A large part of achieving your professional goals is learning new skills, new techniques, new information.
All of this is knowledge that you’re able to then apply to your overall growth.
I want to share with you what Ive learned about learning.
This post originally appeared on thePico blog.
So the topic of how to learn effectively has been one in which Ive had a deep interest.
During your schooldays, you probably thought of the test as the end-game.
But you should really be testing yourself throughout the whole study process.
And dont pat yourself on the back just yet if you think flash cards will cut it.
Those are what should make up the bulk of your self-tests.
But for the most part, open-ended questions that have real-world applicability work best.
The timing of your self-testing matters, too.
Ideally you should take the test you created within the next day.
This concept is based on the forgetting curve, first hypothesized by Hermann Ebbinghaus.
The gist is that your memory of information decays over time.
By revisiting that information, you not only erase that memory decay but you slow down any future decay.
How do you know how often to space out your self-testing?
Thankfully you dont have to develop that schedule on your own.
It takes a little bit of time to get set up, but once you do, its magic.
One last note: dont take the easy way out.
Let yourself struggle a little bit when you encounter a difficult question.
Going right to the notes is self-defeating.
2) Study Connected Topics Together
Lets say you want to become a web developer.
Instead, learn HTML while youre learning CSS, while youre learning the back-end and so on.
Since these skills are connected, youll start to understand more effectively how they tie together.
Take that many notes and you need a good note taking set-up.
Some people swear by taking notes by hand.
As youll see in one of our other tips, thats not very useful.
And if youre an Office or Microsoft user already, it integrates well with those.
But even if youre a Mac or Linux devotee, theres plenty to appreciate.
I create two pages for every notes section I have.
You could do a similar thing on paper or inside Evernote with a modified version ofCornell Notes.
I like to keep mine separate to resist the urge to peek at my notes while Im testing myself.
Your inclination is probably to lock yourself in a room until youve got it all.
Resist that urge, as its counterproductive.
Youve heard it before, and its true: your brain is like a sponge.
attempt to overload it and the excess will just run off.
The brain makes connections between what youre learning and the environment youre in at the time.
If you have information youll need to recall in various situations (e.g.
Also dont make the mistake of thinking that theres only one way of studying that works for you.
The idea that some people are auditory learners while others are visual learners has long been debunked.
6) Go Beyond Memorization and Ask Why
Finally, go beyond just taking notes.
Be critical about what youre learning and question it.
If youre reading a book on crafting user experiences that bring customers back, askwhythose recommendations work.
Answerhowyou can apply those recommendations to your website.
Images bymayrum(Shutterstock),Wikipedia,Moyan Brenn,Muhammad Mehan,Francisco Osorio(Flickr).
