How to learn anything faster
"Learning fast is a self-driven quest, not an externally imposed obligation" - Scott H. Young
The conventional wisdom is that children somehow learn better or quicker than adults. They’re designed to absorb and process new information much more easily. Yet, somewhere down the line, we lose this ability as we become adults.
Why is that❓
The obvious answer is our lack of time 🕚 and unclear ‘why’.
We often use lack of time as a justification for not practicing or learning things. When we start learning something new, the first thing that we usually think about is the amount of time needed to learn it.
We see this massive mountain ⛰️ we need to climb and we say to ourselves, “is it really worth it?” and then we turn around and say “I’ll do it later”.
This is a huge problem because our priorities define how we spend our time, driven by what is important to us.
With unclear priorities, we procrastinate and hence...lack time.
“There is no one busy in this world, it’s always about priorities. You will always find time for the things you feel important.”
The importance of learning after school
Many of us believe lifelong learning is important. As humans, we like to pay attention to things that inspire us and help us achieve personal fulfillment 🏆. However, this isn’t always easy, especially when it comes to learning new things.
To learn something well, one must be intrinsically motivated based on interests, decisions or goals. Of course, learning for the sake of learning can in itself be a rewarding experience.
Perhaps you want to:
Increase your knowledge or skills around a hobby that you enjoy
Learn new skills to enhance your life e.g. attend wine-tasting courses
Plan a trip to learn more about your culture and ancestry
Become better at your job so you can get promoted
Extrinsic motivators such as parents, schools or employers don’t last and only increase stress and anxiety.
Ways to learn faster
1) Answer the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’
Why
As mentioned earlier, it’s important to clarify ‘why’ you’re learning something. Practically speaking, we have 2 broad motivations for learning: instrumental and intrinsic.
Instrumental motivation: learning to pursue a goal e.g. enhancing your career
Intrinsic motivation: learning for your own sake e.g. cooking
Find out what it is and have clarity by writing it down.
What
It’s useful to ask yourself what you’re trying to learn because it will help you evaluate different learning plans for their fit with your goals.
The next step is to formulate some structure. I personally like to map everything out using the Concepts, Facts and Procedures framework.
Concepts are things I need to understand.
Facts are things I need to memorize.
Procedures are things I need to practice.
Starting out can be as easy as searching ‘How to learn X’ on YouTube/Google and going through the first 5 posts.
How
After mapping the ‘why’ and ‘what’, the last step is to determine how you’re going to learn it.
When learning unfamiliar areas, I like to benchmark by finding common ways people learn the skill - which can potentially become my default starting point.
Here’s where I start thinking about costs (e.g. courses, books) and time commitments. As a rule of thumb, I’ll usually invest 10% of my total learning time into research and planning.
For example, if I think I can commit to an hour a day for 6 months, my total learning time will be 180 hours. Over the span of 6 months, I’ll probably spend around 18 hours planning, researching and course correction, if needed.
2) Prioritize direct learning
Directness is all about tying closely your learning to the situation or context you want to use it in.
Most conventional ways of learning aren’t very direct ❌❌❌
Schools teach us something in one context, say in the classroom, in the hope we’re able to apply it in another context, say real life.
If we want to learn to speak a new language, instead of conversing with actual people, we learn through fun apps like Duolingo.
If we want to learn public speaking, instead of practicing speaking in front of a crowd, we buy books on communication.
The common problem with these examples is the same: learning directly what we want to learn feels uncomfortable, boring or frustrating so we settle for an ‘alternative’, hoping it will eventually make us better at the real thing.
In truth, the sense of progress 📈 is an illusion (at least if the goal was to eventually speak the language).
The easiest way to learn directly is to simply spend a lot of time doing the thing you want to be good at.
Learn by doing through:
Project-based learning (organize learning around producing something)
Immersive learning (surround yourself with the target environment in which the skill is practiced)
Simulation learning (flying to France to learn French isn’t always possible. Instead of flipping through flashcards, you can create a simulative environment e.g. Skype tutoring, to enhance direct learning)
3) Make practice into play, to stimulate further play
“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid” - Epictetus
When starting new learning projects, it can feel intimidating as many of us are afraid to make mistakes or look foolish. Somehow, when you’re a kid, you don’t really mind or think about these at all.
Playing is a huge part of a child’s life.
If something is fun and an enjoyable experience, it is worth repeating, which leads to consistency.
Don’t feel guilty about NOT doing something. When I first started gyming, I’d create practice routines and create rules for when and what I should be doing at each session. It worked at first but eventually, I didn’t enjoy it and ended up not going as frequently.
If you tell yourself you’re in it to have fun, then chances are you’ll end up doing more of it.
4) Practice retrieval for retention
After learning a skill, you need to ask yourself what you want to do with the skill. With no plan in place, most knowledge will decay over time.
Karpicke’s research suggest that humans don’t have the ability to know with certainty how well they’ve learned something. Instead, we rely more on clues from our experiences of studying to give us a feeling of how well we’re doing.
If the learning task feels smooth and easy, we’re more likely to believe we’ve learnt it. The converse is also true.
In saying that, ask yourself, “Do I have some way of testing myself, or do I just assume I’ll remember? Can I successfully explain what I learned yesterday, last week, a year ago? And how do I know if I can?”
Things you can try:
- Flashcards
- Question-book method (rephrase your notes as questions to be answered later)
- Free recall (write down everything you can remember)
Experiment with how you learn i.e. pick a method of learning and apply it rigorously for a predetermined period of time. Once that’s done, you can step back and evaluate whether to continue or try another approach.
👀 In Summary
Define your ‘why’ to become intrinsically motivated to learn
Find ways to learn by doing through projects, immersions or simulations
Make learning fun - enjoyable experiences make you want to continue, instead of feeling forced
Create systems to help you retrieve information