There are many ways to study in life. Some ways are more conventional than others. There is an intricate connection between what we do and what we know. Some habits may have a surprising effect on our brain. This post was inspired by this, this, this and this articles. Conventional education It is pretty safe …
Noticing your progress vs measuring it
To which extent can we notice our progress and to which extent do we need to monitor it? Our mind is full of biases and not to be trusted, however if we focus entirely on measurements we may loose something precious that forgot to measure. I will tell tales of two students and then we …
Do mental math
Read about Trachtenberg system for mental math. Now choose a random number. Start with 5 digits, with time try to upgrade to longer numbers. Do mental computations. Expected effects: faster and better working memory access, improvement of mathematical tasks. No program or tools required: everything can be done in your head. Beginner level Multiply by …
Physiology of flow
The enigmatic state of “flow” enables us to achieve a lot in a very short timeframe. There are many discussions regarding getting into the flow state: prepare yourself to emerge in work, match the task at hand with your personal skill, anticipate the work, remove whatever blocks your creativity. However, it is very seldom that …
Back to school tips: prepare for learning
This is another “back to school” article with a twist. Most of our content is focused on how to read faster and remember everything. Today I want to talk about a slightly different subject: how to organize things and prepare self for learning. I am using this article as a starting point. Read syllabus. Before …
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Accepting myself
We often proclaim that our students need to find their own way. What do we mean and what is the main obstacle? People are different. This is what makes us more interesting and valuable. Jewish wisdom proclaims “He who saves one soul it’s as if he saved the entire world”. Yet we are continuously conditioned …
Compound markers
If you learnt how to generate visual markers and how to increase and control your visual eye span, your reading speed could easily be around 800 wpm. If you want to read vaster and understand more, perhaps you need some other sort of training. This training is advanced and it is not a part of …
Source of genius
Is being a genius something we get at birth, something we acquire by hard work or some luck that comes to people who are prepaired for it? Can someone willingly become a genius? There is simply not enough statistical evidence to decide one way or another. Take this article for example. From looking at it …
Comfort zone
Anna has been pushing me out of my comfort zone since we met for 10 years now. She claimed it would help my personal growth. There are actual articles backing up this idea. Let us try to think about it. Our comfort zone typically includes things we feel comfortable doing: things we do automatically, things …
How to do “life”
Quite often our students ask me for advice regarding juggling various tasks. Recently I read this article on psychologytoday and it made me think.To which extent can we gamify our lives and “win” as a result? Life is hard for everybody. Each of us gets a different bucket of skills and challenges, as we get …