5 natural, non-nerdy steps for learning… anything
Wed, Apr 16, 2008
Advice, Inspiration, Make the Most of You, Motivation, Practical Tips, Productivity, Relaxation
Photo by carloseduravier
Get ur freak on
Headbanger.. hit me, hit me, hit me, hit meMissy Elliot ~ Get ur freak on ~
Nobody (or almost nobody) likes to study; I know I don’t. But it’s something we have to do, it’s a natural and necessary part of our development as human beings, not just for your school or carreer. But just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it has to become a drag; no way! You can make it acceptable at least, perhaps even rewarding. Studying should become a decent activity, here’s what you should do.
1. Understand studying!
Picture by sosarem
Learning is an unpleasant activity not just because it feels like you’re wasting your time or stuff like that; in most cases, it’s a subconscious response. That’s just a clever way of saying that your brain thinks studying is bad. Why? Well because of our society; when parents punish their kids, they often make them study. Also, the feeling that it’s too hard or pointless can actually make it pointless. If you want to learn something, you have to make yourself understand that first. Once you understand that you have to finish this and you stop kidding yourself, you’re half way there.
2. Learn the right things!
Photo by sidereal
So you’ve motivated yourself, you want to do this, you’ve got the right attitude… what now? Make sure you have the right books, reference, whatever, and put them in the right order. Learning things in the correct order will actually speed things up. Sounds like a paradox? Not really. It’s just common sense; do it the wrong way and nothing will catch, and you’ll just waste a lot of time. Go back to 1. if that’s the case. Also, if you’re using the Internet, be careful, cause there’s a lot of wrong or partial information. Use the big boys (Wikipedia, Britannica, etc)for a bit more safety, but even there you’ll find some small mistakes. So be careful with the learning material.
3. Learn the right way!
Photo by chotda
So you have the attitude, you have the learning material and still not learning? Well if the TV’s on and the dog’s barking there and that kind of stuff… it’s really understandable. You need to find that learning place, that is different for different people. Whether it’s quiet or filled with music, bright or darker, there should be no distractions (window, TV, pet, etc). Also, try to estimate your time - a realistic approach. If you don’t have enough time…
4. Turn useless time into productive time!
Photo by un4gtableann
Useless time can actually be… useful. Good all around tips here, but for studying, it’s a bit different. You should especially pay attention to time used for transportation and bath time. When you’re on the bus or other ways of transportation, try and do a quick recap (which by the way is really important) or read something new. When you’re taking a bath, do a light read or something; nothing too big, because this way it won’t spoil your relaxation. Also if you want to gain more time, you should know yourself. Know what’s good for you, how you can focus, things like that. It’s important that you find your own way of studying. Make notes, write down the most important ideas, listen to music, whatever gets you going. Also, it’s really important to know if your auditive memory is better than your visual memory. If it is, it’s definetly a good idea to read the stuff out loud, record it, and then listen to it. This can be a good idea even if it’s not (you can apply it on the bus).
5. Finish things up!
Photo by Fort Photo
Even when you feel like you’re making progress, you have to do things all the way, otherwise it’s your loss. Even if it feels like you know bits and pieces and you can put them together when needed, you shouldn’t rely on that. Also, don’t delay everything until the last moment, that won’t get you very far. Start things right, work your way to the top, and be careful at the finish. That’s what the champions do.
If you enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to our blog via RSS or e-mail.
April 16th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I can tell you don’t like to study by this poorly written article. Starting 2 sentences with “but” in the first paragraph… Shitty bum bum, is what I think of this article….
April 16th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Jon, you silly hypocritical nutter, I can tell you don’t like to study by your faulty grammar and bad punctuation.
Heed these sage bits of advice:
1. If you don’t have anything nice to write, stick your pen behind your ear.
2. Stick your pen in your eye instead.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Nice article
I stumbled upon it. Neat
April 16th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
This is an excellent article. I enjoyed it, and learned from it. Thank you for posting it! (I stumbed upon it, too.) Well done.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Nobody likes to study?
Perhaps you spent too many years in substandard public schools getting your natural curiosity beaten out of you with recycled paper workbooks.
The tedious chore you call study is the elevating pursuit of life others call learning, seeking, wondering, Googling, marveling, asking, expanding, thinking, yearning, learning, reading, concluding, deducing, memorizing, puzzling, analyzing, noting, aspiring, connecting, exploring and teaching.
But I could be wrong.
–Cora Judd
April 21st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hey, Cora, your so called elevating pursuit of life is reading about fucking right angles, year after year after year. I know a right fucking angle is 90 degrees already. I have since the third grade. But they will continue to drill it into my mind until the other thick skulls around me called my “classmates” notice that in order to get into college they have to remember that a right angle is 90 degrees. But I doubt they will realise that until their sophomore year of highschool. MY SOPHOMORE YEAR. And I will still be marveling, asking, expanding, thinking, yearning, learning, reading, concluding, deducing, memorizing, puzzling, analyzing, noting, aspiring, connecting, and exploring right angles until i hear voices in my head and think everyones skin is green. Then I’ll be in shit up to my ass being shipped off to some mental hospital.
Oh, the joy of studying.
~Cleo
April 21st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
So Cleo, sounds like you spent too many years in substandard public schools getting your natural curiosity beaten out of you with recycled paper workbooks.
(I’m in the same year and have the same problem. ;; Some of my [sixteen- to seventeen-year-old] classmates don’t understand that multiplying something by one over four is the same as dividing by four.)
By the way, while conjunctions to begin a sentence are traditionally frowned upon, it’s quite okay to do so in informal contexts such as blogs.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 am
First of all, thanks for all the comments, your opinion is appreciated.
But you shouldn’t judge after how YOUR school was like, I know I didn’t write my article based just on that; for example, in central and eastern Europe they learn 2nd degree equations when they’re 13 and derivatives and differential calculus when they’re 17 ! It’s hard when your learning stuff at this level to find them seeking, wondering, Googling, marveling etc.
Anyway, I hope you realize that I wasn’t pointing a finger at the education system, I was just stating a fact, perhaps exaggerated a bit, but really few people enjoy studying. Also, the bigger point was to give some useful tips; hope they served their purpose
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 am
Quit stumbling crap articles
March 12th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
why is that lady fishing her feet around in the toilet? (;
May 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I am really fan of your blog…Thanks for article