How to Learn: Effective Strategies for Mastering Tough Subjects

Are you about to start college, and never found a need to study before? Has it been a while since you graduated college, and maybe you’re trying to find the courage to take the next step in your career by pursuing a Master’s or Professional degree? Or, maybe you’re a student struggling to keep up. Academic subjects are hard. Some are really hard. But Barbara Oakley’s method is here to help!

Research has shown that certain study methods are superior to others. There is a way to use these methods to your advantage as you start to develop a game plan for tackling coursework, or even a new skill you endeavor to learn independently. Defeating procrastination using “the pomodoro method” and mastering a technique called “chunking” are among the keys to learning success.

1. Understand your brain

Alternate using the focused and diffuse modes of thinking in order to maximize your capacity for learning. The focused mode involves the type of narrow concentration one needs in order to solve a new problem or learn a new concept. The diffuse mode is more of a big picture way of thinking, and is the mode you’re in when you’re just letting your mind wander. Using the diffuse mode frequently can help you process and store the information you learned during your study session. Taking a walk, going for a run, or even stepping outside for some fresh air will activate the diffuse mode and perhaps even give you a fresh perspective to avoid Einstellung — when you get stuck on a certain way of doing things that is preventing you from moving forward.

Your brain is actually working hard while you’re asleep — it’s categorizing and storing the data you’ve gathered throughout the day and committing it to long term memory. That’s why cramming the night before an exam often doesn’t work. You might pass that exam, but you certainly won’t have a solid foundation to build upon for the purpose of learning more advanced material. For this reason, spreading your studying or practice over a longer period of time allows you to optimize cognitive performance. Get plenty of good quality sleep to set yourself up for success!

2. Use proven study methods

As it turns out, reading a text over and over and highlighting, however common, are not actually effective study methods. These can lead to an illusion of competence, or thinking that you have grasped a module or concept when in reality, you have not.

Chunking is the process by which a learner forms a deep understanding of a single, small “chunk” of knowledge or material, such that the learner can take that chunk and connect it to other chunks in order to form a broader understanding. Leverage your well-developed chunks when trying to master higher level, often challenging concepts. Using focused attention to master small pieces of the material separately, you can slowly begin to tie the chunks of knowledge together using interleaved practice.

Deliberate practice, or honing in on the concepts giving you the most trouble and focusing the majority of your time in those areas, is highly effective according to research. Interleaved practice, which involves intentionally mixing problem types or subjects when studying, tests the flexibility of your knowledge. So, switch it up to measure your ability to determine which methods need to be used for different types of exam questions.

Practicing recall using retrieval practice in the form of testing yourself is also shown to be highly effective. This can be achieved by creating practice quizzes for yourself, making and using flash cards, or, ideally, studying with a group and quizzing one another. Studying with others can help you avoid illusions of competence and allow the opportunity to talk through concepts in order to deepen your understanding of them.

Make sure you’re spending ample time on the most difficult aspects of the course — if you stick to the easier, simpler concepts that are more pleasant, you might suffer from illusions of competence.

3. Stop procrastinating, start planning!

Whatever you do, if you want to master a subject and succeed academically, you want to make sure that you’re building skills over time through consistent practice, NOT cramming the night before an exam! Your brain needs time to process information in order to maximize recall and mastery. Sleep helps commit your learning efforts to long term memory, as does repetitive practice.

Procrastination is a difficult habit to break, however, with qualities similar to addiction. However, studying early and often will yield much better results.

First, you’ll want to make sure that you’re avoiding procrastination cues — such as the TV (Netflix, anyone?), your smartphone, tablet, laptop (except for the programs you need to complete your work), etc. Work somewhere quiet where you can focus without too many distractions, such as a library. Distractions will inevitably arise on occasion. That’s just life. But you can train yourself over time to ignore them in favor of the task at hand.

Developing a routine can be helpful in tackling procrastination. Devote time each day to learning and productivity. One particularly useful routine is keeping a planner journal where you write your to-do list every evening for the following day.

Reward yourself for every small accomplishment, at least with a break. This doubles as an opportunity to enlist the diffuse mode of thinking into your process.

Finally, shift your focus to process, rather than product. Focusing on the final product can be overwhelming and help kick start the procrastination cycle. Thoughts about the product are potential procrastination cues, because the idea of completing an entire assignment can seem daunting, thereby triggering avoidant behaviors. Focusing on the process — what steps you are going to take in order to achieve the desired outcome, and when — will help you break down the effort required to complete the final product into more manageable tasks.

Finally, don’t give up! Keep trying different methods you devise for yourself, and keep track of what works and what doesn’t in your planner journal. Believe in yourself, and believe in the process. Once you find a routine and a method that works for you, all you’ll have to do is stick to it, and enjoy the sense of achievement and success.