Teaching Yourself Effectively
Tags: productivity, learning, beginners
Published: 2022-04-07 06:29:59

I want to start this article by saying - "__*Anything can be learned and everyone was once a beginner at something*__". 

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## The Power of Internet & Google
![image](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5fdvh0ial8or478er3a5.png)
You have to be aware of this as - "*Everything's on the internet nowadays*" - that's what they say. Every resources that you need to learn something is at your fingertips. All you have to do is type in the right keywords to get what you need.

Realizing that **finding resources to learn something is very easy nowadays**, but what about the next?

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## Developing Curiosity
![image](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/sufi6f855pf4r3fc8vq0.png)
Developing curiousity is very easy, as we all ask questions all the time. So, whenever you have questions on your mind, try to do anything to answer that question. Ask someone, read something, do your own experiments, etc. Don't stop until you fill the gaps of your understanding.

After developing your curiosity, the next step is probably the __hardest technique to cultivate__ and is where people struggle when approaching a new topic

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## Seeing How Things are Connected To Each Other
![image](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ilza7q39rhv8f1kr1xmy.png) 
It's always frustrating when you feel like you're just wasting time learning something, "*Like how is this relevant to what I want to achieve?*". When it feels like that, things get hard to learn. 

What you can do is, instead of focusing more on the thing you're learning. Try to enter on your brain's defuse mode. *What is it?* Just simply walk away from the thing you're learning and give your brain enough time to relax. Wait for a couple of minutes, hours, weeks, months, or even years and then comeback to the thing you've been learning. Now, your brain has new perspectives and connections between each concepts will start to appear.

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## Planning What, When, and How to Study
![image](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7108tw5mz944pjd0wtpf.png) 
Planning is what separates learner from effective learner. If you're enrolled in a school or university, there's no need to worry about study plan, as schools provide it already. You get your course outline, your daily schedule, and everything. 

But when you're self-teaching, it's all up to you. Without a proper study plan, you need to have a strong self-discipline and determination to learn something and be good at it. The problem with using self-discipline is, you can't always rely on it. 

But don't worry, a study plan could be simple as, knowing your most productive time in a day and studying at that time. But of course, that's not enough if you really want to maximize your self-teaching capability. 

### So here's some helpful tips you want to consider:
1. Create a course outline or just write down important concepts of the things you're trying to learn
2. Identify and stick to your best schedule
3. Remember to take breaks (enter brain's defuse mode)
4. Test yourself to see what you have learned

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## Summary 
To summarize.. Just 
**Be aware** 
**Be curious**
**Don't forget to relax**
then 
**Plan & execute**