How to Learn

I sought to enhance my learning abilities and, to achieve this, I delved into several summaries of books focused on learning strategies. From these, I extracted common themes and contemplated their application in my life. This blog post encapsulates my personal reflections from this exercise and summarizes the key learnings from each book.

Personal Reflections

Top Ideas from Summaries

Memory is the Residue of Thought: We retain those things that occupy our thoughts consistently. To remember something effectively, it’s necessary to think about it intentionally and repeatedly over an extended period, using spaced repetition.

Growth Mindset: Believing that our mental abilities have a fixed, unchangeable limit is both unhelpful and inaccurate. While it’s true that individuals possess varying innate traits influencing mental ability development, these abilities aren’t strictly innate. They are developed through persistent, focused effort over time. Traits often perceived as innate talents are better viewed as factors that enhance the likelihood of someone committing the necessary time and effort to excel in a mental skill. Adopting a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, helps avoid the pitfall of settling for “good enough” once you perceive that you’ve reached your “innate, immutable limit.”

Diffuse vs. Focused Attention: Our brains can function in either diffuse mode or focused mode, both of which are essential for learning. Diffuse mode happens when the brain is in a relaxed state, allowing thoughts to wander freely without concentration on a specific area. This mode typically occurs before sleep, during walks, or while performing routine tasks. In diffuse mode, the brain forms new connections and ideas, fostering innovation and creativity. Conversely, focused mode involves leveraging existing neural pathways to solve specific, challenging problems. Focus mode is useful for execution, whereas diffuse mode is useful for innovation. An important observation is that both diffuse and focused modes are necessary for learning and creation. A memorable example is Thomas Edison, who would fall asleep holding metal balls. As he drifted into sleep, the balls would drop and wake him, transitioning him from diffuse thinking (as he fell asleep) to focused thinking upon waking, allowing him to execute the innovative ideas that emerged during his transition into sleep.

Active vs. Passive Learning: Various sources consistently emphasize that for learning to be effective, it must be active. Active learning involves practices such as recalling information from memory, teaching the material to others (or oneself), and being tested on it. Passive learning, in contrast, consists of merely reviewing the source material, such as re-reading textbooks or notes. To truly grasp and retain information, it’s essential to engage in active learning through multiple, spaced-out study sessions over an extended period.

Understanding Before Memorization: Our brains struggle to retain isolated bits of information without a deeper understanding of the context or subject matter. To effectively remember information, the emphasis should be on comprehending the underlying concepts. Achieving this requires engaging in active learning, focused study sessions, and thoughtful contemplation of the concepts.

Dedicated Practice: To learn or enhance a mental ability, setting aside time for dedicated practice is crucial. This practice should be challenging; it’s normal to feel tired and unenthused after a dedicated practice session. Such practice pushes your capabilities to their limits, helping you to extend these boundaries. It often involves making mistakes and experiencing frustration. If the learning process feels easy and seamless, it’s likely that real learning isn’t occurring.

Health: In order to learn you need to be healthy. Specifically frequent exercise and healthy sleep habits are critical to learning.

The Brain as a Tree: Learning effectively requires connecting new information to concepts we already understand. Our brains are not adept at retaining isolated facts, but they excel at forming relationships between concepts. In this analogy, the brain is like a tree, where new ideas and mental abilities are added to existing branches.

Meta Learning: Allocating time to reflect on your learning process is essential. This involves determining what you aim to learn, devising a strategy for learning it, and reflecting on past learning experiences.

Ideas to Implement in My Life

Recognizing the Importance of Diffuse Thinking: Previously, I underestimated the value of diffuse thinking, viewing focused attention as the sole key to productivity, with other time being either laborious or just for breaks. However, understanding the critical role of both focused and diffuse thinking in learning and creativity has shifted my perspective. I’ve revised my schedule to deliberately include periods for diffuse thinking. This involves organizing my day into focused work blocks followed by natural “down time” for diffuse thought. My morning routine now consists of focused work, then a period of diffuse thinking during my commute. Similarly, in the afternoon, another session of focused work is followed by my commute to the gym and gym time, both serving as daily opportunities for diffuse thinking. This structured approach ensures I regularly engage in both focused and diffuse thinking.

