TOP IDEAS from Optimal Studying Protocols by Andrew Huberman

Summary

In this podcast summary, the host delves into neuroscientist Andrew Huberman's insights on optimal learning protocols. They discuss the importance of focus and sleep for effective studying, debunk learning styles, and emphasize the brain's neuroplasticity during learning. The host outlines five habits of high-performing students, including consistent study times and teaching others, and introduces a study technique where testing oneself after learning offsets forgetting by up to 50%. Additional tips like the 'gap effect' and the role of emotions in learning are also highlighted to enhance retention and understanding.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Learning is about offsetting forgetting and involves the process of neuroplasticity, where the nervous system changes as we learn.
• 💪 The best learning techniques are effortful and slightly difficult, as learning requires effort to change the nervous system.
• 🧘‍♂️ Meditation can help improve focus, which is crucial for effective learning, by training the brain to refocus attention.
• 💤 Sleep, particularly REM sleep, is essential for learning as it's when the brain reorganizes and consolidates the learned material.
• 🛌 Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) can also facilitate learning by allowing the brain to enter a state similar to deep sleep for neural reorganization.
• 📅 Effective students study consistently and for a limited time each day, usually 3-4 hours, to maximize focus and retention.
• 🚫 They minimize distractions and create a dedicated study environment to enhance concentration and learning efficiency.
• 🗣️ Teaching the material to others or explaining it out loud is a powerful way to reinforce learning and identify knowledge gaps.
• 🔍 Actively testing oneself through methods like past papers or self-quizzing is more effective for learning than repeated studying of the material.
• ❤️ Having a deep, intrinsic motivation for studying, beyond external pressures, is a common trait among high-performing students.
• ⏱️ The 'testing effect' significantly offsets forgetting, making frequent testing a more effective study approach than repeated studying.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the podcast by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman?

The podcast by Andrew Huberman focuses on optimal protocols for studying and learning, providing new insights on how to learn effectively.

What does the speaker believe is the fundamental aspect of learning?

The speaker believes that the fundamental aspect of learning is not about retaining information but about offsetting the process of forgetting.

How does the speaker describe neuroplasticity in relation to learning?

Neuroplasticity is described as the process where the nervous system, including the brain and muscles, changes and shifts as a result of learning.

What does the speaker suggest is a common misconception about learning styles?

The speaker suggests that the common belief in distinct learning styles such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic is not entirely accurate, and most people learn in a pretty similar way.

Why does the speaker argue that learning should be effortful and slightly difficult?

Learning should be effortful and slightly difficult because it involves changing and shifting the nervous system, which requires effort and friction.

What are the two essential elements required for effective learning and studying according to the speaker?

The two essential elements required for effective learning and studying are focus and sleep.

How does meditation help in improving focus according to the podcast?

Meditation helps in improving focus by training the brain to refocus attention, as it involves refocusing on the breath every time the mind wanders.

What is the significance of REM sleep in the learning process as mentioned in the podcast?

REM sleep is significant in the learning process because it is during this stage that neurons change and the learning actually takes place, allowing for the rewiring of the brain.

What alternative to sleep does the speaker introduce for neural rewiring?

The speaker introduces non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) as an alternative to sleep, which allows the brain to enter a sleep-like state for neural rewiring without actually sleeping.

What is the most effective study technique discussed in the podcast?

The most effective study technique discussed is active testing of the material learned, which can offset forgetting by up to 50% and is more beneficial than repeatedly studying the material.

How do the habits of high-performing students differ from typical students according to the podcast?

High-performing students differ by studying for shorter, more focused periods, having zero distractions, studying consistently throughout the week, teaching the material to others, and having deep motivation for their studies.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Optimal Learning Techniques

The speaker shares insights from a podcast by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman on effective learning strategies. They discuss their own journey to optimize learning for academic success and personal growth. The podcast challenges conventional wisdom, emphasizing that learning is about preventing forgetting rather than merely retaining information. It introduces the concept of neuroplasticity, where the nervous system changes as we learn, and highlights the importance of effort in the learning process.

