How to improve learning (Part 2): Organizing ideas
This article, the second part of the How to Improve Learning series, looks at how to organize your thoughts and turn them into keys to learning. This is because reading about an idea is one thing, thinking about it and turning it into deep learning is another thing entirely. Strategies for clear thinking are crucial here. This is what this article is about, so how do you understand the chaos of thoughts, and organize it all as it is happening inside your head when you receive information?
3strategies for organizing your thoughts:
Here are three strategies for organizing your thoughts:
How to use writing to think clearly.
How to use mind maps to think clearly.
How to use speech to think clearly.
We all use different learning methods, and no method is better than the other. Maybe one fits you perfectly, but it doesn't fit your team members at all. Perhaps one of them will work wonderfully for you in one situation and another in another; So try them all, and see what happens.
Strategy 1: Write to organize your thoughts
Thinking is a complex process that we do not yet fully understand. Our brains receive a lot of events and information; It is sometimes difficult to keep up with them, and one way to structure and organize our thoughts is through writing.
Some of us have learned that the aim of writing is to write down the ideas that crystallized in our minds, and we know how to communicate them to others, but that is not all there is to it. Writing is also great for developing our ideas and making them clearer and more organized. This is because we also write when we want to know what we want to communicate to others.
One way to do this is free writing; It's just writing down everything in your head without judgment or modification. Not only is this a great way to understand your thoughts; but also to clear your mind; It is sometimes impossible to think clear thoughts; Because your head is full of fears, thoughts, dreams, anxieties, memories, etc., and writing it all down on paper gives you space for new, clearer ideas.
Another way to use writing to organize your thoughts is to use writing. It is writing the most important points, perhaps as nibs or short sentences. Entrepreneur and investor Julian Shapiro prefers to start a new article in the form of a tweet; That is, he sums up the essence of his article within only 280 characters, and this really illustrates the main idea of anything he wants to discover.
3 tips for free writing:
Next time you learn something, try this method:
Free write for 10-20 minutes to outline your ideas.
Free write for 20-30 minutes about the topic you would like to learn.
Write the main findings in one sentence to extract the most important ones from your learning experience.
Strategy 2: Use mind maps to organize your thoughts
Some of us prefer to learn visually, in which case mindmapping can be a great way to filter your thoughts and make sense of what you've learned.
Mind maps are writing down a series of words and linking them together. As with free writing, they work better if you don't judge, modify, or categorize your thoughts as right and wrong. Just let the ideas flow and then once you're done you can set your thoughts, and see the broad and clear picture of the map.
You can see how your ideas relate to each other, perhaps by adding more lines and selecting what seems most important to you, perhaps by using colour; It's a more creative way to understand what's going on in your head, and feel free to add graphics, doodles, or anything that helps you organize your ideas.
Strategy 3: Talk to organize your thoughts
Some of you may think better if the activity is social; Saying your thoughts out loud can be very helpful in filtering and organizing them, just as writing can be. It is the expression of the chaos in your mind that turns it into organized and clear thoughts. So if you are busy with a topic or just received some information about a topic, try talking to someone about what you learned; You can teach it to him or simply share your thoughts with him, chances are high that you will feel like you know a lot about the subject after you have talked about it.
Watch the video: 8 scientific ways to learn anything faster and smarter
in conclusion:
To learn, simply absorbing a lot of information is seldom enough; You must also specify some results, which can be in the form of notes, drawings, presentations, or whatever; the form does not matter; Rather, express yourself.
In the first and second parts of the "How to Improve Learning" series of articles, we talked about two ways to enhance the learning experience: setting the intention and organizing ideas. In the third part, we will look at another way to enrich your experience: learning with mentors or peers.
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