How to read textbooks so that you will never have to read them ever again…

Retention of the stuff I’ve read is a challenge I have been facing since the day I started reading textbooks as a school kid. Turns out I’ve been doing it wrong all along. These are some of the points that I have stumbled upon during my journey to read textbooks as efficiently as possible so that I would retain most of the knowledge and save myself from the trouble of reading stuff over and over again just because I did not do it properly the first time. Hope it helps a few of you out there.

• Flip through each page of the chapter. This helps you get an overview of what’s coming. Do not try to comprehend anything. Just get a basic idea of the sections/diagrams/graphs and other parts of the chapter. This prepares you mentally for all the stuff that you’ll be facing in the chapter.
• Read the quiz at the end of the section/chapter. This is important because it gives you an idea of the important topics in the chapter. I am saying this because the author found those topics important enough to frame a question around them.
• Read the text in bold. Once again, this is important because these are the things that the author cared enough about so as to make them bold and prominent.
• Read first and the last sentence of each paragraph. By doing this, you would get an overview of the contents of each paragraph. If the book is written by an experienced author, these sentences would surely contain the most important parts of the paragraph.
• The above steps would enable you to create a mental box model/skeleton of the chapter. Now the next task is to fill things inside those empty boxes. This can be done in the following way.
• Read a paragraph. Think about what is said in that paragraph. Think about how you would explain that paragraph to someone else.
• Ask yourself what are the important points in that paragraph. See if you could recollect the important points and explain them in your own words.
• If there is an equation or a formula, try to write it down using recollection.
• If it is a concept that can be expressed using a diagram or a graph, illustrate it using your own model. See if it makes sense.
• If there is a numerical problem, try to use the formula and solve it without looking. Then change the parameters and solve it again.
• Take a minute after reading a paragraph and ask yourself why it is the way it is. What is the significance of the statement/comparison/opinion/analogy.
• The idea is to be mindful of what you are reading. The more interaction you would have with the text, the more you would understand and the more you would retain.
• Once you are done with 3-4 paragraphs/topics, go back and try to remember what was said in them.
• Once you are done with the entire chapter, go through the chapter again and do all the things stated above, but this time with twice or thrice the previous speed.

Learning how to learn – part IV

This is the final iteration of my ‘learning how to learn’ series. In this iteration, we will be looking into memory, and some other techniques for a better learning. So let’s get started.

Memory:

As a part of the process of our evolution, our brains have this unique ability to remember vast information about spatial features. Our ancestors had to hunt for days and stay away from home. They then, had to find the way back home. They therefore, had developed sense of spatial information, and so do we. Spatial memory and visual memory are inter-connected.

We can harness both spatial and visual memories for a better retention of information.

Using images to remember things: This technique allows you to relate the information with a picture. For example, you want to remember the name Mike Rowinski. He is a guy with short curly hair. One thing you could do, is to associate him with a microwave (Mike-Row-ave) and a back-story that he somehow put his head in a microwave and hence, his hair are short and curled. Now that you have a vibrant, related image of something that you can associate the information with, it is much easier to recall. Of course, it depends on how crazy and creative you are.

Relating new information with an existing concept, idea, or an object: This is an effective technique for remembering details about things. For example, you could remember the charges on cations and anions with the help of this technique. Let’s relate cation to cat (observe the similarity in names), and anions with onions (duh!). Cat has ‘paws’ and cations have positive (paw-sitive) charge. Similarly, onions make us cry which is a negative thing, and so is the charge on anion. I bet you won’t get confused with the charges on cations and anions once you keep this in mind.

Flash cards: These are most effective in one-to-one mapping. For example, while learning new words, the word can be written on a piece of paper and it’s meaning on the other side. Try to recall the meaning, and if you fail, turn the page around and see the meaning. This will help study and recall better.

Writing and saying: The more senses you use for learning, the better. Hence, instead of just listening or reading, try to write what you learned, as well as saying it aloud, so that all your senses are put to use. This way, you have more mental hooks that cling on to the information.

Mnemonics: In this technique, the new information is grouped and associated with an acronym or some made-up sentence that let’s you recall each part of the information. One of the initial mnemonic that I learned was to remember the planets in our solar system. It was ‘My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas’ where each word shared the initial letter with that of the respective planet.

