How to train to become a faster learner

[jaydnul]

I'm somewhat of a slow learner. I am fine if I can spend a lot of time with something, but I can never solve a problem quickly on the spot or remember things the first time they are told to me. Do you guys have any suggestions on how I can train myself to become a faster learner?

 

[nuuskur]

1. Pinpoint the time of day you are most "adequate". For instance, I know that I shine in the afternoons, therefore I study NEW! material in the afternoons. That's, of course, not to say I can't study in the morning or at nights.

2. Make sure you are well-rested, that means get a good amount of exercise and sleep like a baby at nights.

3. Make sure your diet is balanced. That said, get intimate with your personal health, if you haven't by now.

I advise taking all "brain power" food recommendations you find by googling with a large spoon full of a salt. The common theme is people are looking for some clear cut definitive ways to "get better". Well, it takes a lot of trial and error and there is, sadly, no cookie cutter way of achieving it. The three things I suggested are by no means final.

 

[FallenApple]

Maybe try to get exercise if you do not. I find that regular exercise helps me retain things better and this helps me save time overall. I do weightlifting and cardio 3 times a week. Milage may vary though, depending on the person.

 

[nuuskur]

Maybe try to get exercise if you do not. I find that regular exercise helps me retain things better and this helps me save time overall. I do weightlifting and cardio 3 times a week. Milage may vary though, depending on the person.

I turned to exercise not because I thought it may help me directly study better. Initially, I took up exercising to sleep better. I do think it has helped me stay with a problem longer Without losing focus, though. There is definitely benefit in exercising.

 

[dkotschessaa]

There's only so much you can do about speed I think but there are lots of great learning strategies to help overall. The key is to work around it and take stock of your other possible advantages.. i.e. maybe you do not learn as "fast" but perhaps you remember things longer, or have a good visual understanding of things, or good intuition about how things are supposed to work etc. Speed isn't everything.

-Dave K

 

[Windadct]

Also - do not fret as the rate of comprehension is not an indicator of overall intelligence. As for school work though, it can be tough.

In addition to the times of the day, exercise, rest - also try to figure out HOW you learn best. Since you are bringing this up, my guess is that listening and reading, the two most widely used educational methods, are probably not your optimal formats. There is recitation ( repeating the info verbally, debate and discussion, or teaching it to others), practical (interacting with the material in a physical sense) , just the act of physically rewriting things like formulas - can have dramatic impact on retention.
Everyone is different.

 

[Dusty912]

honestly, I don't know if I'm a fast or slow learner. I know I spend as much time as I need to comprehend the material. But, depending on where you are at in your education, I believe the speed at which you start getting concepts down does speed up over time. I was struggling in pre calculus 2 years ago but now if I was to go back and learn everything again from scratch it would probably be a breeze