The evidence is in, and it’s mind boggling.
All work and no rest makes Jack a dumb boy.
In Psycho-Cybernetics 365, I wrote about the power of learning “procedurally.”
I mentioned that you want to learn new things in chunks, in bits and pieces, and how anything you want to get good at doing is possible IF you stop practicing, studying or working the way most people are commonly taught.
In the past, I thought the secret of learning faster was cramming and jamming. I thought it was all about relentless pressure.
Then one day I learned how taking in information slowly, for short periods of time, followed by rest – was the fastest way to learn.
What???
I also learned that everything you want to learn is much, much easier when you associate what you want to learn with something you already know.
To do this you form a mental picture of what you already know (memory activation) and find how it is similar to what you want to know (the goal). Once your brain forms an association between the two, the speed of learning is amplified.
Once again, so much of learning is not about rote memorization or cramming and jamming; it’s more about mental imagery in a relaxed state. It’s about picturing, seeing, associating.
You makes some strides – then you rest. You do not push, push, push.
You learn-rest, learn-rest and learn-rest.
And it turns out that when you are resting, your brain isn’t. It’s replaying the information you “worked on” at 10-20 times the speed you were using while studying.
This brain processing is called myelination, which I also wrote about in Psycho-Cybernetics 365.
If you’ve been struggling to learn something, and/or if you’ve attempted to cram and jam a new self-image by eradicating dozens and dozens of limiting beliefs – STOP doing so.
Give yourself one idea, one new goal image to practice at a time and get it down. Then rest. Then the next idea, once again followed by rest.
Remember to take it slowly. Because the more you slow it down, the faster you learn.
Matt Furey
Here’s the link to Psycho-Cybernetics 365
