Rating: ★★★★½
Summary: A collection of effective, science-backed learning tools that covers new ground beyond the Learning How to Learn course. Learn Like a Pro is written in accessible language, and targeted towards high-school and college-aged students. However, the content is universal and can be applied to learning any discipline or skill. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to stop procrastinating, learn subjects more deeply, read more effectively, or stay motivated while learning. Continue reading to access my detailed book notes.
Beating Procrastination
The Pomodoro Technique is a great productivity system that helps keep your attention on task (25 minutes), and reminds you to take a break (5 minutes). Learning best happens when you rest deliberately. Using your phone during a break doesn’t help your brain recharge. A 2013 study showed that students who didn’t use their cellphones wrote better notes, recalled more, and scored a letter grade and a half higher than their phone-using counterparts. Moving back and forth between different tasks (i.e. task-switching) can reduce focus/learning, and increase forgetting. However, task-switching can be useful for creative work, because it can prevent fixation and broaden your awareness. For deeper focus, try keeping away from digital devices. If you can’t, make sure social media apps and notifications are turned off. If interruptions are unavoidable, create a ready-to-resume plan. This can be as simple as noting where you left off while working on a math problem, so that you can return to it after. Having a plan provides closure for your brain and allows you to switch focus without being preoccupied. It will also help you return to your work more efficiently lat Getting Unstuck Napping and doing nothing are actually terrific ways to take a break. Getting a cup of tea or going for a short walk are also great. Focused mode is when your attention is directed towards a single activity, like writing or drawing a picture. Diffuse mode is when your mind wanders, like while riding the bus or going for a walk, and is when you can come up with new insights and approaches. Alternating between the two modes is one of the best ways to learn new—and difficult—things. You can leverage the power of diffuse mode to make progress on difficult problems in the background. Try working on a hard problem before a meal, a break, or sleeping for the night. The “hard start” technique can help you on tests. Spend a few minutes on the most challenging parts, and then switch to the easier problems. Your brain will continue tugging at the thread of the challenge parts behind the scenes. Diffuse mode is great for writing first drafts, while focused mode is better for editing. However, many people get caught up in editing as they go, which leads to trouble getting the first draft out of your head and onto the page. You can cover the screen while you write or use apps like Write or Die to overcome your tendency to self-edit and nitpick. Deeper Learning On a neurological level, learning is when new neurons connect to each other. The dendrites are like long legs that reach out and attach to other neurons through dendritic branches, which are like toes. Each time you remember a set of information or engage a skill, old neural connections are activated. Active learning means pushing yourself and working your brain. Passive learning is when you scan a book or listen inattentively. To learn actively, it helps to retrieve the knowledge or skills you are using. This helps to build and reinforce new connections, and forces you to check your understanding. Retrieval practice gives you feedback about what you know well, and what you need to practice more. If you can’t pull it out of long-term memory and into short term memory, it isn’t likely to stick Other ways to learn actively: think through problems on your own (without the answers), try to recall concepts and passages from what you read, come up with questions, explain and teach others, and use self-testing. Elaboration is when you explain a concept in your own words, whether it is to yourself or others. In a 1983 study, students who talked through problems as they worked on them scored much higher than students who didn’t. You can put the power of elaboration to work by verbalizing the chords you are playing while learning the piano, or explaining your methods at each step of a math problem. Interleaving means varying the skills or knowledge you acquire during a practice session. An example in baseball would be practicing with a combination of different types of pitches(like change-ups, curve balls, and sliders) in one session, instead of just with one type. Exercise increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This chemical is like fertilizer for dendritic spines, which helps to promote new connections between neurons. Some dietary choices that can help learning: caffeine(in moderation), carbs (for short-term energy), intermittent fasting, “Learning means linking dendritic spines with adjacent neurons to form neural connections in long-term memory.” “Ten hours of learning crammed into one day are not nearly as effective as ten hours of learning spaced out over ten days.” During the day, your brain produces toxic waste products called metabolites. During sleep, your brain cells shrink which allows these metabolites to be cleared out. 
Cognitive overload occurs when you try to grasp too many pieces of information at once. Try connecting the pieces of information together to form chunks, as they are easier to remember that way. Better Notes Writing down task lists or details offloads information from working memory to paper. This frees up your mind to process other stuff. To use the split notes method, draw a vertical line that splits the page into 1/3rd and 2/3rd chunks. Write down general notes on the large side, and keywords on the left side later on, as a way of recalling the main ideas. The best thing to do is to review your notes the day they are taken. This forces retrieval of the details, which leads to better retention of the material. Memory Hacks Memorizing key facts and details can help you work on more complex problems. You can also see the relationships between them, and understand subjects more deeply. Mnemonics are handy tools you can use to remember information more effectively. Some examples of mnemonics include: forming acronyms (like ROY G BIV for the colours of the rainbow), creating vivid mental images, and constructing a memory palace. How to Internalize Learning Learning happens through two cognitive avenues: the declarative system and the procedural system. Your declarative system functions alongside your working memory when you practice a new skill. You procedural system works when you internalize elements of a skill, and can use them reflexively. Both types of learning can occur side by side, and can reinforce each other. While the declarative system operates step by step, the procedural system identifies patterns and works more intuitively. When learning a new language, it is important to activate your procedural system. While your declarative system is able to hold onto lots of words and information, it can take a long time to access them. When you learn a language procedurally, the vocabulary and speech comes more readily. Wherever possible, converse with a native speaker of the language. While you will make a lot of mistakes, they can help correct you and you can train your procedural system to internalize the patterns of speech in your target language. Gestures can also help you to anchor the meaning of new words. Cultivate Self-Discipline Instead of always relying on self-discipline to avoid temptations, you can set up your environment and schedule so that the distractions aren’t there in the first place. Habits require self-discipline to set up, but they pay off by setting behaviours on autopilot. Motivation Goals can be difficult to reach when they are unclear. Research shows that students are more successful when they reflect on when, where, and how they will achieve their goals—as well as how they will handle obstacles. 
You can have three types of goals: long-term goals, milestone goals and process goals. To help stick with your long-term goals, have an image or physical reminder of it in your environment. You can also try “mental contrasting”, or imagining how life might be when you have reached your goal. Milestone goals help you recognize the progress that you’ve made, and can keep you motivated to continue moving towards your bigger ambitions. Process goals are all about the day-to-day actions that will help you make progress. Aiming to read 20 pages each evening or spending 1 hour a day doing strength and conditioning are examples of process goals. “Motivation is not something you either have or don’t have—it can be created, strengthened, and maintained using different techniques." All three goals can be SMART goals: specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time-bound. You can take advantage of motivation contagion by surrounding yourself with people who are motivated and disciplined. Their behaviours and attitudes may just rub off on you. Principles of Effective Reading Highlighting, re-reading and underlining text can lead to passive reading. They give rise to the illusion of knowing. One effective active reading strategy is recall reading. To do this, read through a page or two, and then look away and try to retrieve the material from memory. You can also write down the key points from what you have just read (which is what I’m doing now! ? ) How to Become a Pro Learner Practicing by test-taking can be a more effective study strategy than reading or re-reading. If you can, find old tests with similar questions/content and work through them without peeking at the answers. Metacognition can help you to avoid mistaken feelings of overconfidence. By reflecting on how to think, learn, and improve at new skills, you can uncover valuable sources of feedback and make excellent progress.
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