How I teach myself effectively — The better method for learning

If you’ve tried to learn something new, I can guarantee you have stumbled upon the advice of “keep trying, and you’ll eventually get it”. That works, and you definitely will “get it” eventually, but it’s a lengthy process. Much longer than it has to be.

I’m learning to write, so I was reading an article on tips to become a better writer. One of the tips was “write as much as you can”. Now, that’s not bad advice, but it’s not the best either.

If you’re attempting to enhance a skill, you should be working on improving. Don’t just perform it.

How to learn more effectively

Let’s take that example of getting better at writing. The way I would do it is:

1. Start writing. Every day, do an activity that enables you to perform the skill of writing, not only will this enable you to put into practice what you’ve learnt, but it also allows you to see your progress.
2. Learn new aspects of writing. Create flashcards for vocabulary you’d like to internalize, study how the greatest writers composed their texts, learn how to structure and plan an article.
3. Take step 2, go back to what you have written, and correct it. Find better ways to express points, or change up your format to make it more compelling to read.
4. Assure that you are using what you have learnt whenever you write new content.
5. Repeat.

This is the most powerful process of learning effectively. It boils down to learning new concepts, and performing them to boost comprehension. The majority of your time should be spent actively learning.

Why it works

Last year, I was teaching myself to code. The pinnacle of my improvement happened when I took online courses, watched tutorials, and read documentations. My process was:

1. Learn new stuff.
2. Build project with that knowledge.
3. Move on.

And it worked perfectly, my knowledge compounded and I was learning at an incredible pace. When researching how to learn coding, the vast majority of recommendations is “build projects till you go insane”, “try, try, try and eventually you’ll get it”, “just start, and google it if you have problems”. These are great ways to learn, but they’re not fast.

You can spend hundreds of hours building projects without getting any better. You’re not gaining new knowledge. You’re mastering what you already know.

When you use the strategy of learning and applying, you are constantly feeding yourself with new information, and sticking it inside your head by using it. The trick is not forcing it to the point where you’ll never forget it again, then you’re giving too much attention to one small part instead of progressively leveling up.

Keep it in mind

While you may already have known this is a better way of learning, the real challenge is to actually apply it to your life. When I practice music, I’ll often be replaying the same songs and melodies again and again despite knowing that I am gaining minimal improvement. It’s about taking into consideration what you can do right now to ensure you will apply this method next time, and then using it in everything you learn.

How much you learn is relative to the effort you put in to progress in your understanding.

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