A Complete Guide to Learning More Effectively

Co-authored by Arash Fayz

Last Updated: December 1, 2023 Approved

Do you have a tough time learning or studying? Do you want to become a better learner/studier? Well if you follow this how-to guide, you will have no problem mastering the art of learning/studying and begin on the road to success in the educational world!

1

Acknowledge your surroundings.

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If you are going to be learning in a school environment, you will have to prepare yourself differently than if you are going to be learning by yourself. ^{[1]
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Research source}
- These steps are the general guide to how to learn and study better, but apply specifically to self-learning in your own home or in a quiet place without disturbances. If you come across a situation where some of the steps need to be changed or altered, try bringing the use of these steps back to the home/quiet area environment they were originally intended for.
- Use your best judgement and try to stick as close to these guidelines as possible. If you do, you will ensure your success while learning!

2

Figure out which methods will be the best to learn/study in this environment.

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You can also use past experiences to guide you along the process.

3

Prepare yourself by getting trivial disturbances out of your way.

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Start off by assessing your body. Are you too cold/warm? Are you tired, stressed, irritated, angry, bored? Take a piece of paper and quickly write down everything that is bothering you or anything that might be a disturbance for you when you are about to learn. If this is in preparation for a school day, try to do this BEFORE you go to school.
- Once you have your list written up, start at the most important problems and fix them, working your way from your biggest problems to your smallest. This should include ANYTHING that might be bothering you because anything, even the smallest of disturbances will affect how well your brain processes information. Your disturbances should fully be taken care of (as in, if you have to go to the bathroom, DO IT!
- If you need sleep and can afford to get more rest, SLEEP! If you have bad breath and that bothers you, BRUSH! If you have little pet peeves that are bothering you, FIX THEM. The more that you have to keep your brain from wandering to the better!!!)

4

Start readying your brain for learning.

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Think of your brain like a giant camera. Every time you do something, it takes tiny snapshots of the information for later.
- Most of the time your brain is spent processing EVERYTHING equally and taking millions of snapshots per second, by closing what is called synapses, of everything consistently at the same rate.
- What you need to achieve is making your brain focus all, or most, of its snapshots onto your topic of study! If this can be done correctly, you will increase your learning potential by 60%!

5

Remove all disturbances from your area of study.

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Find a quiet area and remove all disturbances from it. ^{[2]
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- If you have a computer on, and it's not the source of learning, turn it off. Make the room as quiet as possible.
- Close the shades and windows so as little light as possible enters the room and then turn on lights to a level that allows you to study your material without squinting or straining AT ALL but while still being dimmer than normal.
- This step is critical to keeping your brain from focusing on your environment.
- When choosing a room, try a place with a comfortable armchair or bed/coach to lie down on. A good location is your own bedroom, as long as it is empty of any people and completely quiet.

6

Blank out your mind and body of concerns.

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A wise monk once said that this was his secret to his studies. You must do something calming yet slightly active for exactly 10 minutes. Use a stopwatch if it helps to time it right. This calming activity can be anything from taking a shower (don't actually wash yourself, just let the water calm and soothe you), to taking a leisurely stroll around your quiet room, to reading a soothing childrens' book
- Anything that is slightly active (requires slight concentration) and calming at the same time. Once you have your activity of choice, you will find that doing it over and over will help.

7

Let yourself completely relax.

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You can do this by lying down on a bed/couch. Then, concentrate on every muscle and tense point in your body and let control of that area slip completely away. Start at your head and work your way down to your feet. Relax everything, allow yourself to sink into the bed, pretend you have died if that helps. You shouldn't move at all or use any muscle (besides breathing/living of course!).
- Allow all of your senses to become alert, and listen for everything as you slowly find your muscles to be itching as they relax fully for the first time.
- Do this for five minutes and then stop, slowly allowing your muscles to begin working again. Now it's time to drink some water. Your brain may be different but try 32 oz. to begin with. Drink it slowly and calmly and then you will be ready to begin learning.

8

Gather your learning materials in front of you and begin reading/learning.

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Read EVERY line, and every important piece of information. You will remember it if you follow these instructions!

9

Stop and practice what you've just learned.

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^{[3]
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10

Get up and take a quick jog or fast walk.

