
weeks.

4. PODCAST - Podcast are the most underrated way to learn about a new subject. Human
beings learned primarily from conversation for a hundred thousand years. The lecture style is
a very new phenomena, and it is why we can have a difficult time staying engaged for
extended periods of time. Podcast simulate that conversational style of learning, which just
make it feel like you are listening to wiser people talk about something.

If you liked this answer check out my TEDxTalk !

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Niklas Göke, Self-awareness is the root of progress. I try to spread it.

Answered Apr 1

I know what you want to hear. You want me to tell you about previewing books, about how you should
read, about highlighting, taking notes, about condensing them and using memory hacks to remember
them.

…but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll tell you a story.

Meet Lisa Learner.

Lisa wants to become a really good soccer player, play for the girls’ team at her school, become a
striker and score many goals.

Before practice even starts, Lisa buys several books about the history of soccer, the best strategies of
winning teams and a few techniques on how to handle the ball.

She sets the bold goal to read 12 books over the 12 weeks of practice before the big game.
Lisa is diligent. She shows up to every training session and does her best. She does alright
with technique, but has a tough time getting past opponents and convert her chances into goals when
she gets into the end zone.

In between practice sessions, she reads her books.

Before the big game, Lisa does well in the last practice session. She knows she has a few kinks to iron
out, but prepares by finishing all her books, taking notes and reviewing them. She even memorizes
different in-game scenarios and the right responses to them to beat the opposing team.

On game day, Lisa quickly realizes the other team has girls that are stronger, taller and faster than her.
After the first half, the other team leads 1:0.

In the second half, Lisa recognizes the formation of the other team as one of those she
remembered from one of her books. She can’t exactly recall the exact recommendations, but
somehow finds a hole, makes her way through and faces the goal.

She aims…

…shoots…

…and misses! The goalkeeper caught her shot. It wasn’t strong enough.

The buzzer rings. The game is over. Lisa Learner…lost.

Meet Paul Practitioner.

Paul has the same goal as Lisa. He wants to play for the boys’ team, become a striker, and kick his
team to success.
He’s not big on books, but he sets a strict workout regimen for the 12 weeks leading up to the game. He
thinks for a while, makes a schedule, and adds endurance and technique training blocks to his
schedule between practice sessions.

Paul does alright in practice, but has a few weak spots like passing the ball and aiming when shooting
on goal. After each team training, he goes home, makes a few notes what he has to work on,
and then focuses on those areas in his solo sessions.
On game day, Paul faces a similar situation to Lisa: They’re behind by one point and the opponents are
stronger, taller and faster. Paul realizes he has to rely on what he’s practiced to turn this
around.

Instead of going head to head, he tries to keep the ball as long as he can and runs back and forth. That
not only confuses his opponents, but because of their size and speed, they’re exhausted much quicker
than Paul, who’s improved his endurance a lot.

Once the defense is weak and slow, Paul finds a hole, slips by and is alone in front of the goal.

Paul goes for the upper left corner, the shot he’s worked on his aim them most for. He aims…

…shoots…

…and it’s in! Score! Paul’s successfully pulled his team into overtime.
Because the opponents are even more exhausted now, Paul can pull his move another two times, and
his team wins 3:1.

Paul Practitioner is the hero of the day…a true winner!

We’re obsessed with learning. We’ve all been Lisa Learner at one point or another in our lives. We
think we’re well prepared. And then we fail.

Memories you create by studying are memories you made a conscious effort to form. There’s one
problem with those memories:

They are weak.

What’s more, even if you do remember them, they are never as helpful as memories
formed unconsciously, from actual experience.

In sports, you’d call this muscle memory. If you practice the same shot 1,000 times, your foot will be
able to pull it off on autopilot, with great precision and adapt it to any situation as needed.

In business, this is what separates a practitioner from a theorist. You can read all the business books in
the world. If you don’t start knocking on doors, you’ll never sell anything.

Reading “all great products are blue” in a book is easy. Being told your blue roses suck by 17 different
people is hard. It’s real. It hurts.

But it’s the only way to succeed. You can learn all you want. If you don’t practice what the experts
preach, it won’t amount to a thing.

Don’t be Lisa Learner. Be Paul Practitioner.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll score that winning goal.

