Practical Ways Of Engaging In Learning And Improving Retention
Recently, I saw a video of Shiv
Khera, the world-class motivational speaker, talks about how this time of lockdown is downtime,
and for most of us, it is an opportunity to upgrade our skills, learn a new
competency, take up a new course which may be useful for our career. Once the
lockdown opens, we will be able to start off with renewed energy and focus.
Most of us are honing on this
opportunity and taking to the internet to learn new information and learn new
courses. Many websites like Coursera, Udemy, and many others also offering free courses for those who are interested. But with tons of information
being piled up in front of us, it is essential for us to chunk and store it
well in our memory. We must be able to access the reservoir of information.
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| Information Overload |
Getting exposed to a lot of information is detrimental and may instead confuse us. However, if we are aiming at taking in the right amount of information would be
ideal to get mental stimulation and keep learning, which is healthy at any age.
Here are some practical ways to
action while you learn new things and take new information to recall and use
sometime in the future:
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| Coding Information |
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| Managing Attention |
2. Managing
your attention span- Paying undivided attention and avoiding distractions can
help information to pass from the short term to the long term memory.
3. Take
breaks- Taking breaks is actually productive for your work. An article in New York times also goes ahead to state that being overwhelmed
with work and skipping essential routine like breakfast does not help. In fact,
after a good break, our brain is refreshed and we learn better.
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| Taking Breaks While Learning |
4. Relating it to past experiences, memories- Relating new information to things which we
already know will help recall by establishing relationships.
5. Practice
and rehearsal- Practice makes us perfect. Elaborative rehearsals make the nodes
of memory stronger and assist in recall when required.
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| Visualisation |
6. Visualization-
This method is the best for visual learners. Use your imagination to create
mental images. While learning, visual learners tend to pay more attention to
graphics, pictures, and charts.
7. Recalling
the voice- Like visualization, the method of recalling the voice of a powerful way
to learn for auditory learners.
8. Understand your learning style-
There are different learning styles which people use to learn. Each one of us
has a dominant style. We must bank on that to learn better, however, we must
use multiple modalities to make learning fun. To understand more about your own learning style, you can use freely available online tools.
9. Teaching
others- Its interesting to know that if you teach others when you know, it will
enhance your own learning and retention. It is also called the Protégé Effect.
10. Apply
your learning- Immediate and practical application of what you have learned is a
great way of increasing retention. When the theory is blended with practice, it
solidifies the abstract concepts with practical reality for the individual. One
must search for opportunities and seek chances to apply his learning in every
aspect of life.
These are some
practical ways in which we can use our lockdown period to improve retention of
information and engage in more learning.
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