05:01

🧠 The Science of Learning and Forgetting

This section delves into the science behind learning and memory, explaining that learning is an effortful process designed to counteract forgetting. The speaker refutes the idea of distinct learning styles, suggesting most people learn in similar ways. They introduce the concept of neuroplasticity, where the nervous system physically changes as we learn. The speaker also critiques quick-fix学习方法, advocating for a more deliberate and challenging approach to studying.

10:03

🌙 The Crucial Role of Sleep in Learning

The speaker underscores the importance of sleep, particularly REM sleep, for the consolidation of learning. They explain that studying and learning are not the same as the neural changes that occur during sleep. The section also introduces the concept of non-sleep deep rest (NSDR), which can mimic some of the benefits of sleep for learning. The speaker shares personal strategies for enhancing focus, including meditation and self-talk, and emphasizes the need for a consistent study routine.

15:03

📚 Effective Study Habits of High-Performing Students

The speaker outlines five habits common among high-performing students: studying for a maximum of 3-4 hours a day, creating a distraction-free environment, studying consistently throughout the week, teaching the material to others, and having a deep motivation for studying. They discuss the benefits of each habit, such as focusing on peak brain efficiency times and the value of active recall through teaching and self-explanation.

20:04

📝 The Power of Active Recall and Testing

This section highlights the effectiveness of active recall and testing as learning methods. The speaker shares research indicating that testing oneself, even with incorrect answers, can significantly reduce forgetting. They contrast this with the common approach of repeated studying, which can create a false sense of confidence. The speaker encourages the use of past papers and self-testing to identify knowledge gaps and enhance learning. They also introduce the 'testing effect' and the importance of emotions in the learning process.

🧠 Enhancing Learning Through Emotion and Reflection

The speaker discusses how emotions can enhance learning, suggesting that heightened emotional states can make learning more effective. They also introduce the 'gap effect,' where pausing for a brief period after learning can help consolidate information. The speaker concludes with advice on using these techniques to improve retention and understanding, emphasizing the importance of reflection and emotional engagement in the learning process.

Keywords

💡Neuroscientist

A neuroscientist is a specialist in the scientific study of the nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. In the context of the video, Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist, is the host of the podcast discussing optimal protocols for studying and learning. His expertise in neuroscience lends credibility to the methods and insights he shares about how the brain processes and retains information.

💡Optimal protocols

Optimal protocols refer to the most effective strategies or methods for achieving a specific goal. In the video, the term is used to describe the best approaches to studying and learning as discussed by Huberman. These protocols are meant to maximize the efficiency of learning and retention, which is a central theme of the video.

💡Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity or neural plasticity, is the ability of the brain to change and adapt as a result of learning and experience. The video explains that learning is not just about retaining information but about the physical changes in the nervous system that occur due to neuroplasticity. This concept is crucial for understanding the effortful nature of learning.

💡Forgetting

Forgetting is the natural process of losing information over time. The video script emphasizes that learning is fundamentally about offsetting the process of forgetting. This is a key concept as it shifts the focus from mere information retention to the active process of combating遗忘, which is essential for effective studying.

💡Focus

Focus is the act of concentrating one's attention on a particular object or activity. In the video, focus is identified as one of the two essential requirements for effective learning and studying. It is described as an effortful process that involves actively engaging with the material, which is necessary for triggering the changes in the nervous system associated with learning.

💡Sleep

Sleep is the natural, periodic state of rest for the mind and body. The video underscores the importance of sleep, particularly REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, for learning. During deep sleep, the brain consolidates learning, and neurons rewire, which is a critical aspect of the learning process that occurs outside of active study sessions.

💡Nonsleep deep rest (NSDR)

Nonsleep deep rest (NSDR) refers to a practice that allows the body and brain to enter a state of rest similar to deep sleep without actually sleeping. The video mentions NSDR as a method to facilitate learning and neuron reorganization, which can be particularly beneficial for individuals who have difficulty sleeping or need to optimize their study time.

