A Neat Trick To Increase Your Learning Rate

There's a method I use in learning all the things I want to learn and it has greatly helped me to absorb a lot at a faster than normal rate (whatever normal is).

image: learningsuccess.com

And it is a simple trick. 

Most of us give ourselves a time based learning target or create a learning time table and force ourselves to follow it. We tell ourselves that we will spend two hours a day on a particular skill we are learning or read the study guide for two hours a day. And when we are slacking we try to force ourselves back into following that routine by denying ourselves something we love to do until we've completed the routine. It is a not very good way to learn. There is a much better way and I will show you that way.

Learning is most fun when you are actually motivated to do it. Think about it. You still remember your nursery school rhymes though it has been decades ago and you were too little to have given it as much deliberate effort as you do the things you currently learn. You know why? It is because you had motivation on your side when you were learning those nursery school rhymes. You enjoyed learning them and that greatly increased your learning rate, even making it a permanent knowledge.

So the trick I am talking about is you should engage motivation in all your learning. After you've set your mind on learning a thing, and have bought all the learning materials or even enrolled in a class, you need to get one more vital thing. You need to look for motivation. Don't force yourself to learn anything anymore. Rather force yourself to find a genuine and strong motivation to learn. 

My own means of finding motivation is to read about people online whose lives have changed greatly because of that knowledge I am trying to acquire. I also read about how they went about acquiring the knowledge. I read about how to overcome my lack of time; I read about exciting learning tricks I can incorporate to increase the fun level. I read about people who also struggled like me and went great lengths to acquire the knowledge. Generally, I surround myself with a virtual community cheering me on and giving me the motivation I need. 

I also don't try to follow a routine. I learn when I am in the mood to. Only that I try hard to always be in the mood to learn. And that is my trick on how to increase your learning rate.