Forgotten learning tips
What they don't tell you at school
Unusual study tips
Is there something almost indefinable missing from your studies? Then maybe these unusual study tips can plug the gap.
Read something right before bed
If you are having trouble with a topic or a concept, read about it right before bed, and then sleep on it.
Overnight your brain will turn over the information, and when you look at it in the morning, you will almost certainly have some new insights.
Explain your studies to a 5-year-old
It doesn’t have to be a real one, but explaining what you are learning to an imaginary audience of uninformed people really forces you to clarify your ideas, prioritise information, and explain it with no jargon.
Not only will this improve your teaching ability (crucial for people like me), but it will reveal exactly where the gaps in your understanding are.
This was a vital part of Richard Feynman’s technique, and it led him to a Nobel Prize.
Work in the gaps
If you are like me you are very busy, and sometimes are desperately short on study time. So work in the gaps.
If someone is late to a meeting, that is 5 minutes of vocab practice in your target language. If there is a train delay, that is another 10 minutes of maths problems to solve.
You’ll be amazed at how much you get done in this “dead time”.
Interleaving
I reckon you’re probably learning lots of things at once and want to find the best way to balance these topics. You have got to try interleaving.
This is when you work on one area for a moderate amount of time, normally 30-45 minutes, before working on a different topic entirely for another 30-45 minutes, and then returning to the first one.
Not only does this keep studying interesting, but it gives you some breathing room between subjects to allow your unconscious to begin processing the newly learnt information. So when you tackle it for round two, it will seem much more familiar.
I am an enormous fan of mastering the basics when it comes to studying, but if you need a bit of extra spice, then test these strategies out for yourself and let me know how you get on.
If you are a truly committed learner and want to work with me 1-1 reach out to me by email at josephfolleytutoring@gmail.com. Previous clients have attended the University of Cambridge, the LSE, and more.
The week’s reading
This week I have been reading Kafka’s The Trial, as well as Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death for some upcoming videos.
They are both fantastic. It has been years since I have properly torn into Kierkegaard but his analysis of the causes of human despair is truly brilliant. Kafka’s writing style also just oozes suspense and evil mundanity. I highly recommend both of them.
I have a video out on Aristotle’s theories of friendship later today so stick around to watch that!
All the best,
Joe
Found your video on weakness and Nietzsche's view of it very interesting as a contrast with the more common criticism of strength, or strongmen. But this take on weak men strikes a chord because actually, everybody hates weak people, and not only traitors, but often merely the lukewarm which even god "spits out" according to the bible." Being "weak" seems associated with lack of will, or the courage of one's convictions. And yet, in a way, it seems very unfair. There are sometimes terrible consequences to defending your most deeply held convictions -serious deprivation, and even torture and death. It is a very judgmental and, very likely, unaware person who would insist on perfect honesty under all and any circumstances.