💡Active recall

Active recall is the process of actively trying to remember information without looking at the material. The video highlights active recall as a superior method for learning compared to passive rereading. It involves testing oneself, which can be done through practices like answering questions or summarizing material from memory, and is shown to be highly effective for learning and retention.

💡Familiarity vs. Mastery

Familiarity refers to a superficial recognition of information, whereas mastery implies a deep understanding and ability to apply knowledge. The video script contrasts these two concepts, emphasizing that while familiarity can give a false sense of confidence, mastery is achieved through active testing and addressing gaps in knowledge, which is a more accurate indicator of true learning.

💡Emotions

Emotions play a significant role in learning, as they can heighten the brain's ability to encode and retrieve information. The video suggests that emotions such as excitement or curiosity can enhance learning by making the material more memorable. This concept is used to explain why some experiences or lessons are more easily remembered due to the emotional context in which they were learned.

Highlights

Andrew Huberman's podcast offers new insights on effective learning and studying.

Learning is about offsetting forgetting rather than just retaining information.

Neuroplasticity is the process by which nerves in our body change and shift as we learn.

Effortful and slightly difficult learning techniques are often the most effective due to the nature of neuroplasticity.

Focus is a finite but renewable resource that is essential for learning.

Meditation can help train focus and is recommended for 5 to 10 minutes a day.

Sleep, particularly REM sleep, is crucial for the learning process as it's when neurons rewire.

Nonsleep deep rest (NSDR) can provide similar benefits to sleep for learning.

High-performing students study for 3 to 4 hours a day, maximizing their focus during peak times.

Zero distractions are a key habit of effective students.

Consistent daily studying is more effective than cramming before deadlines.

Teaching the material to others is a powerful way to reinforce learning.

Deep motivation for studying is a common trait among high-achieving students.

Testing oneself after learning material is more effective than repeated studying.

Testing can offset forgetting by up to 50%, making it a superior method for learning.

The 'testing effect' is more beneficial than the 'spacing effect' for learning retention.

The Gap Effect suggests that pausing after learning can help consolidate information.

Emotions play a significant role in learning, with heightened emotions improving retention.