Mind Palace: If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, and watched season three of the Sherlock Holmes series, you would know what it means. A mind palace is a virtual imagery of some place that you know all the spatial details about. The trick is to imagine the information organized in all the rooms of that palace or place. For example, I can imagine the palace as my home. It has nine rooms. So I can categorize information in each room. I can make my room as the technology room and imagine that I have organized all the technology related information in that room. So, whenever I need to store new information about technology, I would store it there. If I had an old information organized there, like the developers of Java, that I stored as a picture of James & Bill sipping a cup of coffee. I could even combine techniques like using JBL speakers which use Java internally, to map James & Bill names. So my picture on the wall of mind palace will be two people sipping a cup of coffee (Java beans) and listening to music on a JBL speaker.

Becoming a better learner:

Exercise: It’s importance cannot be over-emphasized. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. It’s a psycho-somatic process. Keep your body happy and it will keep your mind happy. Exercising also helps in generation of new neurons in the hippo-campus and maintain their health. Exercising also benefits all vital organs.

Toughest First: This may sound crazy but go for the toughest task first. If you are able to complete it first, it’s well and good. If not, migrate to easier topics and allow your diffused mode thinking work on it before you re-approach the difficult task.

Seek help: You may know many things, but you cannot possibly know everything. There is always a person who knows something that you don’t know. Even if you are learning the same thing, there are chances that you might have missed something that other’s did not. Asking in case of doubt, and sharing knowledge are effective techniques to be a better learner.

Broaden passions: Be the jack of all trades and master of one. Keep yourself interested in the main area of your focus. But try to dive into other topics as well. Who knows? You might find passion in something you never knew even existed. Additionally, indulging in tasks of different types helps your mind grow, and learn things that are otherwise impossible.

That’s it for this series.

Happy Learning!

 

Learning how to learn – part III

This is the third iteration of my ‘learning how to learn’ series. In this iteration, we will be looking mainly into three topics – Procrastination. Memory, and other techniques for a better learning will be covered in the next and final iteration. So let’s get started.

Procrastination:

A while ago, I wrote a post about procrastination as explained by Tim Urban at a TED event. Here’s the link.  He explained what exactly happens inside a procrastinator’s mind. In addition to the points he stated, here are some other points to consider about procrastination:

We procrastinate when:

• We are not comfortable with the thing we are doing.
• It is not resulting in any reward or pleasure.
• It is not ‘that’ important at this point in time.
• We really don’t know how to do it.
• Another ‘interesting’ thing is attracting us.
• Any other irrational excuses that sound reasonable.

Procrastination is like an addiction. It gives us temporary pleasure by not doing the thing that was supposed to be done.

Strategies to overcome procrastination are simple but not so obvious. Here are some of them:

1) Pomodoro technique: We talked about this in context of ‘Focused mode of learning’ in the first part. It is effective in overcoming procrastination. Just push yourself to start the task and diligently do it for 25 minutes. You should later reward yourself. This technique emphasizes on the central and most essential concept; that is starting. You can never get anything done unless you start. Need to hit the gym but not feeling like doing it? Just start. I guarantee you will end up doing it for a longer time than you initially thought you would.

2) Make it a habit: A habit has four essential parts

• Cue: This is the initial trigger that enables you to start the activity. It may be a particular time, or a signal, or any other specific event that triggers the event in your mind to start acting according to the habit.
• Routine: This is the actual body of the habit. This is the task you perform that actually counts as the habit. It may be singing a song in the shower, or eating ice-cream when you are sad.
• Belief: It is the driving force that keeps you going. Beliefs are what back the habit. As long as you believe in doing that particular thing, you will not stop doing it. It may be a belief that running will help you lose weight. So you nurture this habit of running.
• Reward: It is what you gain or get when you perform the routine. Mostly, it is happiness, appreciation, or relief.

So, if you make a habit of doing the task at hand, you can overcome procrastination. For example, if you have assignments due in a week, make it a habit of writing five pages a day for a week.

