How can I increase my learning capacity ?

[Mr 47]

Hello,

 

Just two months stand between me and the most important exams of my life!!

 

How can I maximize (or at least increase) my learning capacity ??

 

I am determined to direct all kinds of resources/energies I posses towards this goal in order to achieve high grades at my exams. But how exactly should I do that?

 

Please help me with any kind of tip you know (not necessarily Taoist); I'd be very grateful!!

 

Thanks!

Edited April 20, 2010 by Mr 47

[Fire Dragon]

Hello

 

There are alot of methods out there. It depends realy on you yourself which one that suits you.

 

Here is one based on repetition. It could be combined with mind maps or similar teqniques to fasten up learning and to shorten the amount of information pages, but that is not totaly necessarily. It is based on how the memory works and based on scientific studies on the memory. It is about finding the optimum repetition time, time where you read true the stuff again. If you use this repetition scheme you will remember some more than 80% of the stuff each time you read true it again, and then each repetition of the material will go extremely fast. This is how it works:

 

Read true a material for about 30 minutes, take a 10 minutes brake were you relax the brain. Start the next 30 minutes session with a read true the material you did read the session before, It should take from about 3 to 5 minuetes, make shore you understund everything, and perhaps abit more than you did the first session, then you continue in the book, take a brake for 10 minuetes repetition of the thing you read the session before this and so on.

 

Each part you read you make a repetition of according to the following modell:

Read true it the first time

First repetition after 10 minutes

Next repetition after one day

Next repetition after one week

Next repetitioni after one month

Next repetition before the exame

 

During the repetitions you might work with pencils alot, they can be of different colors, you might use every artistic skill you have, bad or good it doesn't matter, not exact pictures that take time though. Underline or ring in forcefully important stuff, make notes and make summaries in big letters over a page. After some repetitions you migth just looke at the sumaries you have made to remember the stuff you read. This is the fastest way to use your memory, according to this model, you save alot of time, beacase each repetition will go quite fast.

 

Each day you start with the day repetition, then the week repetitions, then the month repetition, and then you start reading new stuff.

 

Mark each part you have read during the 30 minutes and make a note of the day you read true it, and make notes of your repetitions 10 for 10 minutes D for day w for week and M for mounth and X for before exame.

 

 

 

You can also learn ways to increase your memory capacity true authors like, Tony Buzan and Harry Lorraine. It is possible to increase your learning capacity by about a factor 5 or 10 with this methods, but they might take some time to learn, so that they became effective. The method with repetitions should be easy to start emidiatly and then yuo could read something from the authors I mentioned to get the hint of the ideas and use some of them in this study.

 

Good Luck

 

Fire Dragon

[Oleg Galkin]

In my student days I used Red Bull to increase my productivity when preparing for an examination :)

[Aetherous]

I am determined to direct all kinds of resources/energies I posses towards this goal in order to achieve high grades at my exams. But how exactly should I do that?

 

Spend all day at the library going over the material, bringing in simple healthy meals to eat, or having them in your car if it's not allowed in the library. At the end of the day, reward yourself somehow.

[Mr 47]

Fire Dragon, thanks a lot !!

Edited April 20, 2010 by Mr 47

[Mr 47]

In my student days I used Red Bull to increase my productivity when preparing for an examination :)

 

Thank you.

[Mr 47]

Spend all day at the library going over the material, bringing in simple healthy meals to eat, or having them in your car if it's not allowed in the library. At the end of the day, reward yourself somehow.

 

Sounds like a truly good idea. Thanks !

[三江源]

Ginseng , Theanine , and plenty of good nutrition. When I had a lot of revision to do I found I got very hungry and very sleepy, too. So I used to do cooked lunch and then a sleep. My working day was longer this way, but much more powerful. Also, the most effective revision is the first ten minutes, and the last ten minutes. The brain recalls these parts of a task the most. Because of this I'd work in twenty minute slots. Get up, stretch, have a glass of water, get some fresh air, dance around, whatever, every twenty minutes.