Transcripts

so I recently watched this new podcast

by the neuroscientist Andrew hubman

about optimal protocols for studying and

learning and this podcast is very very

interesting because for the past 10

years I've really been working hard to

optimize how well I study how well I

learn so that I can get straight A's but

also I like to learn outside of school I

have a Kindle I literally love to learn

but this podcast blew my mind because it

gave me a bunch of new insights on

learning and how to learn effectively

some things I kind of knew unconsciously

and I was doing some new things that

I've never heard before so I'm going to

summarize in this video this podcast cuz

Andrew hubman he's a legend he talks a

lot about science he's you know well

educated but anyway so what I'm going to

talk about in this video first of all

I'm going to tell you really quick what

learning is then I'm going to tell you

the two things required to learn and

study effectively and then I'm going to

give you the five habits of high

performing students and then finally I'm

going to tell you a study technique or a

study approach which this blew my mind

when I first heard about this it is so

effective it's literally so effective it

offsets for getting by up to 50% and

most students never do this they

approach studying in a completely wrong

way so let's get into it so okay real

quick down first link in the description

or second link join my Discord server

I'm active in there all the time I want

to see you in there okay so real quick

in this video okay so what exactly is

learning this is very very interesting

to know so so learning people think of

learning as like you know I'm a visual

learner I'm an auditory learner I'm a

you know kinesthetic learner I learn

best by like punching the air or

whatever learning styles right

apparently this is Cap not really fully

cap but apparently this is actually not

completely true most people study and

learn in a pretty similar way so so this

was interesting when I first heard about

it learning is not about retaining

information it's not about like holding

on to what you're learning learning is

about offsetting forgetting

so when you look at something for the

first time you're going to know it right

but then you over time you're going to

forget it what learning actually is is

stopping that process of forgetting so

that's what this video is going to be

about it's going to be about how not to

forget so what exactly is learning

basically in our body we have a nervous

system right a bunch of nerves that go

everywhere our brain is a part of our

nervous system our muscles are a part of

our nervous system and when we learn

these nerves literally change and shift

it's called neuroplasticity because our

body our nervous system l changes as we

learn so the process of learning is

about changing our nervous system and

here's the very very interesting thing

it's a very fundamental rule of learning

learning is meant to be effortful it's

meant to be slightly difficult because

think about it you're literally shifting

and changing your nervous system that

takes effort that's T that takes

friction so a general rule is the best

learning techniques the best learning

approaches are going to be slightly

effortful slightly difficult and this is

what I really really hate about you

YouTubers study YouTubers study Tik

tokers or whatever telling people that

learning is effortful like I always say

in my videos you have to focus really

hard when you study make sure you do

deep work you know test yourself or

whatever this is not the sexy answer

because people want to hear you know top

five quick tips to instantly get

straight A's this is what people want to

click on this this is what people are

interested in cuz people are lazy people

want the quick way to study that's why

these study YouTubers bait you by giving

you these quick fixes but what I learned

from this podcast is that

hard studying learning is meant to be

effortful it's meant to take friction so

forget about the Quick Fix to studying

well and get used to it it's going to be

effortful it's going to be difficult I'm

going to tell you how it is it's not the

sexy answer but it's the thing that will

get you the good grades so let's get

right into it the two steps to learn

what is required there's two things

required the first thing is focus and

the second thing is sleep now you're

going to probably want to skip this P

you're going to be like oh give me the

quick tips give me the tactics but let

me give you some tips here to improve

your focus so basically I always talk

about this in all my videos Focus but

it's 100% true you have to be actively

you have to be actively engaged with the

material to learn cuz when you're

focusing you're telling your neurons hey

bro it's time to change it's time to

modify yourselves because we've got some

new we're learning here so I'm

going to talk about Focus really quick

here because I talk about Focus all the

time in my videos I'll give you some new

things here but focus is all about

bringing your attention back to the

Mater materials you're studying you're

reading you're watching a lecture focus

is literally just about bringing your

attention back and that's why it's

painful it's effortful because bringing

your attention back is hard because your

mind constantly wants to distract you

with random so focus is about

being alert being attentive focusing on

the material so here's a tip that I

found very interesting in this video

that I actually do a lot of focusing is

about how you talk to yourself in your

brain so if you're literally telling

yourself okay this information I'm

learning here this thing I'm reading is

so important I need to learn this I need

to know this your brain is going to

start paying attention but how do most

students talk to themselves they're like

oh bro I got to do this I can't wait to

go play basketball later you know I

can't believe I have to study this is so

painful this is the opposite of focus

