SLEEP BETTER, LEARN BETTER

The following is part of my final project to enable me complete Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects | Coursera, taught by Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski

PART 1

The presentation would help me in the next chapter of my life (and anyone hoping to change gear), as it covers a wide range of topics including how to learn, avoid procrastination, the art of chunking, spaced repetition, memory palace and recalling what is stored in the warehouse as well as the Pomodoro, Process and Product techniques. Of course, sleeping. Yes, the course taught me that you should take a nap while you learn. Napping works. ???

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Learning the Basics of Learning

I had a steaming hot pepper soup and fish! That was the reward for completing the Learning How to Learn course. Then I drank a cup of Soursop smoothie as a toast to the burial of my procrastination zombies! To prepare for the final assignment, I had to retrieve the lessons by recalling keywords, statements, vocabulary by meaning, and some learning techniques. And I had a nap.

In addition to my preparation, I practiced deliberately. I used this deliberate process to balance my studies. How did I do this? I focused my attention on some difficult areas of the course. The approach is invaluable. It allowed me to close my notes and do two things: Recall what I have learnt. Test myself.

During this period, I paid attention to chunking. This is a basic technique of capturing a group of words, ideas, concepts, or vocabulary through understanding, practice, and repetition and storing them in my long-term memory. Then, I would recall the words I have chunked without opening the lesson note. Through chunking, I was able to practice and review the idea. Eureka, I have learned the basics of learning.??

Downside of cramming

However, wish I knew these techniques in my undergraduate days as a journalism student, and as a professional when I was preparing for the chartered public relations examinations. I did not know. Pity.

All I did then was cram everything: lessons, concepts, and all the notes. Did I pass? Yes. Can I recall what I have crammed? No. Did I store anything in my long-term memory? Nope. That is the downside of cramming any subject. The moment I left the examination hall, flew!

Everything I thought I have learned evaporated! Everything I thought I have mastered disappeared! Never, ever, ever to return. That is a bad approach to learning.

Part 2

Illusion of competence

However, the cramming technique is akin to the illusions of competence. Thinking I have mastered a subject because I have read it once without deliberate practice, without self-test, and without chunking and grasping the knowledge of the subject. Like cramming, the illusion of competence is never the best approach to learning.

Well, procrastination could be a motivation for embracing this learning approach. However, there are solutions to overcoming the illusion of competence. In the meantime, instead of embracing this illusion, I would take a nap. When I am awake, I would employ the Pomodoro technique to snuff out procrastination.

Learn better through sleep

‘You may be surprised to learn that simply being awake creates toxic products in your brain. During sleep, your cells shrink, causing a striking increase in the space between your cells.

This is equivalent to turning on a faucet—it allows fluid to wash past and push the toxins out. This nightly housecleaning is part of what keeps your brain healthy.

When you get too little sleep, the build-up of these toxic products is believed to explain why you cannot think very clearly. Too little sleep leads to Alzheimer’s and depression - prolonged sleeplessness is lethal’.

In a Mind for Numbers, How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) 1

Amy Alkon, syndicated columnist and catnap queen, says ‘Turning a short power nap into a longer sleep can leave you groggy. This amount of time gives me what’s a cognitive reboot.” 2

?Before arriving at this stage of my life, sleep deprivation is at the core of my lessons. The idea was that if I could deprive myself, and deny myself some luxury, I could learn faster. It is a myth.

Dr Barbara Oakley lectured that ‘not sleeping is like having sugar in your fuel tank’3.

Dr Robert Gamache, the award-winning bilingual scientist explains that ‘having a downtime (like sleeping) can be very beneficial. That is because the gears (of the brain) are always turning’. 4 ?

Sleeping after a lesson is good. It helps to wash away toxins deposited in the brain. Sleep refreshes the memory. This is my new routine. After a lesson, I take a nap to learn better.

You too should do that.

I live by this creed. It would benefit my next move.

‘Dreaming about what you're studying can substantially enhance your ability to understand. It somehow consolidates your memories into easier-to-grasp chunks.’ 5

Part 3

Learning through Focused and Diffuse modes to build neuro-structure

If you do not use this technique, it is a disservice to you. It was for me. Until I gained a different perspective through this course.

I had been using the focused method for learning all this while. That was why I could not score as many points as possible.

