Acknowledge your surroundings.
If you are going to be learning in a school environment, you will have to prepare yourself differently than if you are going to be learning by yourself. These steps are the general guide to how to learn and study better, but apply specifically to self-learning in your own home or in a quiet place without disturbances. If you come across a situation where some of the steps need to be changed or altered, try bringing the use of these steps back to the home/quiet area environment they were originally intended for. Use your best judgement and try to stick as close to these guidelines as possible. If you do, you will ensure your success while learning!
Figure out which methods will be the best to learn/study in this environment.
This can be achieved by understanding where you will be learning. You can also use past experiences to guide you along the process.
Prepare yourself by getting trivial disturbances out of your way.
Start off by assessing your body. Are you too cold/warm? Are you tired, stressed, irritated, angry, bored? Take a piece of paper and quickly write down everything that is bothering you or anything that might be a disturbance for you when you are about to learn. If this is in preparation for a school day, try to do this BEFORE you go to school. Once you have your list written up, start at the most important problems and fix them, working your way from your biggest problems to your smallest. This should include ANYTHING that might be bothering you because anything, even the smallest of disturbances will affect how well your brain processes information. Your disturbances should fully be taken care of (as in, if you have to go to the bathroom, DO IT! If you need sleep and can afford to get more rest, SLEEP! If you have bad breath and that bothers you, BRUSH! If you have little pet peeves that are bothering you, FIX THEM. The more that you have to keep your brain from wandering to the better!!!)
Start readying your brain for learning.
Think of your brain like a giant camera. Every time you do something, it takes tiny snapshots of the information for later. Most of the time your brain is spent processing EVERYTHING equally and taking millions of snapshots per second, by closing what is called synapses, of everything consistently at the same rate. What you need to achieve is making your brain focus all, or most, of its snapshots onto your topic of study! If this can be done correctly, you will increase your learning potential by 60%!
Remove all disturbances from your area of study.
Find a quiet area and remove all disturbances from it. If you have a computer on, and it's not the source of learning, turn it off. Make the room as quiet as possible. Close the shades and windows so as little light as possible enters the room and then turn on lights to a level that allows you to study your material without squinting or straining AT ALL but while still being dimmer than normal. This step is critical to keeping your brain from focusing on your environment. When choosing a room, try a place with a comfortable armchair or bed/coach to lie down on. A good location is your own bedroom, as long as it is empty of any people and completely quiet.
Blank out your mind and body of concerns.
A wise monk once said that this was his secret to his studies. You must do something calming yet slightly active for exactly 10 minutes. Use a stopwatch if it helps to time it right. This calming activity can be anything from taking a shower (don't actually wash yourself, just let the water calm and soothe you), to taking a leisurely stroll around your quiet room, to reading a soothing childrens' book Anything that is slightly active (requires slight concentration) and calming at the same time. Once you have your activity of choice, you will find that doing it over and over will help.
Let yourself completely relax.
You can do this by lying down on a bed/couch. Then, concentrate on every muscle and tense point in your body and let control of that area slip completely away. Start at your head and work your way down to your feet. Relax everything, allow yourself to sink into the bed, pretend you have died if that helps. You shouldn't move at all or use any muscle (besides breathing/living of course!). Allow all of your senses to become alert, and listen for everything as you slowly find your muscles to be itching as they relax fully for the first time. Do this for five minutes and then stop, slowly allowing your muscles to begin working again. Now it's time to drink some water. Your brain may be different but try 32 oz. to begin with. Drink it slowly and calmly and then you will be ready to begin learning.
Gather your learning materials in front of you and begin reading/learning.
Take deep, even, non-conscious breathing and pay no attention to anything around you BUT what you are learning. Read EVERY line, and every important piece of information. You will remember it if you follow these instructions!
Stop and practice what you've just learned.
Do this once every 15 minutes.
Get up and take a quick jog or fast walk.
Do any activity that will make your mind remember the information. Remember, it's a simple concept that your brain is more likely to remember something big and loud than something dull and boring. For instance a tiger escapes from the zoo and chooses to chase you. You will most likely remember that event more than the cereal you ate for breakfast less than a week ago. This tiger attack will cause your brain to snap pictures twice as fast and all at once focusing in on the one event. This, by accident, takes all other information in your brain, and saves it along with the memory of the tiger. Without even meaning to, you will probably find, had you really been attacked by a tiger and survived, that you will probably have noticed EVERY detail. The trick now is to make your brain think learning your dull and boring topic is as important as remembering how you escaped from that tiger! Don't worry, it's easier done than said in this case! Allow yourself to think of important events, or listen to music. Both will allow you to associate yourself with the topic when you hear or think of those things. Another good method is to play an action packed video game for 5 minutes. Anything that makes you jumpy, or causes your brain to pick up in speed will cause you to remember better. Also, the more you study, the more streamlined you will find your behavior becomes. You will feel more like a machine than a person as you crunch through your work.
Relax and repeat the learning process.
Do this for about 1-2 hours per session, breaking every 15 minutes. After your desired session length if over, don't start the process again for at least 4 hours!!! Your brain needs this time to sort, organize, process, and store this new information! If you follow these steps to the line, and use your best judgement, you will succeed in learning your topic. You will notice immediately that this will become an easy and efficient routine for you and you should also find that your brain remembers far better than you had ever thought it could. So away with you, and happy learning!
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