your brain is going to focus away from

the material because you don't want to

do it so you need to talk to yourself

like a coach you need to Hype yourself

up this isn't in the podcast but this is

what I personally do you need to Hype

yourself up you need to be like okay

this I'm learning is so important I

need to know this let's pay attention

bro me personally I hype myself up I'm

like okay let's let's go boys let's

learn about the Taylor series let's go

and I get hyped you talk to yourself in

your brain and you're more likely to

focus you're going to take this

seriously so a quick tip here on how to

improve your focus that he talks about

in this video a tactic you can use to

train your focus every single day is 5

to 10 minutes of meditation now the

reason for this is because meditation is

essentially a refocusing exercise for

example let's say you focus on your

breath every time you what meditation is

is you sit down an example of meditation

you sit down and you literally just

focus on your breath now every time you

focus on your breath you're going to get

random thoughts and when you get those

random thoughts you simply bring your

focus back to your breath what this does

is it trains your focus system to bring

your your attention back to your breath

now there's many benefits of meditation

there's many approaches to it I won't

get into it too much in this video but

what he says is 5 to 10 minutes of

meditation a day will literally blow up

your ability to focus so this is one of

the many benefits of meditation okay so

yeah that's the first thing alertness

Focus you want to be alert on the

material learning and the second thing

to learning is sleep you're going to

want to skip this and you're going to

think like I forget about sleep bro I

don't give a about that you know

most students they want to do all NS but

sleep is essential Because deep sleep

specifically remm rapid eye movement

sleep is when your neurons actually

change and the learning happens when you

sit down and you study that's not when

the Learning Happens The Learning

Happens at night when you're sleeping

and you're neurons are being rewired

this is the problem with all nighters

when you do an all nighter your neurons

don't have a chance to rewire so you're

not actually learning so you're not

actually learning the material on a deep

level so this is why I think you know a

lot of the time all nighers are

completely pointless you know avoid them

as much as possible I think in

University I did I did one all nigher I

remember for an assignment but I don't

think I did any more than one all nigher

I think I did one maybe two Max all

nighters I almost never did them because

you can 100% avoid them maybe I'll talk

about it in other videos here's

something mindblowing I want to tell you

you don't necessarily have to sleep this

is why I learned from this podcast but I

kind of already knew this you don't

necessarily need to sleep to get those

neurons to rewire to learn you can do

something called nonsleep deep rest you

can access those deep sleep states

without actually sleeping now this is

mind-blowing there's this practice

called nsdr nonsleep deep rest if you've

never done this before it's going to

blow your mind it's going to feel like

you've slept for like a couple hours and

you're not even going to go to sleep so

what you do is you lie down in your bed

and you listen to a script search it up

on YouTube nsdr you listen to the script

and it puts you into this kind of like

sleep-like state where your body is

fully asleep and maybe your brain is

asleep I'm not 100% sure but it allows

you to feel alert and rested it feels

like you're napping but you're not

actually taking a nap and during these

nsdr rests learning also takes place I

actually do this most days nsdr so if

you've never heard of it I highly

recommend you do it it will boost your

energy in the middle of the day if

you're tired and it will help you with

learning as I heard from this video okay

now I'm going to tell you about the five

habits of these 700 medical students

that they interviewed they all had very

similar habits when it came to studying

and I realized that I did these as well

so I talk about a lot of these habits in

my videos so I'm going to talk about it

very briefly and then I'm going to tell

you about that study technique that is

mind blowing when I learned about it so

the first thing is all these students

they interviewed only studied about 3 to

4 hours a day maximum and I 100% agree

with this I study honestly about two

maybe 3 hours a day maximum so these

students have really learned to focus

and really do deep work and learn

effectively if you want to learn more

about how to focus really intensely and

do deep work go watch my video on how to

build a deep work habit or go watch my

video how I study two hours a day but

the first habit that these students do

is they set aside time every single day

to study now I know it sounds obvious

but they literally schedule into their

calendar when they're going to study

they know exactly when during the day

their brain is most alert for example

for me it's late at night and early in

the morning they will literally schedule

the time that they're going to study and

they will make it an effort to actually

study during that time now I know it

sounds obvious but this is because Focus

this is very interesting focus is a

finite but renewable resource so when

you Focus it's going to run out

throughout the day students they study

all day but the reality is focus runs

out it drains it's like your stamina you

can't run forever same thing with Focus

you can't focus forever so Focus will

run out so these students they set aside

time to study and they don't aim to

study all day because they know their

focus is going to be drained so they

they work on using their focus as

effectively as possible they study at

the times of the day that their brain is

most efficient and they study deeply and