 

You also may not be aware what part of the day is your optimal one for mental activity. I found that actually although I love sleeping in, the most effective part of the day for me to retain information was the early morning, about 5.30 - 8. 30. It may be worth paying attention to what part of the day is your most alert time, and saving trickiest topics for that time.

 

Learn the art of precis, so that your summaries become super condensed, and your notes are made up of key words that create spider maps in your mind.

 

Most of all, cultivate a great love of your subject, and have fun with it all, the very best of luck!

[Cloudhand]

My favorite method for study is repetition take what you are going to study and burn it in your mind. Over and over so you know it by heart then make small drafts to study. Outlines are good too. Even sleep with the material you are studying. Stop all partying and stay on course that will take you to the place you want to be in. Cloud

[markern]

cogmed.com is solidly proven to improve your working memory. Two months might be a litle short time but should still lead to a fair improvement. Working memory is key for all learning and thinking skills. You would have to spend about 20-30 min or so a day on it to get good effect. There is a similar thing you can get on your iphone for free I think that there also have been done some preliminary studies on. However, there is of course the dilema that spending time on this takes away time and energy from learning what you actually need to learn. Not sure what would be the best option.

 

Do you do meditation or breathing exercises or some such stuff. THat could help a lot for learning, memory concentration and relaxation and energy levels.

 

If you do such stuff one usefull thing I learnt from Mantak Chia is that when you realy sink your mind and energy to the dan tien you sort of save energy because any process that involves the lower dan tien is done with a lot less use of energy then when the same process is done with the head. So when you sink down and do as much as possible from your gut/center/dan tien then you will save a lot of energy that will give you more energy for those activities that actually needs to be done by the head such as logical thinking. I first noticed this myself doing pilates. It realy gets you down into your abdomen and that gives my head more energy.

 

Rest and sleep is key for learning. Meditation beely breathing or similar of course helps here. Yoga Nidra is superb for this. Consider taking a few massages to reduce stress and help you rejuvenate. Also you mgiht do acupunture to give boost energy levels and strengthen your kidneys to help your memory.

[Ramon25]

Krill oil

Coenzyme b complex from AOR

acetyl l carnitine

piracetam

citicoline

lions mane mushroom

bacopa

 

In that order

[Birch]

What kind of exams?

 

The kind where you just have to be able to retain a lot of facts and then repeat them once you get asked the questions?

 

Do you need to be able to reconfigure the information upon questioning? Question the question?

 

What kind of questions? From memory? Open book? Multiple choice?

 

People who design exams tend to (ought to? Sometimes they get it backwards.) design the learning around them so the way your lessons are designed could be a pretty good indicator of what you need to concentrate on. Also, did you get "practice exams"? Even if the school/college didn't offer them, these can often be obtained if the exam you're sitting is recognized in some way (i.e. a state or national standard)

 

Otherwise the other self-care suggestions are great. Not sure about Red Bull though!

 

 

Some cool sites to go check out!

[mYTHmAKER]

There is research that says it is easier to learn while listening to Mozart.

It's called the Mozart Effect

Do a google

[Fire Dragon]

Fire Dragon, thanks a lot !!

 

You're welcome

 

That stuff works well for me!

 

FD

[thelerner]

If its a course where you take notes, take'em on the right hand page during class, then after class do them over, neater and more concise on the left (pictures and doodles are good).

 

Teachers want to give A's. Get into a relationship with them. Ask what you should concentrate on, the format of the test etc. Let them know after class what you have problems on and make an appointment to see them after class.

 

If you're in college, see if groups, (frats etc.) have copies of old tests or old notes from the same teacher. See if you can access them example; I was in a Co-ed Service Fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, they had files and on occasion shared.

 

Find out your best study style. Concentrated for 90 minutes or better off taking 5 minute breaks every 25.

 

Mint flavored gum or hard candy- study while chewing and take some during the test (if allowed), its been known to help.

 

Other then that the basics, repetition, mnemonics, study cards, good nights sleep. You can download free sleep/study hypnotic routines at the Itunes Podcast store, 'Meditation Station' has a 'Pre-test Meditation' as well as ones called 'ZZZZZ' and 'Evening Inventory' (which I use and like).

 

 

Yours

 

Michael