If you’ve ever tried to learn a language or skill on your own, you know how hard it is sometimes to organize yourself. Self-education is an attractive idea, but it doesn’t work for everyone, alas. So how do you become one of those lucky people and become a self-education genius?
Study the content
When starting a new course or book, study the table of contents to see the full picture – what sections the course consists of and how they are interconnected. If you start studying the information right away, it can be difficult to tie all aspects together.
Sometimes you don’t even need to study the whole textbook. Choose a section that interests you and start studying on your own. Remember the purpose of learning is not to read and memorize but to understand the material and gain some knowledge.
The experienced authors from a nursing essay writing service suggest that you take a break every few chapters. This will allow you to review the previous material and better absorb it before continuing on with the next chapter.
Make a study schedule
Every time you need to make decisions, your brain strains and resists. That’s why you should think of a learning schedule once and stick to it. Learning should become a habit. How to form it:
- Make a learning plan – which topics and in what time frame you will learn. When making a plan, alternate topics to avoid monotony. A person gets tired quickly if he learns the same topic all day long.
- Allocate time for productive learning in your schedule – at least an hour a day. Study at the same time to form a habit. For example, from 10 to 12 every day. More often than not, the most productive time is after you wake up and before lunch. Do not leave the study for the evening, if at that time you do not have the strength to perceive information and are distracted by household chores.
- Stick to the planned schedule every day. Do not take long breaks from studying. Even if you are going somewhere, you can still study.
- Don’t leave studying a lot of information to the last day before a deadline or exam. If you study in a hurry, your learning will be superficial. You won’t have time to immerse yourself deeply in the topic, and the knowledge won’t be absorbed.
Focus
If you’re watching a lesson and simultaneously texting with your friend or doing homework, your productivity decreases. The brain gets very tired when it has to switch from one task to another. Pay maximum attention to the task at hand. Move your phone away so it’s easier to study and you’re not tempted to open social media. If you need help with writing college assignments, there are many online services that offer write my essay cheap service. By enlisting the help of a professional writer, you can focus on the other parts of your degree and leave essay writing up to the experts.
Tip. Scientists recommend drinking water while studying, it improves concentration and diligence.
Take breaks
It is important to alternate training with rest. A person can not be strongly focused for a long time. The maximum time of concentration is 50 minutes. And then he begins to get distracted, and do five-minute tasks for hours.
Experts recommend using the most effective Pomodoro method – every 25 minutes of hard work alternate with a five-minute rest. Or after 50 minutes of maximum concentration, rest for 10 minutes. Test different options, and choose what works best for you.
Tip. The best activity during the break is a short exercise or walk. After such activities, the brain works better and absorbs information.
Take notes
Write an outline to remember and understand the material better. Some tips for outlining:
- Handwrite, even if a digital outline is neater.
- Write only the essentials, leaving out secondary information.
- Write in short summaries, not in long sentences.
- Write what you hear in your own words, do not copy it exactly.
- Think of your own acronyms to save time.
Tip. Sometimes it is convenient to write notes in the form of a scheme or a table.
Reproduce the information
When you have read a chapter and underlined the important things, it may seem that you have memorized all the main ideas perfectly. It is enough just to go over the notes fluently. But this is an illusion. While underlining and rereading, thought activity is reduced to zero.
Make an effort and reproduce the information. For example, try to recall what you have studied. It’s like practicing before a real-life situation in which you will need to apply knowledge. Answer the questions to the main ideas. For example, you are studying the definition of the word “Concept.” Don’t underline the definition, but write the question next to it, “What is a concept?” And answer it in your own words after reading it.
Use interval repetition
Most information is forgotten within an hour of receiving it. To retain knowledge in your long-term memory, use interval repetition – spread your lessons on one topic over an entire week. This approach somewhat resembles a sports workout: to build muscle, you must regularly perform exercises in 2 to 3 sets. It doesn’t mean just rereading the information you’ve learned every day. The point is to approach this knowledge from different angles:
- Immediately after training, review the notes you made in the outline. Make clarifications.
- After 15 minutes, complete the interim assignments or answer the questions at the end of the lesson.
- After 2 hours, discuss your new knowledge with friends or colleagues. Or write from memory as if you were telling a friend. In this way, you recreate the knowledge from memory
- In 1-2 days, apply the new knowledge in practice, for example, in your work
- By the end of the week, hone your new knowledge in practice, and go back to the theory, if necessary, to check your actions
- After a month, read the lesson again. By then this information should already be part of your reality
Learn on an online platform
Online learning platforms help make the learning process systematic. The student is assigned to a program of study that consists of consecutive courses. A deadline can be set for each course so that learning doesn’t drag on. If a person has suspended regular training, the platform sends notifications and reminds them to take the courses.
After each theoretical lesson in the course, you can place practice – tests, and assignments with detailed answers to check your understanding of the material. After completing the theoretical and practical lessons, the student is awarded points, which increases his motivation to learn and interest in taking more lessons and accumulating points.
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