effectively now the second habit of

these students that they interviewed is

they have zero distractions they turn

away their phone they message their

family telling them telling them hey bro

hey hey Mom I can't be contacted for two

hours I'm going to study they isolate

themselves they study in an area with no

distractions I study I work right here

because there's no going on in my

peripheral vision there's nothing to

disturb me you know I'll message people

and I'll say like hey I can't talk for a

couple hours you know isolate yourself

go into your Batcave and the third habit

this is very interesting they study

consistently so what do I mean by this

most students they will study when a

deadline is approaching or they'll do

like 10 hours on the weekend before

their homework is due what these

effective students did was they spread

their study out throughout the week they

studied at least 5 days a week but they

made sure to study consistently

throughout the week rather than patching

it all into one day this is partly to do

with offsetting forgetting because if

you're studying every single day you're

reminding yourself of the material

you're not going to forget it as easily

if you study for like 20 hours on one

day on Sunday for example you're going

to forget all that material your focus

is going to run out it's much better to

spread that workout throughout the week

and now the fourth habit of effective

students this this was very interesting

actually they teach they teach the

material to their fellow students now

this is something that I really like to

do in high school I really like to like

talk to my friends in school and teach

them the material that they didn't

understand the reason I love making

YouTube videos one of the reasons I

started this YouTube channel is cuz I

love to teach I love to explain things

in my own way of understanding and I

love that feeling when people are

understanding my teachings so what

highly effective students do is they

teach the material to their friends now

I was talking to the people in my

Discord server about this but some of us

we like to teach ourselves as well and

this is also super effective I love to

talk to myself maybe I'm crazy but I

love to talk to myself and explain the

material out loud you know if I'm

learning something I'll just like speak

it out loud and I'll pretend I'm

teaching someone but really it's just my

inner dialogue being let out into the

world I don't I don't know what I'm

talking about right now but for example

these videos these YouTube videos to be

honest this is how I talk to myself all

I'm doing is I'm simply clicking record

and recording me talking to myself so

yeah teaching is an effective way to see

your gaps in your knowledge and make

sure that you really understand the

material and you're not just memorizing

so the final thing to do with these

effective students they all have deep

motivation

for studying so what I realized about

the majority of students is the reason

they study is because they have to

because they're supposed to study it's

like oh my teacher told me to do this

homework all my parents want me to study

to get good grades they don't have a

deep inner reason to study they

motivation for studying is out there

it's like all my parents told me all my

teachers told me but all these effective

students they had a deep deep reason a

motivation to study and do well you know

maybe it's cuz they wanted to get a

really good job maybe it's because they

knew how the their grades would affect

their family in the future maybe they

just love to learn the material for me

that was one of my biggest motivations I

love to learn the material so where you

get your motivation is there's many you

got to find your motivation basically

and this is why it's good to let people

coach you and help you find your

motivations for studying or find it on

your own just take some time to think

and ask yourself why am I studying you

know what is it I want in my life you

know I won't talk too much about this

okay so now I'm going to tell you about

the most effective technique approach to

studying and I realized I kind of do

this on my own but I don't do it as much

as I should and this blew my mind

because most students don't do this so

the most effective method okay first I'm

going to tell you about the study that

they did so they had a couple groups of

students one group of students they had

them study the material four times the

next group of students they had them

study the material three times and then

take a test and the third group of

students they had them study the

material once and take three tests and

which group of students do you think did

the best it was that group of students

who studied the material once and took

three tests now this is absolutely

mindblowing what this means is that

testing is actually the most effective

method to learn and what he said in this

video was that testing offsets

forgetting by up to 50% if you test

yourself immediately after you learn the

material it offset sets forgetting by up

to 50% and this is crazy because it

doesn't seem like it because if you

study and you take a test and you get

like everything wrong that's actually

still very good you're actually still

learning but it you it destroys your

confidence it makes you feel like oh bro

I don't know know this material at all

compare that to how most students do it

they study the material and then they

study it again and again and again and

again and it makes them feel more

confident the more they study the

material but what they found with this

study is that actually the better

approach is to test yourself more so

even though testing destroys your

confidence it's actually much better for

Learning and if you study the material

over and over and over again it gives

you this false sense of confidence so I

remember in my first year of University

I was doing calculus 2 and I did all the

past papers you know I was hyped I was

