While school and college teach us plenty of subjects, they impart scant few skills. Yet, skills alone will define career success for the vast majority of us. How do we bridge the gap? Enter ‘ultra-learning’: principles to master any skill, any time. It’s not an easy road, but it’s a proven one.
META-LEARNING
This is the learning map for your concept/skill of choice. Languages aren’t learned the same way as programming, or football, or the piano. Ask three questions:
WHY learn the skill?
WHAT should you do/know to master it?
HOW are you going to learn/practice?
Answer them, and you have your map.
FOCUS
The three main demons here, which we are all very familiar with –
Procrastination: this one’s straightforward. Clear your table (and your mind), set a timer, and, as Nike says, Just Do It. Willpower alone wins.
Environment: Nearly nobody is unlocking flow state in a 100-person family get-together. Identify distractions in your environment and systematically move yourself away from them.
The right ‘type’ of focus: working integral calculus requires a different kind of focus than painting a scenery - one is relaxed while the other is intense. Know which kind of focus your skill needs.
DIRECTNESS
The biggest game-changer, and where most structured syllabi fail. One cannot learn French by endlessly poring over the French dictionary, or learn piano simply by studying notes. Simply put, learn skills the way you want to use them. Piano? Play the piano. Public speaking? Give real speeches to real audiences. Don’t dodge the difficult practice. Two ways of achieving directness:
Projects: Produce, don’t just peruse. If learning coding, code a game or website. If learning formal writing, put out an essay every week.
Immersion: Force your environment so it forces you to apply your skill. Bring timers and buzzers to quiz practice, for example. Actual scenarios teach us far more than safe mock trials.
DRILL
Naturally, we will mess up in direct practice. Find the gap. Isolate it, and drill it to perfection. Repeatedly. Continuously. Boringly, perhaps. Maybe it’s the grammar in a language, or facial proportions in drawing or painting. Divide the skill into two buckets: the OKs and the not-OKs. Work the not-OKs, then repeat direct practice to see if your work has worked: practice -> drill -> practice. A small tip here: always drill the most uncomfortable portion of the skill. Normally, that’s what really needs fixing.
RETRIEVAL
Picture this: exam in two hours. Review notes, create mind maps, or test yourself? Science says testing beats everything else, by a gargantuan margin. Forcing yourself to recall without the safety of notes, textbooks, or the laptop is the best way to remember more things for longer.
