Notes on Learning
Tags: career
Published: 2020-01-29 16:50:01


## How to absorb information faster and retain for longer

The following is a compiled set of tools that I have gathered from various sources to help in the process of learning. You can 
use it as a framework to tackle any learning assignment. There are a ton of material out there and I have included only the
ones that have helped me immensely. 

### Before Study

- Design a near-optimal environment that you're comfortable with.
  - Try Airplane mode on phone.
  - Try noise-cancelling headphones.
  - Try ambient background music to help in concentration ([noisli](https://www.noisli.com), [brain.fm](https://www.brain.fm), [freecodecamp's code-radio](https://coderadio.freecodecamp.org/)).
  
- Design the study sessions along the lines of [Deliberate practice](https://jamesclear.com/deliberate-practice-theory).
  - Find material which is not too easy, nor too hard but at a level that pushes you to exercise your brain without requiring advanced skills. 
  - Model your self-education around [these principles](https://www.fast.ai/2016/10/08/teaching-philosophy/). Diversify your resources.
  - Focus on applications first when starting out, then learn the theory as and when needed. Example: If you're trying to learn Deep Learning, try building some models first and then learn the theory behind it, as taught in the excellent [Fast.ai course](course.fast.ai).
    Another example: If you're trying to learn a second language, try speaking useful phrases before learning grammar. 
  - Learn by doing. Build things. Get actively involved in the process.
 

### During Study
 
 - Divide your study sessions into chunks of 25 minutes of focused work followed by 5 minutes of break. See [Pomodoro method](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique), [Forest app](https://www.forestapp.cc/).
 - Take notes while you study. Type/write the words out in your note-taking app/notebook instead of copy-pasting or capturing images.
 - Simultaneously create flashcards to use spaced-repetition. [This website on learning quantum computing](https://quantum.country) incorporated spaced-repetition into the learning material. You can use [Anki](https://apps.ankiweb.net/) for your personal notes. The app would take care of your repetitions.
 - Try to incorporate visual mnemonics while learning. [Nelson Dellis' excellent book](https://www.nelsondellis.com/remember-it) and [his youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnoNZatRUaRwFphlCMbwJeXuYg-AoE6t1) will get you covered.
 - Most importantly, **Pause and Ponder** (a phrase taken from videos by [Grant Sanderson](https://www.3blue1brown.com/)). Think in analogies and reflect on the intuitive meaning to deepen the conceptual understanding.
 
### After Study
 
 - Review often. If you use Anki, this will be taken care of automatically. See [this](http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html) and [this](https://www.jackkinsella.ie/articles/janki-method-refined). If you don't use Anki or any spaced-repetition software, schedule your reviews in 1, 3, 7, 21, 45, ... days. This is what I used before moving to Anki. You can try your own schedules. See [this](https://collegeinfogeek.com/spaced-repetition-memory-technique/) and [this](https://yourawesomememory.com/spaced-repetition-overview/).
 - Recall trumps re-reading. When you're reviewing, try to recall the material instead of just reading/watching/listening it again. Familiarity gives us a false sense of knowledge. Test yourself while reviewing to help in retention. Barbara Oakley's [book](https://barbaraoakley.com/books/a-mind-for-numbers/) and [course](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/) are amazing resources which delve deep into this concept and other study techniques.
 - Use the [Feynman technique](https://fs.blog/2012/04/feynman-technique/) for reinforcing what you learned: 
   - Pretend you are teaching it to a student.
   - Identify gaps in your explanation;  Go back to the source material, to better understand it. Also, [see this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-qkGJBPts).
 - Try to apply what you've learned to concrete problems to help cement your concepts.

 
 
 
 **Have fun learning!!**