Learning is a lifelong process. The only way to keep up in a continually changing society is through learning. While learning is essential, what more important is understanding the scenario we are trying to understand. After all, what's the point of learning if we can’t even focus, right? So we have to be efficient at the same time. Efficiency is a way to measure the ration of input and output. While it is not possible to get the same amount of work done as the input energy, fine-tuning a machine can increase its efficiency significantly and get more work done than before with the same amount of input. Similarly, a few tweaks in our current learning habit can also improve our learning efficiency. Let’s dive deep and see how you can tweak your learning habit and bring out the inner super learner hidden in yourself.

"Learning never exhausts the mind" - Leonardo Da Vinci

  1. Be Selective: First, you must select a topic on which you want to put your maximum focus. Most people have no idea what they are trying to learn; thus, they keep wandering in the sea of knowledge. One day they are focused on the basics of programming and the next day they’re trying to understand HTML. That’s no way to learn effectively. So you must fix a topic where you want to put your focus. It can be Java programming or CSS or anything that you want to learn. Whatever it is, have a fixed topic in mind.
  2. Be Dedicated and Self-Motivated: This is quite self-explanatory. Learning is not a card game. You have to allocate a lot of time and pour a lot of effort into learning. If you are having a hard time motivating yourself, then remember why you got started in the first place. Imagine yourself in the place you want to be in a few upcoming years. It will help you visualize your dream and thus motivate you to put in the effort.
  3. Be Consistent: For a learner, consistency is a must. If you learn for 3 hours one day and think you’ve done enough for the next two days, then you haven’t figured out the importance of consistency. Yes, it is okay to take brakes and get lost in the wild once in a while, sometimes it’s necessary. But you have to know the difference between taking a break and dumping a lesson. Motivation will get you started and consistency will take you where you want to be.
  4. Get a Mentor: It’s not like you can’t learn without a mentor. The internet has changed how we used to learn. Now you can go to youtube and find a “how to” tutorial on almost anything you can imagine. We are not denying you can learn without a mentor but it is also necessary to not “reinvent the wheel” while also avoiding mistakes other learners have committed. Having a great mentor means you’re most likely to avoid errors and not reinventing the wheel either.  While it is an important step, you can still skip it if you’re confident about yourself.
  5. Prepare Your Learning Environment: Trying to understand the concepts of Bioenergetics during a commute and in a silent library room are not the same. It’s highly likely that you’ll have more focus in the latter scenario. You have to make sure you won’t get distracted while learning. To do so, finding a quiet and well-illuminated place is necessary.
  6. Time Allocation: This is the most important step. We have limited focus and energy. You’re more likely to understand all the nerdy equations when you’re the most energetic and most focused. That’s why you should be careful with the timetable. Early morning is an excellent time for avid learners. Not only are the distractions lesser but also our energy and focus are at its peak in the morning making it the ideal time to learn (we are not talking about night owls ?).

Now that you know all the “secret” tricks to maximize your learning efficiency, create a learning calendar and follow it strictly. Always remember, “Rome was not built in a day.”