Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens

by Barbara Oakley

Instead, when you start a new chapter, go on a “picture walk”* through it. Scan it. Look briefly at all the pictures, captions, and diagrams, but also at the section headings, bold words, and summary, and even questions at the end of the chapter, if the book has them.

When you are trying to learn something new, you must first focus intently on it in order to “turn on” those parts of the brain and get the learning process started.

Diffuse mode is when your mind is relaxed and free. You’re thinking about nothing in particular.

The diffuse mode helps you make imaginative connections between ideas. Creativity often seems to pop out of using the diffuse mode. It turns out that your brain has to go back and forth between focused and diffuse modes in order to learn effectively.

But it seems that the best ways to give your diffuse mode a chance to work out a difficult problem are through activities like sleeping, exercising, or going for a ride in a vehicle.

To be a successful problem solver, focus first. We get stuck in problem solving when we don’t first prepare our brain by focusing on the basics. Don’t just dive into problem solving without studying the explanations first. You need to lay some basic trails on the focused pinball table.

If you’ve been sitting while you study, breaks where you move your body around are often the best.

Pulling the key idea from your own mind, instead of just reading or rereading it on the page, is the critical idea behind active recall.

The Three Key Steps to Powerful Reading Picture walk Read with care Use active recall

Highlighting or underlining. Don’t be fooled! Just highlighting or underlining big chunks of text doesn’t put anything in your head. Make brief notes about the key concepts you are reading. Do this in the margin or on a piece of paper. These notes help you create brain-links of the key concepts.