This time I will give you a word and you will write down everything that that word reminds you about.
Ready?
Tree
Step 1 – What Do You Already Know
This is the brainstorming step. It activates the knowledge you already have about your subject, encourages your conscious mind to communicate with your subconscious mind about your subject and helps to provide memory hooks that new information can latch on to.
Imagine you are doing a word association test where every item relates to a central keyword or phrase that describes your subject:
- Take a piece of paper
- Turn it on its side so that you are looking at it landscaped
- Write the subject title in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it
- Around that keyword, write short keywords and phrases about the subject. Draw lines to connect the central word with each satellite word, concept, fact, quote and soundbite etc…
- Follow the path each new addition takes you to and draw lines to connect additional words, phrases and concepts to their parents
- Be creative: use vivid pictures and different ink colors to reinforce ideas
- If your mind is blank, draw a few lines leading from the central subject word and watch as your mind finds something to fill them with.
The end product will look like a map; and that is exactly what it is: it is a map of your current knowledge about the subject. Call your masterpiece a mind map, spider diagram or anything else. Strictly speaking it is not a mind map. I call it a knowledge map and that is what it will be known as throughout this guide. I will explain more about mind maps in the next installment of this series.
Healing With Honey Mind Map (Click to enlarge)
The brain works on multiple tasks at the same time. It likes to stumble around and recall bits of information as and when a subject path leads to them. Your usual role is to direct your brain to that information. On this occasion, your role is to let your brain roam freely and to direct you to take notes of whatever it digs up. Only redirect it when it gets sidetracked from the original subject.
Step 2 – Scan It
Quickly scan your subject resource. Our eyes are good at following objects so use that natural skill to help you scan the pages – run your finger or hand up, down and across the pages to trick your eyes into scanning them rapidly. Scan the page as quickly as you can while still being able to grab keywords and concepts. Look for the spoilers – the bits that tell you who did what, when, where, how and why. You are learning the subject not reading a novel for entertainment – you are allowed to skip to the end; hell, you can start at the end if you want, just make sure you only scan the pages at this stage, you will read them more thoroughly in a few minutes.
This step applies to resources other than documents too:
- If your subject resource is an audio book or movie, scan any cover notes that accompany it
- If it is an audio file, you should use the fast forward button and skip between sections, stopping only to listen to 2 or 3 second sound bites
- If it is a movie then you should play it at 2, 4 or more times the regular play speed
- If it is a teacher or discussion group then you should request an overview of the lesson before the main part of it begins
Step 3- Ask Questions
Quickly work out what you want to learn from the subject resource then close your eyes and phrase a few questions for it. Write them down if you need to. This is important whether you are reading a text document or receiving a lecture. Get your mind looking for knowledge – motivate it to stay tuned and awake.
Step 4 – Add to Your Knowledge Map
Spend 2 or 3 minutes updating your knowledge map. You will impress yourself with how much you have just learned and recalled simply by scanning and questioning your resource.
Step 5 – Scan it Again
Your mission is to absorb keywords, concepts and images to hook new knowledge on to. Skip back and forth between sections when you recognize relationships between them. This will help you get a better overview of the subject.
Step 6 – Read it
You have recalled the knowledge you already possess, you have developed an overview of the subject and given yourself hooks to latch new knowledge on to, so go ahead, read the text, watch the video, listen to the audio book or let your teacher speak.
Regularly summarize what you read, hear, observe and contemplate. Do this mentally. If you make physical notes then use keywords not complete sentences. The idea is to summarize without impeding the learning mindset created in the previous steps.
Step 7 – Relax
Find somewhere quiet to sit or lay down for 20 minutes and let your mind play with the information it has just soaked up. If you meditate then this is a good time to do so.
Step 8 – Total Recall
Create a new knowledge map to help you consolidate, recall and activate your new knowledge with your old knowledge.
Step 9 – Relax Again
Go and do something else for two to four hours. This is a vital stage of your learning process. The mind needs time to organize and play with information without being impaired by conscious mental blocks. Let it do its work while you play.
Step 10 – Recall and Review
Mentally recall the subject matter then review your new knowledge map. You will recall more details than you did when you created it. Add those details to your map.
Review your knowledge map again after 24 hours, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months. The more you use your new knowledge, the less you need to review your map. However, the more you review it, the less you will forget it.
Question yourself about what you know. If it helps, imagine you are a teacher and visualize a student, a group of students or even a younger or older version of yourself and discuss the subject. This is a great way to communicate with yourself and discover contradictions and gaps within your own knowledge.
This brings us to the end of the first part of this four part series about advanced learning techniques. The next three installments have already been written and will be released at a rate of one per week over the next three weeks.
Next week’s installment is called The Tricks of Record Breaking Memory Holders and discusses some of the most important and easy to remember memory and recall enhancement methods used by world record breaking memory holders. More importantly, the methods explained are the ones that will enable you to develop your own mnemonics.
In the meantime, if you want to follow your own path then I highly recommend you checkout a few books by Tony Buzan, Dominic O’Brian and Roger Von Oech. Remember to select your location to get a better delivery price.
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