• The cue maybe the time. You got to start the assignment at 7PM everyday.
• The routine maybe going through various sources and aggregating information, and then writing it in the assignment.
• The belief maybe knowing that completing the assignment will fetch you good grades and save you from humiliation caused by a bad grade.
• The reward maybe an hour of television, or a bucket of ice-cream after each session every day.

3) Perseverance: You got to keep going. Learning is a step by step process. You cannot afford to skip any step if you really want to learn effectively. You got to commit to yourself that you will not give up on this task even if the going gets tough. If you stick to the task, I am sure you will eventually find a way out of any problem, and you will learn a lot in the process.

4) Focus on the process and not the product: The process is the task at hand and the product is the reward or gain after finishing the task. Now most of the times, the task is too big to be completed in a single sitting, like writing a thesis. If, in such scenarios, you concentrate on the product, it will be de-motivating. Because, even after you have spent five hours on the task, you still don’t have any rewards. Your thesis is still incomplete. However, if you concentrate on the process, the task will become a lot more enjoyable. Like focusing on what you implemented something, and what all things you learned from it.

5) Be focused: This may sound like an obvious advice, but it is nevertheless important. I agree that you cannot control the distracting thoughts that come to your mind. But you can choose not to entertain the thoughts and just let them flow by. Try to be in the moment. You will occasionally find your mind wander endlessly, but try to bring it back to the present. Choosing a distraction-free and noise-free spot can help in staying focused and prevent external distractions. Switching off cell-phones is also a good idea.

6) Maintain a weekly and a daily task list: If you have an outline of what task is to be done when, you can make sure that the time required by one task doesn’t get eaten up by another task. Moreover, it helps you stay organized by thinking and planning ahead of time. It gives you more time to re-structure the tasks and make necessary arrangements required to complete the tasks. Planning for the next day before going to the sleep helps you be better organized and prepared for the next day tasks since your diffused mode thinking does planning for you as you sleep. Also, divide your big tasks into small achievable tasks that can be completed in a day. Don’t forget to reward yourself.

7) Eat that frog: This one is from the book ‘Eat That Frog’ which I would highly recommend to anyone dealing with procrastination. The central idea is to take up the most difficult task in the list first and doing the relatively easier tasks later.

 

Learning how to learn – Part II

We learned about few of the learning techniques in the previous post. Here, we will dive into the specifics of the structure and organization of the stored information.

Chunks:

Chunks are compact, manageable pieces of information. A single concept can be represented by a single chunk, or can be divided into multiple, inter-related chunks.

A new concept is like a jigsaw puzzle with multiple pieces. Each piece can be thought of as a chunk. The key is to divide the concept into small manageable chunks of information and then learn them individually. Conceptual chunks unite scattered bits of information. A chuck is a network of neurons forming a pattern.

Smaller chunks can be united to form larger chunks. As you become more efficient in creating chunks, you will be able to form larger initial chunks.

For example, learning a new language is the task to learn. The chunks would be individual words, grammar, etc. These chunks can then be joined to form sentences. Sentences can be combined to form complex structures like poems or prose. Unless you form basic chunks, you won’t be able to learn the complex concept effectively.

Another example will be learning to play a song on a guitar. Chunks can be thought of as guitar chords. If you want to learn to play a song, you first need to learn chords. You learn multiple chords individually. Then learn how to switch between the chords. Then you learn the strumming pattern for the song and the cords associated with each pattern. Then you stitch together all the chords and strumming pattern chronologically to be able to play the song.

How to form chunks:

Glancing over something before actually learning it helps in chunk formation. Divide the information in small independent but associated chunks.

1) Focus with undivided attention on the thing you need to learn. No distractions are allowed. You are trying to make new neural connections here.

2) Try to understand the basic idea about what you are trying to learn. Try to get the main idea or gist of the concept. Understanding what you are trying to learn is important. But just understanding how a problem is solved, you cannot learn much. You need to implement what you learned to actually learn how to do it. Just because you understand it does not imply that you can do it.

Chunks can be formed with a top-down or a bottom-up approach.

Top down -> Concept then related chunks.

Bottom up -> Chunks then associated context.