Now that I have learned how to apply the - focused and diffuse - learning modes, my learning has taken flight. I was blind.

Now I see.

Now I understand how to switch from the focused to the diffuse mode. And from the former to the latter. That is how to learn difficult subjects.

In addition, by working day by day, reading my lesson notes daily, not at once, I am building my neuro-structure where my memory can find little hooks.

I was blind.

Now I see.

In my earlier years, I would not study for exams until a week or two weeks before the take-off date. Do you know how I passed? I crammed everything.??With the benefits of these techniques, the focused mode of my brain allows me to pay attention to what I am learning.

It focuses on one aspect of learning.

It uses familiar thoughts.

I cannot be distracted. (no cell phone, no music, no Wi-Fi). The focused mode is like my bodyguard.

He stands by the door. He ascertains nothing comes through to disturb me.

On the other hand, the diffuse mode learns using unfamiliar terrain. This helps me to internalise the lessons.

I would refer to the diffuse mode as my mother.

To ensure I clean my room, she would recreate different germs that could threaten my survival. The diffuse mode helps me to internalise the lessons through another technique.

Metaphor and analogy.

These are two key elements that make the internalisation journey memorable.

Are the focused and diffuse modes like Siamese twins?

Hmm, well, I need the two modes if learning is to take place.

I did not know.

I was blind.

Now I see.

That was why I had been cramming stuff and I have been missing my dance steps. Thinking I was learning, all I do [I am not alone here; sure you can relate] is to focus, focus, and focus on one area of learning. I was not gaining much learning.

‘Focusing intently in one session to figure out something can be the worst approach possible to learning.’ Dr Barbara Oakley says in the Using the Focused and Diffuse mode that ‘Allowing the focus and the diffuse mode of thinking can help your learning ability.’ ?

I have discovered the right way to learn during the time I spent Learning How to Learn.

PART 4

Pomodoro snuffs out my (and your) Procrastination???

Learning any discipline is difficult. Therefore, what I would do initially was one of these three exercises. Avoid studying. Study little. Or cram the subject. The last exercise has not been efficient or effective for me. Do you know it was born from procrastination? How? I did not want to study. Playing football with my group was my passion. I would procrastinate. Not studying on time. To buy time, I crammed the lessons. Not anymore. Using the Pomodoro technique - by dedicating 25 minutes of intensely concentrated energy - I would focus on the difficult part of a lesson, with no distractions, and no multitasking. Then I would relax. I would take a walk. I would play.

I would get a drink.

Memorise what I have learnt.

Allow my brain to internalise the lesson.

I would use my visual and spatial memory.

Engaging my brain this way, I would store ideas and information in my long-term memory for future use. I would build neuro-scaffolding in my brain where my memory could find hooks. Using this block of time, I would read a portion of the lesson to gain clarity and understanding.

I would not push to complete the assignment. Just get going, bit-by-bit, step-by-step, gradually, until I finish the task. The Pomodoro technique, as postulated by Francesco Cirillo, would allow me to switch to the Process, and not the Product, mode.

These techniques are slowly becoming my habits. For me, that is the height of learning. ‘The mind evolves to help the body survive’.

Come to the Memory Palace

Here you cannot forget your memory. On the balcony, a large mural of Mount Everest welcomes you. On the right wall, images of moving automation such as cars, buses, trains, and aeroplanes hold you motionless.

On the left wall, giant images of animals including cats, tigers, lions, and their cubs, leopards, tortoises, snakes and turtles crawl out. The Memory Palace houses vivid images of everything you can think of.

By using images to remember what you have learnt, and placing mental pictures in familiar places, lessons can be fun. And memorable.

‘I would see any problem as a member of my family. Then I would be able to live with it, understand it, and solve it.’ ?The Memory palace technique is part of what I am incorporating into my next move.?????????????

What is your Motivation for Learning?

Learn more.

Study less.

To achieve this, I would need to pay close attention to my studies.

Concentrate.

The acetylcholine in my brain would help me with this. While my dopamine level would serve as a motivation for me. Already I am excited about the unexpected reward that awaits me.

I cannot predict the future reward, but I would work hard to avoid anhedonia.

To overcome this, I would always dive deep into the subject matter I want to learn.

Now and in the future. That is my motivation.??

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