PS: The reason I’ve gone deep instead of wide here is simple: I have written the kind of guide you’d
expect here. The Complete Guide to Remembering What You Read is one of the very first premium
pieces of Medium ’s membership program, which I really believe in and am proud to be a part of. I
highly recommend you check it out.

PPS: I write more here . Lisa Learner bitmojis taken from here .

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Chandan
 I got tired of your frequency of answers. But i read every answer. I wanted to unfollow you. But ...

Wai Ching Jessica Lam, Engineer, Artist, Entrepreneur

Answered May 23, 2012

Depending on what you're trying to learn.

Reading and explaining to others can only give you conceptual understanding, not practical
understanding. When it comes to something that's ultimately not abstract, the best way would to be
able to make something (practice it!) after learning the fundamental concepts. Example: In
programming, just because you can explain Model-View-Controller to some...(more)

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Nela Canovic, 10,000 hours and counting on becoming the best version of myself.
Answered Jul 28, 2016
It’s not just the speed of learning that is important, but also making what you’ve
learned stick.

Here are 9 ideas to learn smarter (and yes, faster!):

Do your hard work first. Your circadian rhythm is telling you the best time of day to
focus, all you need to do is tune in and listen. If you want to let your analytical brain take
over, do your hard work 2 hours after waking up. So, if your alarm goes off at 8, your peak
focus times are 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Focus in short time increments. If you’re working throughout the night or sitting at your
desk all day, you’re not helping your brain do its best work. It performs better when you
space out your work. To focus more effectively, use a timer to work in one hour time blocks or
for 25 minutes (the Pomodoro technique ), then take a break: go for a walk, have a snack,
run errands, prepare your next meal, or do a short burst of physical activity.

Test the waters. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you know everything in the book
you covered or the course you completed. Chances are, you may be over-confident, and when
the time comes to recall what you’ve learned, you may have a hard time. Keep yourself on
your toes by testing yourself often: when you complete a chapter, close the book and try
recalling the most important concepts. Which ideas did you remember? Why are they
relevant?

Boost learning with delayed exercise. Scientists found that people who exercised four
hours after their study session retained new information better a few days later than those
who worked out either immediately after studying or students who didn’t exercise at all.
Brain scans from the study show that delayed exercising affects the hippocampus, an area of
the brain important for learning and memory.

Teach someone else what you learned. Teaching is not just for experts; it’s actually an
excellent studying technique. Grab a close friend, then tell them the main points of what you
read. Write an outline on a sheet of paper, explain the key concepts, and give an example or
two of why they’re important. Ask them what they think and how they understood the
material. You might even get a fresh perspective on something!

Visualize your progress. This technique involves imagining in detail what you expect to
happen as you learn something new. For example: visualize covering a certain amount of
material (chapters, paragraphs, sections), taking notes on the important concepts you
discover, writing down questions to research later. By telling your brain a story, you train it to
anticipate next steps so that the entire learning process is easier to understand.

Get more learning on the go. Forget the traditional methods and turn to technology
when you’re on the move, for example when you’re commuting to school or work, or when
you’re out walking or riding your bike. Listen to podcasts so you can feed your brain, learn a
new skill, find ways to work on a life goal, or to get inspiration on your creative endeavors.
It’s like having an audio encyclopedia at your fingertips!
 Use power naps for a memory boost. A power nap can maximize your productivity by
helping you memorize new information faster. When we’re napping, our brain is still busy
and the hippocampus is getting supercharged. When we wake up, the hippocampus re-
activates the neural firing pattern that was active during the learning process, making it
easier to recall the new material.

Reset your brain with plenty of sleep. Don’t miss out on sleep, thinking that cramming
before an exam all night will help you retain new information. Chronic sleep deprivation can
reduce your cognitive abilities, can impact your concentration, and can even reduce your
IQ . Train your brain to wind down at the same time each night with a simple nighttime
routine that will help you chill out faster and more effectively.
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Anirudh Joshi upvoted this

Dean Yeong, I live consciously.
Updated Apr 9

Named after Richard Feynman, this learning technique is useful for anyone, to learn basically
anything at a deeper level, in a short period of time. Instead of using the passive learning method that
is less effective, the Feynman technique is an active way to guide you through different zones of
learning .

Indeed, this technique is the exact technique Richard implemented to master his exams in Princeton
University, stated out clearly by James Gleick, in his biography of Feynman.