The illusion of competence:

It is the illusion that we get by looking at the solution in front of us and thinking that we actually know it.This is one of the most common mistakes learners do. Glancing at someone else’s solution and thinking that you have understood how to solve the problem is useless and downright wrong. You may understand the presented solution but you do not know the solution by yourself. Unless you can solve the problem without looking at another solution, you cannot claim that you can come up with the solution.  Test yourself on what you are learning. If you make a mistake while recalling, re-read the learning material.

The importance of recall:

Recall is a powerful tool. If you can recall what you have learned, you can claim that you have learned it. Recalling when you are in the relax session is often better to make the neural patterns persistent. After you have read the material, look away and try to recall what you’ve read and understood. Retrieval is essential for retention. Retrieval enhances deep learning and making the already present neural patterns more permanent.

Being passionate and genuinely interested in what you are learning:

Why is learning something you are really interested in relatively easy? Let me explain it to you chemically.

Acetyl-choline: It facilitates in formation of  important connections in focused mode. When you are genuinely interested in learning what you are learning, you brain releases acetyl-choline. It is essential to formation of new neural connections.

Dopamine: It controls our motivation. It is important in reward learning. It is released when we get an unexpected reward. It also affects decision making. It predicts future rewards. Dopamine keeps us interested in whatever we are doing by making us feel good about it.

Serotonin: It affects social life. It is linked to risk taking behaviour. It comes in actions when we are learning something by being an active part of the group. For example, in a lecture, or a meeting, or a discussion about a complex topic.

Keeping learned what you learned:

Planned breaks:

Bill Gates used to keep aside a reading period in which he used to read books and articles on different genres unrelated to the field. This would enable him to come up with innovative ideas and map them to the relevant field. As we all know, science has nature at it’s inspiration centre. Many modern machines and concepts are taken right from the nature. That is why nature is called as the greatest teacher. Similarly, many different areas have possible solutions to problems in a totally unrelated area.

Focus on difficult:

Don’t practice what you can do. Practice what you can’t do. Learn small concepts. Convert them into chunk. Practice until the chunk is permanent. Then move on to next concept. Repeat. Don’t jump into the water before you learn how to swim. Don’t move on until you get what you are currently doing.

Interleaving: It is related to applying the same concept to different problems. You need to study why a particular solution is efficient for a particular problem and why another problem has a totally different appropriate and suitable solution. Interleaving is generalizing. It helps in coming up with creative ideas. You can apply a concept in one field to a problem in another filed. Inter-field applications can sometimes provide with solutions you haven’t thought before.

 

Learning how to learn – Part I

So I completed this course on Coursera. It’s called Learning how to learn.

I am the kind of person who thinks that life is too short and there’s a lot to learn. So in this short span, if you try to learn things in an ineffective way, it is simply a waste of time. So I was searching for ways I could learn effectively. And that’s when I stumbled upon this amazing course delivered by University of California, San Diego.

I will try to summarize here, what I learned in the course so that you can take away the key points which are ready to be implemented in your own learning methodology. Of course, you can always enrol for this course on Coursera and learn the concepts in complete depth. Let’s get started.

Types of thinking:

Thinking can be broadly categorized into two types. Focused and diffused. Or it can be said that there are two learning modes. Focused mode and diffused mode.

Focused mode is the mode in which you are actively engaged in the learning process. This includes taking notes, trying to understand concepts, highlighting important points, and actively indulging in the process of understanding as well as retaining some concept. Focused mode is the mode where we learn new things and make new neural patterns. It can be called as active learning.

Diffused mode is the mode in which you are not actively engaged in the learning process. In this mode, the process of learning is carried out by your brain without you active participation. It is done when you are engaged in some unrelated activity like sleeping, exercising, or doing some totally unrelated stuff. While you are out there, away from the topic you were trying to learn, the brain tries to make the already acquired information more persistent. It tries to form new neural patterns and make the existing ones more permanent. This explains why it has happened to you that you were unable to work out a solution for a specific problem, but after revisiting the problem the next day, the solution just occurred to you out of the blue. This happened because while you were sleeping, your brain was working on the problem and trying to find out a solution by contacting other neural patterns and concepts that you might have studied in the past. It can be called as passive learning.