Health Habits Implementation: I am currently concentrating on establishing two key health habits. The first is to maintain a workout routine of five days per week, and the second is to avoid consuming foods with added sugar after dinner. To adhere to these habits effectively, I am utilizing various strategies from the renowned book “Atomic Habits.” These techniques are designed to help me consistently follow through with these health-focused commitments.

Refining Dedicated Practice Time: Historically, I have been good at scheduling dedicated focus blocks on my calendar. However, I’ve primarily used this time for task execution rather than skill refinement. Having already achieved a sufficiently high level of competence in my field, routine tasks don’t significantly challenge my abilities. While execution demands focus, it often doesn’t push me out of my comfort zone. To further advance my career, I’m planning to divide my focused time into two categories: execution-focused and practice-focused. Currently, I’m reading “Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise” to gain insights into structuring my practice-focused time effectively. A follow-up blog post will discuss the book’s key takeaways and how I intend to apply them to my practice regimen.

Overcoming the Fixed Mindset: I often catch myself believing that I’ve reached an unchangeable limit in my abilities, especially when comparing myself to others, like a coworker who seems to possess innate skills I lack. However, I’m committed to reminding myself that this mindset is neither helpful nor accurate. The truth is, there’s no definitive cap on my potential career growth as long as I engage in consistent, purposeful practice of my craft.

Leveraging Blogging for Active Learning: My experience with blogging over the past few years has gained new significance since studying learning techniques. Blogging compels me to deeply understand a topic, grasp its importance, and articulate it effectively to others. In essence, blogging serves as an excellent tool for active learning. Recognizing this, I plan to incorporate blogging into my dedicated practice sessions, using it as a valuable method to enhance my understanding and retention of various subjects.

Book Summaries

How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less

This book, authored by Cal Newport, renowned for his book “Deep Work,” delves into the strategies employed by successful college students to achieve excellent grades while maintaining a balanced life. Many concepts in this book intersect with those in Newport’s subsequent writings, particularly around the themes of time management and deep concentration. While there is notable overlap, this book also introduces some fresh ideas.

One such idea is the Daily Reflection on the To-Do List. Newport proposes creating a standard to-do list each morning with a single daily highlight. Additionally, he recommends an end-of-day reflection on the list, noting reasons why any tasks remained incomplete. I appreciate this approach for the accountability it fosters; repeatedly making the same excuse becomes challenging and prompts behavioral changes. Furthermore, this concept meshes well with using a physical to-do list — I can jot down my tasks on one side of the paper and the end-of-day reflections on the other.

Another suggestion from Newport is using teaching a method of re-enforcement. He posits that explaining a newly learned concept to others, or even simulating teaching, significantly reinforces learning. I find this idea appealing, but I’m still grappling with how to allocate dedicated study time in my career. In college, the primary goal is learning, but in the workplace, it’s about delivering value to the company. While learning is crucial for career success, it’s not an end in itself. This distinction has made it challenging for me to balance task completion with continuous learning.

A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

“A Mind for Numbers” by Barbara Oakley is a comprehensive guide on learning techniques, particularly useful in STEM fields, though its teachings are broadly applicable. The book explores the significance of both focused and diffuse learning, strategies to overcome procrastination, the importance of health, and ways to foster a positive self-perception.

At the heart of the book is the concept of two thinking modes: focused and diffuse thinking. Focused thinking is beneficial for tackling challenging tasks within a familiar context. For instance, it comes into play when writing code in a programming language you already know well. This mode relies on established neural pathways and requires concentrated attention. On the other hand, diffuse thinking is crucial for innovation and creativity. It is employed when learning new concepts, like a novel aspect of a programming language. Here, the brain lacks pre-formed pathways and needs to explore various areas in a less structured, more diffuse manner. This often occurs subconsciously, during periods of relaxation or routine activities.

