Learn any subject faster and better – Economical learning techniques 4

In the previous post, I introduced you to the concept of PSP statements. In this post on the subject of Economical Learning, we will discuss exactly how to use PSP (pre-study primer) statements in practice. Let us begin. PSP statements are primers for your brain. They are used to prepare your brain to recognize key elements or concepts based on your pre-determined goals and desired outcomes from your learning.

Focus - Shoes and Ice-cream

The brain “notices" virtually everything around you. However, to keep your conscious mind sane, it filters out most of it and only calls your attention to the things you have determined as important. It is this determination that makes all the difference. On one day, you might determine that shoes are important. On another, ice-cream. For each day, your brain will be filtering out information and presenting you with observations based on what you have chosen to be important.

On one day, you see brogues and high-heels everywhere and on another day during a fast-food lunch break, you ponder what barbeque-flavoured parfait would taste like.

PSPs in practice

PSPs work in the same way. They tell your brain what to look for in a piece of material or during a practice session. There are two major scenarios in which you will be engaging in learning – acquiring knowledge and – practising that knowledge or skill. PSPs can work in both cases.

Use PSPs to prime for understanding and practice

PSPs for Understanding: When it comes to understanding, you are focussed on decoding. You are seeking to understand the language of the subject you are studying. Even though this is rarely enough, it is a crucial step. Without understanding the concepts involved in something, you will never truly master it.

You can, for example by trial and error (and a lot of wasted time, energy, and material resources) become very good at cooking. But if you took time instead, to learn the underlying concepts of cooking - the effects of heat on different kinds of foods, how ingredients mix best – you would master cooking much faster. You would experiment intelligently and innovate ideas in a more sophisticated manner. And, very likely, your barbeque-flavoured ice-cream idea would probably have ended as a flash in the pan.

Pareto Learning

There is a whole chapter dedicated to learning according to the Pareto Principle in my book. Click on the image to learn more.

The Pareto Principle states that a large portion of the results or outputs in a system is produced by a relatively small proportion of inputs. The ratio given is often 80:20 hence the Pareto Principle is also called the 80:20 principle. But what does this have to do with you and Economical Learning?

Well, it turns out that when it comes to the mastery of a subject or skill, the Pareto Principle holds true. In other words, your performance of about 80% of a skill will depend on the mastery of about 20% of the components of that skill. And knowing that up-front can accelerate your learning if you direct your PSPs accordingly.

Pareto PSPs

Here are some incisive questions to consider – these can guide your PSPs.

"Of all the skills I can learn in this subject, what 20% of those skills would I use 80% of the time?"Or"What are the 3 – 5 core skills that I would use consistently?"

These will sharpen your focus going into your engagement with the material. Once you have the answers to these questions, you can move into priming yourself with a few PSPs.

Let us convert these to a PSP

"As I study this material, I am looking for foundational or recurring concepts in the material." This is a really good PSP because it moves you into a deeper form of engagement with the material. You are in a state of intense alertness as you weigh, evaluate and compare concepts as you encounter them for their “essentialness”. This one trick alone can help you shave hours off your study time.

Knowing is not enough - PSPs for developing skill

I know a lot about the piano. I can draw you a piano keyboard, name all the keys and tell you how to construct mellifluous chords and progressions. But I can’t play the piano to save my life. Sad, I know but I am on a mission to learn. Until then though, I have a head full of knowledge. And it is there that the music will have to live, instead of out in the air where it can entertain or inspire someone else.

What is my point?

Understanding a concept is one thing, applying it in the form of a skill is another. The reality is that knowledge is not as valuable as skill. Even in the world of academia, just knowing a lot about a field is rarely enough – a good professor must also be a skilled researcher and an effective communicator – either in class or in symposiums. Knowledge all by itself without application is not very valuable. And it is practice that translates knowledge to skill. But you must practice intelligently and economically.

Practice

When it comes to practising a skill, I have an approach to PSPs that greatly simplifies the process. And as you might have guessed, it involved narrowing down – focus. I have two broad aspects I focus on – speed and accuracy. Most skills can be said to have been mastered when the executor can perform the skill with great speed without loss of precision. You can use PSPs to focus on accuracy or speed for ever finer points of a practice.

Remember to breathe

I remember learning how to swim. After many long hours of practising the hand, leg and body aspects of the stroke, it was time to incorporate some breathing. Now if you swim, you know how much goes into executing a good breast stroke.

Well, I slipped into the water and began my stroke – smoothly and rhythmically, my head bobbed up and down with grace and aplomb. Just one problem – I was not breathing! My head was breaking the surface but something in my brain just froze. I must have looked ridiculous when I stopped midway down the lane gasping for air even though any onlooker would have noticed my head was above water for most of the stretch!

Coaching yourself

Good swim coaches know that it can be extremely difficult to get a beginner swimmer to "practice" all the different aspects that go into a smooth and efficient stroke. Kicking, body rotation, head positioning, breathing etc. This is why these coaches often have drills designed to target specific aspects (or related chunks) of the swimmer's movements. This way, the swimmer can focus on executing these bits effectively and then later in concert with other discrete skills.

You can apply the same principle to your learning. Identify key areas of the skill you are learning and dedicate time to practising those areas with a focus on accuracy first, and then speed. In my earlier story, my PSP the next time I practised was simple – remember to breathe.

Internal Magnifying glass – The Essence of Economical Learning

As this series concludes, remember that the core of the idea of Economic Learning is doing the most with the least. And to achieve that, you need focus. In addition to the other techniques in the other posts, PSPs are an effective technique to channel that focus.

Whether you use PSPs in gaining understanding or fine-tuning skills, you are maximizing your brain's power by focussing your attention on specific pre-determined goals. It is the mental equivalent of using a magnifying glass to torch a piece of paper using the otherwise diffuse and non-arsonous rays of the sun. Except, in this case, the goal is to "burn" new imprints of skill and knowledge into your body and mind. Whether you are dealing with sunlight or mental attention, the greatest power and output is produced when focus is applied.

...the greatest power and output is produced when focus is applied.  

Until the next post, be your best and do your best.