Building on the Basics

Don’t dive into a complex text without following the basic rules of learning fast. Otherwise, you could end up thinking you will never get to the end of it, and you won’t remember what you have read and learned. Start with something simple, a book you have read before, perhaps, or a novel. Save the textbooks and scientific journals for when you have practiced the techniques a bit longer.

Minimum Information Principle

If you find you forget something continuously, try to simplify it as much as you can. If this fails, follow the rules of enumerations, cloze deletions, and mnemonic techniques. Simplified information is much easier to memorize, and you will recall it more effectively because it isn’t a long sentence or phrase to remember.

Use Cloze Deletion

This technique is simple yet effective. Not only does completing a missing phrase or word help you learn, but it also speeds up the learning process dramatically. Cloze deletion is an excellent technique for those who are just beginning to practice faster learning. Like all new skills and techniques, it will take a little time to grasp the concept, but it’s one you won’t forget.

Pictures and Graphics

For those who learn visually, an image or graph can be a great way to simplify the information and enable you to learn it quickly and effectively. Sometimes standing back and looking at information in the form of an image or graph can help you see the bigger picture. You may be able to identify and understand the information a lot clearer than looking at a lot of words.

Mnemonics

There are a variety of ways to create mnemonic techniques, and you can personalize them to suit you. You could create a funny sentence or saying using the first letter of a series of items, or you could take funny pictures that relate to the things to help you recall them. Mnemonics are particularly useful for learning scientific information.

Graphic Obstruction

By obstructing a portion of a picture, it can help you learn faster, especially in topics like geography and anatomy. Take a piece of paper and place it over a section of the picture, and your eyes and cerebrum will focus on the uncovered area without being distracted by the rest of the image.

Sets Are Bad

Small sets are easier to remember, but once you have large sets, it is almost impossible to memorize the information. The only way to make it simpler is to convert the sets to enumerations. The main advantage of it is that they are in order, and the cerebrum is forced to memorize and recall them in that same order.

But Avoid Enumerations When Possible

Although enumerations can help with learning large sets or lists, if you can avoid them, it is better. Perhaps use cloze deletion instead. Poetry is an excellent example of an enumeration because the structure and sentencing are predefined, and so has to be memorized in that order.

Kick Interference

Interference occurs when you are learning similar things. If learning about one of them makes it difficult to remember the other, it is memory interference. You never really know when interference is going to happen, so it is difficult to combat. But, to try and kick interference from setting in, consider using examples such as emotions or something from your personal life to associate with a similar item, so there is a difference between the two things.

Word Optimization

Too many words, therefore, too hard to learn quickly. Reduce the terms to make shorter, compressed sentences that are easier to learn and remember. The shorter they are, the better for recall later on as well.

Memory Referral

Use your existing memories to associate with the new memory, so you are less likely to forget. It can help your brain to store the memory correctly and enable easier recall. Something you have done somewhere you have been, or a particular feeling that can be associated with the new memory.

Personalization

A practical method of learning and storing memories is by using items and events from your personal life that you can refer to. Ensure the memory you are using is a very established one. You may associate an object with the place you have seen it previously, for example.

Emotions

Your emotional state can affect how you recall memories. For example, if you learn something while you are in a sad state, you will be most likely able to remember it when you are in a sad state. Some memories can induce emotions, and you can use this to your advantage.

Context

Using contextual cues, the wording is more simplified, so you can build on the knowledge you already have without interference. Look at the words surrounding your keyword or phrase to gain a better understanding of the context.

Provide the Sources

To learn, you need sources of information, and these come from a

variety of materials and media. Use sources to update your information and learning, and understand how to identify what source is reliable and how important it may be to your learning.

Time Stamping

It can be useful to timestamp or date stamp any information that can change or shift so that you can update later. It is also essential if you need to refer back to information that may have been reliable at that time, but has now changed. Information changes so fast these days that it can be hard to keep up with new advances. You might finish a large assignment then find that as soon as you hand it in, the information has been updated. With a timestamp, whoever is reviewing the project will be able to determine it was from older information rather than marking it as incorrect.

Prioritizing

To learn faster and more effectively, the ability to prioritize is essential. If knowledge is poorly formulated, you can use incremental reading to improve it as you continue to learn. Information can be split into sections, reprioritized, deleted, or reformulated.

Incremental Reading

This method of learning and memorizing information is accomplished with the assistance of specific computer software programs. The word incremental means portions, so with the use of the technology and your ability to extract relevant information, you can create electronic flashcards from hundreds of sources without having to read everything.

The flashcards are great for the spacing method of learning, and the information is presented in the format of question and answer. There are often cloze deletions used as well. The user you choose what information to learn and can edit the wording of the questions. The software creates the flashcards and schedules them for review using the parameters of spaced repetition.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Unbeatable Exercises To Quickly

Improve Your Memory

You don’t have to put up with being forgetful, provided it isn’t due to a medical cause; by training your brain, your ability to store and recall memories will be significantly enhanced. The cerebrum is a magnificent machine, and if you think of it as a muscle, you will understand that you need to exercise the muscle for it to get stronger and more efficient. Remember, you are not born with a head that has a specific potential; you can train and develop it to work better and faster.

Working It

You can apply the head training techniques to just about any situation, at any time, and in any place. You may have seen a show, and by telling your friends all about it, you are reinforcing the memory in your gray matter. Speaking the memory out loud to someone else is a great way to establish that memory.

Repeating something someone else says is also a great way of working the brain. When someone introduces themselves, make sure you respond using the name they have just given you. This will help you store and recall the name, so you avoid some embarrassing social

situations later down the line.

Doing Something Different

When you do something new to you repeatedly, new pathways are wired in your encephalon that will help you become faster and better at the new thing you are learning. It also applies when you need to get a more significant task done. Instead of focusing on the big job, start with a small part of it, and this will help those neural pathways begin to develop.

A great example of this is when you have to clean up your bedroom.

There could be clothes and shoes everywhere, a real mess, and it seems it's going to take forever to sort it out. So, start small, pick up one sweater, and decide what to do with it. You don’t even have to pick it up; you can use your cerebrum to choose between whether to put it away or throw it in the laundry. It’s as simple as that, and if you are a procrastinator, this will help you make decisions faster and more efficiently.