How to Study Effectively.

Since I’ve been studying non-stop for the past eight months, four to six hours daily, I guess dispensing this advice is sort of an obligation.

I’ve categorized them into 6 basic ideas that are subdivided under Preparation and Execution:

Preparation:

Number one: Get a Goal. No end direction; no motivation to endure the pain of studying. You have to understand how what you’re doing will contribute to your overall progress. No vague connections because when times a-tough, I remember the only thread that kept me going was this.

Number two: Sleep. If you haven’t had enough sleep, then you’ll get nothing. Just like a computer that has been overworked, it will not function as speedily and effectively unless it has been shutdown for a while. Of course, there is a certain number of hours that you’ll need to get. If you go over, or less, than 7-8hours, you’ll still stagnate. There are reasons why oversleeping numbs your brain.

But the general idea behind sleep is that the brain masters information by creating comparisons with relative and familiar existing knowledge present within your reality map. This requires alot of mental energy (the brain respires glucose/sugar, so make sure to have a healthy supply) and without sufficient amounts of rest, it’s capacity diminishes to store info in the hippo-campus.

If I sleep late for some reason, I wake up at my usual time but make sure that I cut down the number of hours and intensity. And entertain myself the rest of the day to re-schedule my sleep hours. Consistency being the key.

PS: The brain respires over 70% of the oxygen in the body!

Number three: Environment. Or as I’d like to call it- the 3 W’s;

Where, When and With Whom. It has to be at your body’s most productive time and with minimal distraction. Of course ideally, to study alone, but just incase you think you can study with a group or just one person, you have to be honest about the progress. Oh and make sure that your seated posture is comfortable enough to keep you concentrated. Don’t lay down, that's a lie :).

Number four: Plan. So far, there is no study involved just simple tasks to help you prepare. And this is the final compulsory arrangement. A day before you study, make sure you’ve broken the task down for the entire day. I usually do four A4 pages of completely new information a day (that, I’ve discovered, is my limit). Or twenty pages worth of familiar information. So I plan my day down to the hour everyday, ahead of the next day. Your mind’ll be a menace to you if you don’t follow the rules so make sure you set something realistic and implement it so that you finish what you’ve started during the day. Carried forward work that was meant to be dealt with will not amuse. In fact, you'll get in denial about it.

Execution:

Number five: Feel It. Our brain responds in three general ways to incoming information; it first scans to find anything similar or relevant to conform it’s views; otherwise; it creates some extension to the fundamental premise it already has; and finally, if none of the above, then it outright rejects it.

I always wondered why it was so difficult to learn something quickly even though it made perfect sense. When I overcome and champion it, I am refreshed- like a crack-addict, I’m constantly on that expedition.

So I reason here maybe because absolutely new information, like the Latin or Greek syllables that are used as scientific terms, requires neural memory cells which are metabolically expensive to build and maintain, like muscle-cells. And another reason might be that information is not pocketed like files in PC folders, rather, in a human brain, they’re integrated within a large framework of inter-related webs. Information is intertwined to help format a consistent viewpoint; a reliable reality.

We shut down during study because our brain decides not to allow information in as it views it as being relatively new and unfamiliar. This relative novelty of the information is not readily handled by our brains. Infact, our brain’s first instinct is to feel intimidated. Why? First, imagine you accept every new information that you come across, how consistent will your reality be? Another way of putting it is if two people tried to explain a story in two different opposing ways, wouldn’t the contradiction be hard to sustain rationally if you were to have the ability to promptly believe them both?

You can argue that we’d judge based on our experiences and existing knowledge and then decide which to believe. This means you’ll dwell on it until you feel comfortable with it. Keyword-feel.

Another issue is the amydgala; the emotional center. Everything that our brain processes has to be scanned through the amygdala first because it is part of the primary cerebral organs and we later evolved the neo-cortexes (gray folds that are attributed for much of our analytical intelligence); this means we have to be emotionally (not logically) comfortable with the information! So you see, how you feel decides whether you’ll be open, cogent and balanced- NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!

And we’re usually relaxed around acquainted people, things and ideas. Original and firsthand is generally seen as a threat. So if I shove the endocrine system infront of you and ask you to read and understand it, you’ll subconsciously be like “No, I won’t” and shut down.

We do many things which does not make sense because we react to how we feel at that given moment. And that initial feeling or impulse is aroused by an organ that is too complicated to map. Especially since it lies at the center of our cranial base, somehow interconnected to different regions with no acute telling of it’s influential scope.

Now, in order to accustom ourselves, and more specifically, our amygdala –to the new information, I suggest we quickly sift through whatever it is to get a “feel” of it and then try to identify some familiar notion that is (and this is in most cases) the central theme; the terms and concepts that help define, structure and edify it. Thus, hastening the process of learning and greasing the information path in our brains by becoming more familiar and comfortable with the setting. Especially since the “seeking system” (lateral hypothalamus) ignites like fireworks and is claimed to be responsible for us waking up every morning- on the prospect of going on an information seeking adventure. More on this in a beautiful article here.

Btw, this makes introspection an even more important tool in education.

When the second scenario of scanning for familiar memory cells when cross-referencing incoming information is run, the brain need not build a new neural cell or synapse, it simply needs to build the neural pathways or axioms that make the connection. This requires less effort and therefore is the second prioritized task.

Finally, if it’s perfectly new information, there’s a problem- no memory and nothing to cross-reference with, so the initial impulse is denial because to integrate this new piece of information will require remodeling of the entire existent neural complex.

Our RAM’s are called Hippocampus; a temporary and extremely malleable storage of all that filters through our senses. Here, anything and everything gets skimmed and makes a fleeting impression of what we experience during the day. For the sensory information that is emotionally charged or often repeated, they leave a deep imprint and are then mirrored within the neo-cortex and that’s when the information is stored in the hard-drive.

There are many conjectures for methods to help facilitate learning, some of which I have adopted are; familiarizing myself to the background of that which I am studying by briskly scouting the educational terrain and identifying the basic familiar terms and concepts which are the building blocks or the focal points. This will make exposure to the new terms around them easier to learn because it won’t drastically alter the consumed understanding of the premise and subsequently threaten my reality map.

Number six: Create 'Visua. After memorizing them, since what follows are extensions of this focal point, I create visual representations, or for concepts that are yet to be seen I use my imagination, which would then be pasted all around my room.

Thus, the brain’s task is reduced to simply synthesizing neural highways around those basic points which is reinforced by the diagrams as I view them on a daily basis.

Number seven: Finally, Plan/Revise Progress. Simultaneously, I re-summarise the topic to wane-out the ideas and terms that have cemented themselves in my memory which funnels into a few revision post-its before the exam day.

This exercise keeps me engaged- as I break the task into writable or drawable points; and motivated to be consistent- the build-up of the visual representation indicates the advancement I am making and is a tremendous lifter during low times.

Best of luck!