You can use the Feynman technique to:

Learn a new concept or knowledge in a short period of time.

Understand a topic or study you don’t really “get”.

Improve knowledge retention after your studies regardless you’re a student, employee, or
employer.

Comparing to memorize a set of information for a presentation or an exam that usually take a
huge amount of time (and stress) to produce a lousy result, the Feynman technique delivers a
 better result in less time (you can achieve the desired results in less than 30 minutes.)

Making an idea or concept your own by delivering it in your own words with your personal
experiences and input. In another word, steal like an artist.

Let’s go through the Feynman technique so you can implement this to learn anything faster and better.

Step 1: Choose Your Concept

Step 1 doesn’t sound like a step at all. But this is one common mistake people made in their learning.
Failing to draw a clear line and define what concept we want to learn is the guaranteed way to waste all
the time and energy you invest into your study.

The first step is to select the concept you want to learn. If the concept is new to you, walk through it for
one to two times before you proceed to step two. Take out a blank piece of paper and write the title out
on top of the page.

Step 2: Teach It (to a Toddler)

Now, write down everything you know to explain the concept. Pretend like you’re teaching it (not to an
expert or your professor) but to a toddler. This eases off the pressure to get everything right and helps
you to revise the concept you just learned in your own words. Avoid using any jargon vocabularies in
this step because that usually how we fool ourselves.

This step is crucial because it doesn’t only revise what you have already known, it also reveals and
pinpoints the areas that you don’t fully understand.

Step 3: Fill in the Gaps

There will be questions and gaps pop up when we are doing step two. No worries, that’s the point of
using this technique. You now have a clearer picture of what you know and what you still don’t know.

Go back to the materials to fill in the gaps. This process helps you to understand the knowledge at a
deeper level. Repeat step 2 and 3 until you feel you can understand and explain the concept
completely.

Step 4: Review & Simplify

Review the final concept you get. If you are using overly wordy or confusing language, or you simply
rephrase the paragraphs without truly understand the concept, try again so you filter the content.
Simplify your vocabularies and language so you’re explaining it in your own analogy. One way to do
this is by pretending you’re teaching verbally. If you’re using your own words and have a complete grip
on the concept, your speech and presentation should be smooth without very little lags.

I write on DeanYeong.com on building healthy habits, improving decision-making, and living a

happier life.

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John Ringland, Mystic/Scientist/Eclectic-Autodidact

Updated Jan 11, 2011

I generally agree with Vijayendra's answer. So I will just add one more point.

To "learn faster", avoid becoming trapped in closed loops of self-reinforcing hidden assumptions, then
learning can expand unobstructed between domains and across paradigm shifts, hence it will
progress faster and more smoothly.

To avoid these traps be aware that no conceptual knowledge can be 'perfect' and th...(more)
 Upvote 67 Downvote

Vijayendra Mohanty
Good points. But I think it got a bit unwieldy after the first two paragraphs. People might get l...

Sharat Nambissan, Likes to learn

Updated Apr 4, 2014

Acaz Pereira has a great answer - I think this method definitely helps you learn better, in that it will
help you build upon fundamentals very well and help you remember the concept as a coherent whole
for a much longer time

However, the claim that it will make you learn faster is a tad contentious. The laborious bit of writing
out an explanation is time and energy intensive. You might end u...(more)

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Jory MacKay, Editor at RescueTime (2017-present)

Answered Oct 13

When we’re younger and working our way through school, it’s easy to take for granted how much
information we ingest and retain every single day. It’s just part of life.

But once we move into the ‘real world’ and start juggling work and home responsibilities, spending
focused time on learning can become downright impossible.

Yet getting ahead in your career or just improving your skills requires c...(more)

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CamMi Pham upvoted this

Kevin Johnsrude, software developer, musician, artist, model, polymath,
Buddhist
Updated Nov 11, 2013
I learn new stuff all the time. Josh Kaufman, author of the book, "20 Hours" boils the process down to
its essentials and talks about how you can grasp a new skill in 20 hours of practice. His rules are:
1. Deconstruct the skill

2. Learn enough to self-correct

3. Remove practice barriers

4. Practice at least 20 hours (in a month)

https://youtu.be/5MgBikgcWnY

You won't be a virtuoso, but you will be amazed at ...(more)

Upvote 168 Downvote

Kevin Johnsrude
Another cool link that has been useful to me is http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2013/05/10/learn-...

