Will you drive a car without learning how to drive?

Do you know how much time do you spend learning?

Not in one day, but your lifetime? A lot. Right?

But how much time do you spend on learning how to learn?

We spend so much time on learning, but we don’t spend any time on learning how to learn? We use the same boring and non-functional techniques that were taught to us in school.

Imagine driving a car without learning how to drive. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

But with learning, we don’t apply the same concept. We think learning is easy, you hear or read something and you remember it. This is what they teach us in schools.

If you use this technique, you only retain up to 10% of the information. I explained this in another post using The Learning Pyramid.

Hence we keep forgetting things and we are never able to reap any benefits of the knowledge we consume.

Imagine how much time will you save when you understand how to learn efficiently?

How much more creative and unique ideas will you generate?

How much more content you can create?

Then when this compounds, what would be your potential?

Now you may be wondering, why hasn’t anyone ever told me about this before?

Because we love being stuck in old ways.

I read a lot of books. One day I tried to recall what do I still remember from the books I read last year. I only remembered very little. This was a warning sign for me.

This lead me to go into this rabbit hole of learning how to learn. I started reading this book called Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley.

In this post I will share three main techniques that will save you thousands of hours of your life.

1. Converting facts into pictures.

   • Our brain stores information in two ways: facts and pictures.

   • Our brain hates facts, which can be a date. This is what is taught to us in school to remember, that is why you had hard time in school memorizing things.

   • But our brain loves to store pictures. That is why remembering visual memories is much easier than remembering a date.

   • If your brain sees a visual, it directly stores it in the long term memory.

   • Here’s the trick. If you convert a fact you are trying to remember into a picture, you can remember it more easily.

2. Using Metaphors.

   • A metaphor is comparison between two things.

   • You brain easily understands and remembers information if you can connect it with something you already know.

   • Coming up with creative metaphor is one of the best ways to learn a new concept or share an important idea.

3. Understanding neuron pathways.

   • Our brain is made up of billions of neurons. Neurons Are The Building Blocks of Your Brain.

   • Neurons communicate with each other to store information in the brain. Like any friendship, they become better friends because they talk a lot.

   • When you start learning something new, your brain links are weak.

   • The more you practice something, more neurons join in and communicate, the brain links get stronger. This helps you store more complex ideas.

   • How do you remember to do your job? Based on the conversation between neurons. You already remember what to do, as you have been practicing it.

   • This is why learning a new language is much easier when you live in a place where people speak that language. Your neuron are communicating constantly and you remember the new words and language.

Let me share a story of Nelson Dellis, who was a US Memory Champion. He won the award by memorizing two decks of cards in perfect order. He wasn't a memory champion as a kid. He was a very average kid like you and me.

So how did he remember 104 cards in a correct order?

He shares five tips:

1. Focus: Pay attention. If you don’t focus on what you are learning, you really won’t remember anything. Tell yourself to focus, it will help you focus more.

2. Practice: You don’t get good at something without practice. Practice remembering things.

3. Visual: Visuals helps you remember things easily. Your brain holds images in the long term memory.

4. Store: You can store things easily by relating to things you already know. Find an anchor. This helps put pictures in your brain where it is easier to recall.

5. Recall: You have to actively recall what information you have consumed. Maybe write, take action or teach but if you don’t recall information, it just gets lost in the endless sea of new information you consume every day.

Nelson basically told himself corny visual jokes that helped him remember things.

I don’t want tell you what to learn. I want to help you understand how to learn.

Once you understand that, you can apply it in your life and learn whatever you want.