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Do any activity that will make your mind remember the information. Remember, it's a simple concept that your brain is more likely to remember something big and loud than something dull and boring. ^{[4]
X
Trustworthy Source
American Psychological Association
Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists
Go to source}
- For instance a tiger escapes from the zoo and chooses to chase you. You will most likely remember that event more than the cereal you ate for breakfast less than a week ago. This tiger attack will cause your brain to snap pictures twice as fast and all at once focusing in on the one event. This, by accident, takes all other information in your brain, and saves it along with the memory of the tiger. Without even meaning to, you will probably find, had you really been attacked by a tiger and survived, that you will probably have noticed EVERY detail.
- The trick now is to make your brain think learning your dull and boring topic is as important as remembering how you escaped from that tiger! Don't worry, it's easier done than said in this case!
- Allow yourself to think of important events, or listen to music. Both will allow you to associate yourself with the topic when you hear or think of those things.
- Another good method is to play an action packed video game for 5 minutes. Anything that makes you jumpy, or causes your brain to pick up in speed will cause you to remember better.
- Also, the more you study, the more streamlined you will find your behavior becomes. You will feel more like a machine than a person as you crunch through your work.

11

Relax and repeat the learning process.

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Do this for about 1-2 hours per session, breaking every 15 minutes. After your desired session length if over, don't start the process again for at least 4 hours!!! Your brain needs this time to sort, organize, process, and store this new information!
- If you follow these steps to the line, and use your best judgement, you will succeed in learning your topic. You will notice immediately that this will become an easy and efficient routine for you and you should also find that your brain remembers far better than you had ever thought it could. So away with you, and happy learning!

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Do you want to make your studying more efficient, learn more quickly, and remember more information? Check out these expert articles.

1

Study For Exams

2

Study So You Can Remember Everything

3

Make a Study Space

4

Create Good Study Habits for Exams

5

Learn Without Forgetting

6

Retain Information when You Study for a Test

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Question

How can I improve my learning power?

Community Answer

Concentrate fully on whatever you are learning. When you relax, spend time trying to recall what you learned. The more you recall the information, the better it will store in your memory.

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What if I have exams in one week and am unprepared?

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Close the curtains, disconnect the Internet, turn off the phone, and start studying!

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Question

How can I stop being demotivated when my best friend scores higher than me?

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Keep your mind focused on yourself. Focus on what you need to do in order to raise your scores and capitalize on new methods of studying.

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Tips

Remember, preparation is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

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Try studying/learning for the first session of two hours at night just before bed, and then continuing for an hour of study the following morning. This will ensure you have the information locked away for good!

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Make sure you have a plan before learning/studying. Heading in without a plan will get you nowhere. A good plan, is a simple written diagram that shows you what you plan on studying, otherwise, if you are learning a completely new topic, make sure your source of information is up-to-date, and reliable.

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Warnings

If you don't get enough sleep, before and after learning, everything is wasted because your brain will be working harder and harder to take in anything, and eventually will give up.

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If you have lousy materials to learn from, you won't learn well either.

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If your area is not completely quiet, and you are not relaxed/focused, you won't learn as well, its as simple as that.

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If you try these steps anywhere but in your own home, you may find yourself having to stretch these rules and guidelines too far that they no longer work to help you learn.

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Helpful 21 Not Helpful 9
Studying too long will result in loss of information, or information may get mixed up/confused.

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Things You'll Need

A quiet area to study/learn in, especially with a relaxing place to sit/lie down.
Something calming to do before learning.
Something extremely exciting to do for about 5 minutes after each 15 minute study break to increase your brain's capturing of information.
Your materials to study/learn from.
Optionally a clock/stopwatch to measure the correct time for each step correctly.

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A Complete Guide to Learning More Effectively

Steps

Acknowledge your surroundings.

Figure out which methods will be the best to learn/study in this environment.

Prepare yourself by getting trivial disturbances out of your way.

Start readying your brain for learning.

Remove all disturbances from your area of study.

Blank out your mind and body of concerns.

Let yourself completely relax.

Gather your learning materials in front of you and begin reading/learning.

Stop and practice what you've just learned.

Get up and take a quick jog or fast walk.

Relax and repeat the learning process.

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Community Q&A

Tips

Warnings

Things You'll Need

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