The book suggests that true learning necessitates both modes of thinking. Constantly being in a focused mode can limit one’s capacity for innovative discoveries, while staying perpetually in a diffuse mode may lack practical application. Diffuse thinking is essential for discovery, allowing the brain to form new connections, while focused thinking is necessary for execution. Both are critical for a well-rounded learning experience.

In addition to this central idea of the book, there were a handful of other ideas that I found useful —

Understanding vs. Memorization: To effectively learn a new concept, it’s crucial to grasp the overarching structure of how its elements interconnect rather than just memorizing its details. I approach this through a “boxes and arrows” metaphor. Initially, I identify the key components of the concept — these are my ‘boxes.’ Then, I explore how these elements interact, symbolized by the ‘arrows’ connecting the boxes. With this foundational understanding, I can navigate the concept more confidently, filling in and memorizing details within each ‘box’ as needed.

Procrastination: Oakley observes that contemplating a challenging task activates the brain’s pain centers — leading to watching Netflix instead of cranking out an English paper. To combat this, she suggests two strategies. First, shift your mindset from a completion intention (“I will do task X”) to a more focused and time-bound plan (“I will concentrate on task X for Y minutes”). This rephrasing makes the task seem less intimidating and helps foster a state of flow in your work. The second strategy involves using a timer, specifically the Pomodoro Technique. This method entails focusing for 25 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break. The rationale is that committing to a 25-minute session seems manageable, making it easier to begin. Once started, continuing the task often becomes less daunting.

Personally, I find certain aspects of Oakley’s discussion on procrastination helpful, while others are less effective for me. Specifically, the approach of reframing tasks to focus for ‘X’ minutes rather than aiming for task completion seems more applicable to learning, then task completion. When my objective is to accomplish a task, I prefer to use a timer, employ time-boxing, and work with a sense of urgency. This method helps me stay on track and efficiently manage my workload. However, when my goal is simply to learn something new without a specific achievement target, framing the activity in terms of a focus duration goal allows me to concentrate on the learning process rather than the outcome.

Regarding Oakley’s recommendation of the Pomodoro technique, I personally find that my focus lasts longer than the suggested 25 minutes. A timer set for such a short interval tends to disrupt my flow, as it goes off just when I’m deeply immersed in my work. Consequently, I opt to set my timer for longer periods, usually between 60 to 90 minutes. This longer duration aligns better with my concentration span and keeps me engaged without unnecessary interruptions.

Health: The last key takeaway from the book for me was the emphasis on health as an essential foundation for effective learning. Oakley advocates for regular exercise and healthy sleep habits. While this concept isn’t novel, reframing health not merely as a time-consuming obligation but as a vital component of the learning process has been particularly motivating for me. I don’t really enjoy exercise or having healthy sleeping habits, however, viewing these activities as integral to the broader context of learning and professional success has provided me with a significant motivational boost. By understanding that these health aspects directly contribute to my ability to learn and thrive in my career, I’ve found a new appreciation and commitment to maintaining them.

Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom

“Why Don’t Students Like School” by Daniel Willingham delves into the workings of the mind and its impact on our approach to learning. The book offers mental models for comprehending brain function, the learning process, and perspectives on IQ.

Willingham contends that while the brain is inherently curious, it tends to avoid thinking when possible. He illustrates this with the example of choosing bread at a supermarket. He notes that constantly evaluating the trade-offs between different bread brands would be impractical. Instead, our brains rely on memory as a shortcut. This tendency, he argues, is generalizable: our brains often prefer using memory to address problems rather than engaging in critical thinking. Nonetheless, Willingham also posits that the human brain is fundamentally curious, with a natural inclination to explore and gather new information. In essence, Willingham portrays the brain as both curious and lazy.