The pinball machine analogy:

In the course, the modes were explained with the help of a pinball machine analogy where the thought is the ball and the brain is the machine.

In focused mode, the rubber bumpers are close to each other and contain specific patterns within them. The thought that enters looks for an existing pattern and goes straight to the pattern to associate itself with it.

In diffused mode, the rubber bumpers are sparsely located and thus, it is easier for the thought to bump across them. Here, new initial patterns may be formed.

You cannot be in both the modes at the same time. They are like the sides of a coin. You can see only one at a time. Here is the representation. Focused mode on the left and diffused mode on the right.

Thomas Edison used diffused mode to come up with solutions to problems. He would let himself fall asleep while working on a problem with ball bearings in his hands. As he would fall asleep, the bearing would fall and the sound would wake him up. Most of the times, by the time he had woken up, he would have a solution to the problem or at least, a new approach or a new way to look at the problem.

Long term memory: It is the memory in which the things you already know reside. Like the languages you know, the knowledge about how to do things like driving a car, playing an instrument, etc. It can be thought of as a storage warehouse where information is dumped and can be retrieved at a later stage when needed. It is like a computer hard drive.

Short term memory: It is the memory in which the things you are currently learning reside. It can be thought of as a whiteboard which is not so clear to write. You write information on that board but in order to retain it, you need to make it darker by repetition. These can be selectively transferred to the long term memory. It is like the computer RAM.

Following are some approaches you can follow for an effective learning:

1) Take it slow:

Learning is analogous to body building. In the same was as you build and strengthen your muscles by working out daily, you need to strengthen your neural connections by working on them daily, on a regular basis. You cannot prepare for a weightlifting competition by trying to lift heavy weights one day before the competition. It simply won’t do. It will be useless at best and exhausting at worst. In the same way, you can’t cram up the knowledge at at once. It will be a waste of time an effort. In order to store the information in a meaningful way and be able to recall it at a later stage, it should be stored in a structured and organized manner. And this process takes time.

2) Pomodoro technique:

It is an effective technique for focused learning. It suggests that whenever you are trying to learn something new, set a timer for 25 minutes. And in those 25 minutes, pay undivided attention to the concept you are trying to learn. No distractions are allowed in those 25 minutes. Try to understand the topic you are reading. Try to make sense of the information. Then, after you are done, reward yourself with a treat. Read a book, go out for a walk, eat something you like, talk to a friend, etc. Then again, come back after an hour or so and concentrate for 25 minutes. This will allow you to learn more effectively.

3) Make analogies:

While you are in your focused mode, try to connect the concepts with existing concepts in your brain. Or even better, try to map them with real world concepts or objects. Analogies will help you store the newly learned information in an efficient and quick way.

4) Practice:

This sounds like a no-brainer but is is often the most neglected things new learners do. The newly acquired information is present in your brain as a weak, delicate neural structure. It needs to get more solid and permanent. It is like a light drawing on a black board. If it is not made darker, it will simply get washed away. Practice often helps in strengthening the pattern and make it more persistent. Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong. Only after you have completely understood a pattern and practised it numerous times, should you move on to a new topic.

5) Spaced repetition:

Instead of repeating a concept over and over in a single night, give it some time to assimilate in your memory. Instead, repeat it over the week, every single day. This way more structured learning can be done.

6) Understand what you are learning:

To learn something, try to get into the thick of it. Explore the depths of the concept. Ask yourself whether what you are learning is making sense to you or not. If in a lecture, ask questions. Try to question what is assumed. Have active discussions about the topic with colleagues. Active engagement is better than passive listening.

7) Learn by doing:

One of the best ways to learn something is by doing it. Convert it into a deliverable. For example, I learned how to learn and now I am writing this blog. This blog post is my deliverable. It will help others as well as myself if I ever need to refer it in future. The deliverable can be a piece of code, an article, an application, a Youtube video, or a discussion session with your colleagues.