Anirudh Joshi upvoted this

Anonymous
Updated Apr 26, 2013
Originally Answered: I always feel like there is so much to learn and so little time available. How can I learn better and faster?

Other people on Quora have asked similar questions. See below:

(Also see answer: How can I improve my thinking abilities (IQ, creativity, memory,
problem solving)?

Speed and Efficiency

How do you learn complex material quickly?
Learning New Things: How can you learn faster?
Learning: What learning strategies do people who are "quick learners" follow?
What is the secret of learning quickly?
What is the best way to learn material quickly and efficiently?
How do I learn complicated subjects quickly and efficiently?
Studies and Studying: How does one study efficiently?
Self-Teaching: What is the fastest and most effective way to learn/get up to speed on a completely
new subject?
(Added April 20) Learning New Things: What are some good techniques for learning new
skills efficiently?

"the Best" & "Top Students"

Study Habits: What is the best study method?
Studies and Studying: What is the best study method available?
Studies and Studying: How do top students study?
Studies and Studying: How do top students write and/or keep track of their notes?
Learning: What is the most effective way to learn?
(Added April 20) Studies and Studying: What are some of the best studying techniques?

Focus
Self-Improvement: How can I improve my focus?
What are good temporary hacks for improving your focus?
Studies and Studying: How can I concentrate when studying?
What are some tips on not getting distracted while studying?
Personal Productivity: What are the best ways to avoid distraction when you are working?
(Added April 12) Mind Hacks: Does bouncing your leg improve cognition?

Duration & Energy

How can I study more often and for longer hours?
Tips and Hacks for Everyday Life: How do I get the energy to study after a long and tiring day at
work?
Productivity: How can you increase your productivity on side projects at the end of the day when
you're tired from work/college?

Motivation & Productivity

How can I concentrate on studies and get better results?
Self-Improvement: How can I become more persistent?
Self-Improvement: What can I do to become less lazy?
Discipline: How can I become more disciplined?
Determination: How can I become more determined?
How can I become more self driven?
How can a person raised to be a lazy slacker become more productive?
Self-Improvement: How can I become more productive?
Self-Improvement: What are some tips to become a more productive person?
What are some effective tips for gaining focus on those days when you are not being very
productive?
What do you do when you cannot focus on your work?
How do you keep yourself focused on your goals?
(Added April 26) Life Advice: How do I get over my bad habit of procrastinating?

General, Misc, and Multi-Topic

Study Habits: How can i improve my study?
Deliberative Practice: What are some tips for being more effective in deliberately practicing
one's skills in a certain field (any field), assuming you don't want to go back to school full time?
Time Management: What are some tips/resources on effective time management?
Learning: How can I make sure I really learn/understand a concept when studying?
(Added April 14) How do you improve your ability to learn?
(Added April 20) What are some good ways to improve soft skills?
(Added April 20) Book Recommendations: What books helped increase your thinking
capacity and build better mental models? How?
(Added April 20) Learning: How can I improve my ability to understand concepts
intuitively?

Reading
What is the most effective way to read a textbook?
What is the most efficient and effective way to read and learn from a textbook?
Reading: What is the most effective way to read a book and what can one do after reading?

Added April 20:

Critical Thinking: What are some ways to improve critical reading and reading
comprehension skills?
Reading: How can I improve my reading speed and comprehension?
How do you remember what you've just read?
How can I improve my reading comprehension?
Psychology: How can I improve my attention span while reading books?
Reading: What are the good ways to improve my reading skills?
How can I increase my focus while reading?
Reading: What are some good ways to read and process a book for knowledge retention?
What are good ways to read more and read more effectively?
Learning: How do you really internalize things you read?

Long-Term Memory
Learning: I am so quick in understanding new concepts. but easily forget them later. what should I
do?
What are some must read books for improving memory?
What are some good ways to improve your memory?
Human Memory: Any hacks to improving your memory?
Memory: What are simple ways to improve short and long term memory?

Context
How can a high school student learn how to study?
Medical School: How do top medical students study?
Grades: What are some good study habits to get better grades at college?

Also see:
How can I improve my thinking abilities (IQ, creativity, memory, problem solving, etc)?
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