Building on these foundations, Willingham discusses how these insights influence learning. He proposes three strategies, from a cognitive scientist’s perspective, to enhance learning. First, he asserts that for new ideas to be learned, they must link to existing concepts in the brain. This is akin to adding a new branch to a tree structure; it must connect to an already existing branch. The brain struggles with concepts that have no relation to prior knowledge. This idea resonates personally: I notice that I can’t remember the name of an Oscar-winning actress if I’m unfamiliar with actresses or the Oscars in general — there’s no “branch” in my mental tree to attach this information, so it doesn’t stick. The second principle Willingham introduces is viewing memory as a byproduct of our thoughts, encapsulated in the phrase, “Memory is the residue of thought.” He suggests that to remember something, we must think about it repeatedly over time. The third concept extends the second, proposing that learning a new mental skill requires long-term practice with timed repetitions, much like practicing free throws in basketball. Therefore, Willingham’s three key recommendations for improving learning are: connecting new knowledge to existing knowledge, actively thinking about what we want to remember, and consistently practicing the mental skills we wish to enhance.

Lastly, Willingham turns to defining a mental model for thinking about IQ. He claims that IQ is not fixed and that increasing ones knowledge actually does increase ones IQ! Personally, I found both of these claims somewhat surprising because I have generally thought about IQ as a highly heritable, fixed trait that is disconnected from actual knowledge. Given how different Willingham’s point of view was from my own priors, I was curious to better understand where he was coming from. His first claim is that IQ is not fixed and that it can be increased with practice. Willingham suggests that we inherit traits that are likely to impact our IQ, but that we do not actually inherit our IQ directly. He explains this by giving a basketball example. He observes that being tall is helpful in playing basketball and that being tall is likely to afford children more opportunity to practice basketball than their shorter counterparts, but that being tall does not actually make one good at basketball! He argues the same is true with IQ. Some people have traits that are helpful to obtaining a high IQ and some people have traits that are helpful at exposing them to IQ growing opportunities — but that these traits only serve as inputs to shaping our IQ and do not actually end up defining what our IQ will be. In someways this point feels like an irrelevant debate over definitions, but in another way framing IQ this way really helps promote a growth mindset. Somewhat regardless of what the actual scientific definition of IQ is, I think its healthier to think about IQ as something that can be worked on rather than a fixed trait. The second interesting claim that Willingham makes is that IQ is positively correlated with increased knowledge. I found this interesting because I have always thought about IQ as a measure of intelligence independent of knowledge. But honestly, Willingham’s framing makes a lot of sense to me. The way I thought about this was that doing critical thinking about anything requires having knowledge about that domain — even if you have a Ferrari of a brain, if you don’t have any knowledge about a domain you still won’t be able to think critically about it.

The way in which I ended up reconciling Willingham’s mental model of IQ with my own mental model. Is that people have different innate capacities to pickup various mental skills — and you can either assign the term IQ to the mental skills or to the innate capacities — it largely does not matter. But the important observation is that at the end of the day mental capacities are the thing we actually value not innate inputs (e.g our society values people that are good at doing math, not people that have an innate capacity to be good at math). So this idea really all connects back to having a growth mindset. Thinking about the innate/fixed attributes of IQ is not helpful, but thinking about growing ones mental capacities is helpful.

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

“Make It Stick” links neuroscience to practical learning strategies. The book offers these key suggestions:

1. Active vs. Passive Learning: Merely reviewing material is ineffective for learning. Active engagement with the content through recall exercises, self-testing, and teaching oneself or others is crucial.
2. Spaced Study Sessions: Cramming isn’t effective for long-term learning. True retention requires revisiting the material multiple times over spaced intervals.
3. Understanding over Memorization: Instead of rote memorization, learners should aim for a deep understanding of concepts, allowing memorization to naturally follow.
4. Mental Models: Simplified mental models are a powerful tool for comprehending and remembering information.
5. Learning is Challenging: Learning should be effortful, not smooth and easy. Encoding information for long-term memory is cognitively demanding, and learners should embrace this challenge, along with any failures encountered, as part of the learning process.
6. Testing as a Learning Tool: Regular testing reinforces learning effectively.

These concepts in “Make It Stick” align well with those in “Why Don’t Students Like School.” For instance, prioritizing understanding over memorization resonates with the idea of contextualizing new information within existing knowledge rather than memorizing isolated facts. Similarly, the emphasis on active rather than passive studying corresponds with the notion that our memory retains what we actively think about.