8) Take a break or do something unrelated:

Taking a break lets your diffused mode be in charge. It organizes the newly formed connections and strengthens them. It also helps you get relaxed physically and mentally. Do something totally unrelated. It gives you a break and start afresh on the topic you’ve been stuck at. It helps generate new ideas. To remember ideas,take notes in your free time. If you can’t answer a question, skip it and come back later. You are more likely to answer it later. It helps you to look at things from a new perspective.

9) Exercise:

Contrary to the existing beliefs, new neurons can be generated even in adulthood in hippocampus. Having enriched environment makes the neuron connections grow. Active participation is important. Being among creative people helps in enhancing your own creativity. Listening to other’s creative ideas and telling them yours is an amazing way of coming up with more creative ideas.

10) Perseverance:

Success is not a product of smartness. It is a product of being passionate and persistent. Don’t give up. Nothing worth having comes easy. Same is true in case of knowledge. Everything is difficult initially for a beginner. As you progress, it becomes easier. Not giving up is the key.

TED: 10 Ways to have a better conversation

I stumbled upon this amazing talk by Celeste Headlee on effective techniques for having a better conversation. I will try to summarize them as follows:

•  Don’t multi-task. Be fully present in the present. Have an active conversation. Don’t just nod your head to pretend that you are paying attention. Pay attention for real. If you think you are not interested in the conversation, just leave. Either be fully present or not at all.
• Don’t pontificate. You need to enter every conversation with a motive to learn something. Keep aside your personal opinion. Be there to listen and learn. Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t. Everyone is an expert in something. Be there with an intent to learn what he has to offer.
• Ask open ended questions. You are likely to get a better response for open ended questions starting with who, what, how, when, why. Don’t ask if something made them feel sad. Instead, ask how it made them feel. Know the difference.
• Go with the flow. Let your thoughts go. Don’t keep stuck on a question or a thought that came up in your mind and then ignore the rest of the conversation until you get a chance to ask that question. Let thoughts flow naturally.
• Accept that you don’t know. Be humble. Don’t state an opinion about something just for the sake of stating an opinion. If you don’t know about something, accept that you don’t know and try to gather information from the other person if he knows about it. Remember, you are here to learn.
• Don’t equate their experience with yours. If the other person is sharing something that happened with them, don’t start with how that same thing was also experienced by you. The conversation is about them. Don’t try to make it about you. Listen. Empathize. Try to know more about them. Don’t promote yourself.
•  Don’t repeat yourself. Don’t keep on rephrasing just to prove a point. You are not there to prove that you are right or you are better. You are there to listen.
• Get rid of the details. People don’t care about the date or time when something happened. They care about what exactly happened. How it made you feel. It does not matter if they know the details of the incident. They just need to know the specifics that are relevant.
• Listen. This is the most important skill you can develop. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. You can speak 225 words per minute, but, can listen up to 500 words per minute. Do the math. Listen with an intent to understand. Not to respond.
• Be brief. Stick to the point. Don’t beat around the bush. Utilize your time effectively. Use as little time as you can to speak and more time to listen. Sweet and short makes sense.

Everyone is special. Everyone has a story. Be genuinely interested in other people. People are interesting.

TED: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

Check out this amazing TED talk about what really happens when you procrastinate.

Tim Urban has described the thought process going on inside a procrastinator’s mind and it gives you a better understanding of procrastination, and in turn, helps you formulate a plan to overcome it. Procrastination is not always bad. Tim explains how.

Mind Map

I learned a new technique. It helps you keep your thoughts and plans organized. It is called mind mapping. Wikipedia defines a mind map as “a diagram used to visually organize information”.

A mind map is always created around a single concept. It has parents, siblings, and children. The single concept can be anything. It may be your life as an entity and all the aspects of your life as the children who, in turn, have other children. For example, your life has two aspects viz. personal and professional. These children in turn, will have related siblings and children.

A mind map may contain just the objects or it may additionally contain the goals associated with the object as well as the steps required to reach the goal.

Simplest use of a mind map can be described using the example of a group project. Here, your project is the central concept. All the people associated with the project are the direct children. The tasks that need to be carried out by each person will be the children of that particular person and so on…

Mind map is an efficient way to breakdown a complex and overwhelming idea into smaller and manageable concepts and then chalk out a strategy to conquer them individually.

Freemind is available here.

Tutorial: