3 Quick Tips To Level Up Your Learning

Read time: 3 minutes

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to share 3 very simple tips that you can use to take better notes in 2023.

As the “learning industry” becomes increasingly crowded, now is the best time to look actively for new systems and techniques to find the best one for you.

Don’t be the person that spends all of their time cramming all-nighters only to find out that they have been wasting their time and getting horrible grades.

Instead, here are 3 tips you need to improve your learning and get better grades in your next exams.

Leverage your curiosity

A powerful learning experience gathers when you engage with your natural curiosity.

This term comes from a YouTube video I watched by Archer Newton about Inquiry-Based Learning. It may sound like woo-woo at first, but hear me out.

Archer asked, “Do you know why some people learn so naturally while others cram all the time?”

I gave it very little thought and burst out, “Because they were talented and gifted?”

He said, “No. They get extraordinary results because they have a system. Learning becomes a predictable and enjoyable experience. They can learn something that naturally engages their curiosity.

He continued: “That’s why my goal is to help you use questions and naturally engage with your childlike self.”

That has stuck with me since I heard it. Before watching that video, I was always looking for the “hack” or “secret trick” to learn faster.

But now I get it. Learning is a system, not a cog.

My goal with learning is to make learning fun and feels natural for you. To better engage your curiosity, ask better questions.

Quick tip: Prioritize the “Why” + “How” questions instead of the memorization like questions “What”+ “Who”

• Why is X important?

• How is X related to Y?

• What would happen if X replaced Y?

Don’t do more. Do different.

Asking better questions is just one part of the equation of learning smarter.

Another part is figuring out what everyone is doing and do the opposite.

From my experience, most learning techniques like highlighting, linear notes (like a book), and rereading are a complete waste of time.

Just because everyone is doing it, it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Instead, approach your learning with the mindset of a scientist. Create experiments. Celebrate your wins. But more importantly, reflect on your loss.

• Think critically: How does this technique work? What does the research paper say about the technique?

  P.S: You can quickly search for research papers with an AI tool called Consensus

• Experimentation: Have I tried this learning method? How did I feel afterward? What change can I make to this method?

We are all overloaded with information, and approaching learning with a scientist's mindset is so important for you.

This is only the beginning of your learning. After your first round of reflection. Try again. Reflect even more. And seek guidance from professionals (like Justin Sung, Archer Newton, Dr. Alex Young)

Learning is supposed to be hard

One of the best ways to grow to learn efficiently is to actively engage your thinking and find ways to connect the dots.

But, it's also really difficult to perform this level of thinking without cognitive capability. That's where “progressive overload” comes into play.

Back in 2022, when I first started getting obsessed with learning. I would try a lot of learning techniques, but it wasn't enough.

The breakthrough came when I started to focus on “mental muscles”, activities that would strengthen my thinking.

So I started performing mental challenges like:

• Developing mental models:

I started drawing out mental models of how things worked together in the real world. Then using those mental models for different projects all around.

• Active Recall

I would read a few paragraphs first and try to recall what I learned from the text. Gradually I increase my workload and a few paragraphs can turn into 1 page or 5 pages.

• Look for relationships and chunking:

Your brain is a connection machine. So instead of memorizing random facts, it was so much easier to retain information that is related together.

Mental overload can become overwhelming quickly, but with the right focus and patience, you can benefit from it.

That’s it for today.

 TL;DR

1. Ask curiosity-driven questions

2. Approach learning as an experiment

3. Process and think about the information

3 short lessons, but a newsletter that I think will be very impactful if you read and implement mindfully.

Until then.