ready for the test and I had this friend

who spent way more time studying the

material than me but his approach I knew

he was I knew he was screwed for the

exam because his approach to studying

calculus was to just go over the

lectures over and over and over again

and he knew the material really really

well he went over the lectures over and

over and over again but he ended up

failing the subject and the reason for

that I realize now is because he never

tested himself on the material he never

did past papers yeah going over the

material again and again gives you this

false sense of confidence because

there's a difference between familiarity

and Mastery Mastery is when you truly

have like a grasp of the concepts and

you can really use them well while

familiarity is simply recognizing the

material and you know being able to see

it from a distance that's why don't test

yourself with multiple choice questions

because multiple choice questions test

your familiarity you want to attest your

you want to test your active recall your

ability to actually bring the material

up and answer open-ended questions so

how exactly do you test yourself okay

pass papers that's one way I always talk

about in my videos to do a ton of

past papers to spam past papers cuz when

you test yourself that's when the

learning actually happens but you don't

just have to do past papers you can also

test yourself in your own mind so

ideally you want to do this as soon as

possible after you learn the material so

what I personally do is I'll sit down

I'll read like a chunk of the textbook

for example and when I start to feel

like okay I'm learning a lot here let's

see what I've learned I'll kind of go

back and I'll summarize the material in

my own kind of understanding I don't

know how to explain it but I'll have

like a visual going on in my mind where

I'll like try to like see if I

understand the concepts and I'll look

for like the gaps in my knowledge so for

example I'll learn about you know some I

was I was studying engineering for

example I was learning about some kind

of like you know engineering protocol

example for example and I'll read over

that I'll you know be alert I'll focus

on it I'll learn it and then afterwards

I'll kind of test myself I'll be like

okay do I understand this whole process

I'll go through every step and I'll look

for the gaps in my knowledge and I'll

search it up and I'll look learn it so I

do that test yourself in your own mind

make sure make sure you understand it

and also you know do past papers do

questions so testing yourself is

literally the most effective thing

possible like he showed in the study

it's better to study the material once

and then test yourself over and over

again than it is to just keep going over

the material even if you're getting

answers wrong getting an answer wrong

signals to your nervous system that we

need to learn the we need to

remember this so even if you're

getting questions wrong when you're

testing yourself that's completely fine

you're still learning it might tank your

confidence but you need to understand

that it's actually helping you so don't

let it tank your confidence you know

failure mistakes are where the real

learning happens okay I'm going to give

you two more quick like insights tips

here that are very very interesting that

I found one thing is called let me I

can't remember what it was called I

think it's called The Gap effect

basically if you learn something say for

example you read a chapter of a book or

something and you simply pause for 5 to

30 seconds your brain is quickly

reviewing that material faster than if

you were just learning it so how do we

use this effectively this this is

mind-blowing when I first learned about

this because apparently if you're

reading something learning something and

you simply pause for 5 to 30 seconds

don't check your phone don't do that

random just sit and do nothing

for 5 to 30 seconds your brain in the

background specifically your hippocampus

will actually be reviewing the material

so how do we use this effectively I I

realize I actually do this kind of

naturally when I read when I'm reading a

book I would just kind of pause every

now and then and just sit there and like

let my brain go over the material of

what I just learned rather than like

plowing through and reading and reading

so how do you use this effectively every

now and then just stop just stop and

just sit there for 5 to 30 seconds and

let your brain review what you just

learned okay and the second tip that's

very very interesting that I want to

tell you is learning is connected to

emotions now this is this this is

actually going to be pretty obvious when

you think about it let's say you this is

pretty sad let's say you see a car crash

happen you are going to remember that

very very vividly because it put you in

a state of like fear it heightened your

emotions so actually if you heighten

your emotions you're much more likely to

learn a very very good example of this

is if you're excited you're super super

hyped and interested about the material

learning maybe you're super curious

about what you're learning or maybe

you've got a teacher who's really really

good and he explains the material very

very well so if you're excited your

emotions are very very high and you're

going to learn much better so go watch

my video how to actually enjoy studying

I teach you how to get a bit more hyped

a bit more excited about your studies

which will actually help you learn

better but if you don't have a good

teacher a teacher who's not super hype

super you know makes the material very

exciting it can be a bit harder to learn

because your emotions are going to be

lower but yeah so I'll leave you on this

if you want to remember what you learned

into this video take a pause after this

video and test yourself a little bit fly

through the material of what I just

taught you summarize it see where your

gaps are come back to the video and

learn those parts again so yeah try