A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

by Barbara Oakley

If you don’t (yet) consider yourself naturally good at math and science, you may be surprised to learn that the brain is designed to do extraordinary mental calculations. We do them every time we catch a ball, or rock our body to the beat of a song, or maneuver our car around a pothole in the road. We often do complex calculations, solving complex equations unconsciously, unaware that we sometimes already know the solution as we slowly work toward it.2 In fact, we all have a natural feel and flair for math and science. Basically, we just need to master the lingo and culture.

You’ll be surprised at how spending a minute or two glancing ahead before you read in depth will help you organize your thoughts.

Focused-mode thinking is essential for studying math and science. It involves a direct approach to solving problems using rational, sequential, analytical approaches. The focused mode is associated with the concentrating abilities of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, located right behind your forehead.

Diffuse-mode thinking is also essential for learning math and science. It allows us to suddenly gain a new insight on a problem we’ve been struggling with and is associated with “big-picture” perspectives. Diffuse-mode thinking is what happens when you relax your attention and just let your mind wander.

Basically, the focused mode is used to concentrate on something that’s already tightly connected in your mind, often because you are familiar and comfortable with the underlying concepts.

This is precisely why one significant mistake students sometimes make in learning math and science is jumping into the water before they learn to swim.

If you are trying to understand or figure out something new, your best bet is to turn off your precision-focused thinking and turn on your “big picture” diffuse mode, long enough to be able to latch on to a new, more fruitful approach.

The harder you push your brain to come up with something creative, the less creative your ideas will be.

But as long as we are consciously focusing on a problem, we are blocking the diffuse mode.

Articulating your question is 80 percent of the battle. By the time you’ve figured out what’s confusing, you’re likely to have answered the question yourself!”

when you procrastinate, you are leaving yourself only enough time to do superficial focused-mode learning.

Turn off your phone and any sounds or sights (or websites) that might signal an interruption. Then set a timer for twenty-five minutes and put yourself toward doing a twenty-five-minute interlude of work focused on a task—any task. Don’t worry about finishing the task—just worry about working on it.

Once the twenty-five minutes is up, reward yourself with web surfing, checking your phone, or whatever you like to do. This reward is as important as the work itself. You’ll be amazed at how productive a focused twenty-five-minute stint can be—especially when you’re just focusing on the work itself, not on finishing.

1 The key is to do something else until your brain is consciously free of any thought of the problem.

You do, however, if you simply switch your focus to other things you need to do, and mix in a little relaxing break time.

Once you are distracted from the problem at hand, the diffuse mode has access and can begin pinging about in its big-picture way to settle on a solution.

math and science are deeply creative forms of thinking even when you are just learning them in school.

Meditate or pray