Welcome to my second article in this series!
There, I aim to explain in detail all the principles of ultralearning proposed by Scott Young in his book "Ultralearning"!
Recently, I shared with you how anyone can learn any topic with the power of ultralearning (learn intensively about any topic).
And a few days ago I wrote about ultralearning principle number 1: meta-learning.
So our list so far looks like this:
🤓R I#39m writing an article summarizing each of the 9 principles, so follow me, subscribe, and stay tuned!
The next principle is Focus, and Scott argues that there are 3 main problems when trying to focus on your task.
Problem 1: Procrastination
"Okay, time to study!"
*scrolling on Instagram*
"Aww, look at this cat"
How many times has this happened to you?
Instead of doing the thing you need to do, you work on something else or slack off.
Oh, but all changes when you have a deadline, right?
But the question is how you can get rid of procrastination.
Simple, telling and forcing yourself to spend only a couple of minutes on the task before you can stop and do something else or take a break.
I use something a bit harder: the Pomodoro Technique:
25 minutes of focus followed by a 5-minute break.
I know it sounds kinda silly, but it's incredible useful.
Personally, I don't say "I'm gonna study 1 hour and a half today", but "I'm gonna do 5 pomodoros today".
And it works for me, as my brain feels much safer when telling to study just a few pomodoros, instead of hours.
For this, I used an app called Focus Keeper:
With time, you can also personalize your Pomodoros. For example, to take a break only when you passed all your flashcards.
Bye procrastination!
Problem 2: Getting Distracted
Another problem is failing to sustain focus.
In other words, getting distracted.
The first thing you need to consider when getting ready to focus on your task is how much time you'll study.
But remember, more time doesn't mean better results.
Research suggests that people retain more after learning when their study sessions are broken into small periods, instead of studying intensively for hours.
Consider studying from 20 minutes to 1 hour.
But that´s up to you!
Once you know how much time you'll focus, you need to avoid distractions. Scott says that there are 3:
Distraction A — Your Environment
Try to turn off or don't look at your digital devices, such as your cellphone, television, games, etc.
Some people may like music when focusing, but the reality is that it can also distract you.
Perhaps no-lyrical music can help more, as you can't start singing or think about the lyrics.
But I prefer to avoid music when learning.
Oh, and I put my cell phone on not disturb mode, so I don't receive notifications.
Distraction B — Your Task
Some materials or tools are harder to focus on.
For example, I find reading harder to focus on than podcasts.
And reading harder than watching a documentary or a YouTube video.
That's why the task itself can be a distraction.
To deal with this, you can use a diverse set of tools and materials when learning.
Make it fun!
Don't stay in just one material like books, podcasts, or just videos.
Make your learning resources diverse.
Distraction C — Your Mind
Related to problem 1, mind wandering can make you procrastinate more and more.
Additionally, negative emotions and thoughts like "I'm dumb, I can't" etc will have an impact on your learning.
My advice for this is to stop comparing yourself to others.
I know it's hard, but don't look up at others' work to think "Damn, he/she got this super fast, and I'm still in my first module".
Everyone has their own pace.
No one was born knowing something. We are all learning :)
Write down how you feel, take a break, and keep going :)
Problem 3: Failing to Create the Right Kind of Focus
Different topics to focus on require different kinds of focus.
For example, it is not the same to learn math or programming than learning a language or how to draw.
For the first ones, you may need to have a more relaxed focus, while the other 2 are more intense.
Why relaxed? To not stress that much.
If you're stressed, you'll not focus properly.
So if you get stuck, it is a better idea to not focus at all.
Take a break and face the problem later.
As Scott says:
"Taking a break from the problem can widen the space of focus enough that possibilities that were not in your consciousness earlier can conjoin and you can make new discoveries" — Scott Young in Ultralearning
So depending on the kind of learning you have, you need to adjust your focus to not stress and face the problem properly.
Conclusion
I hope you now have a better idea of how to focus on your ultralearning projects.
In the next article, we will talk about principle 3: directness, go straight ahead.
🤓R I#39m writing an article summarizing each of the 9 principles, so follow me, subscribe, and stay tuned.
Now you know how to get rid of the 3 main problems when trying to focus on learning:
- Procrastination
- Getting distracted
- Create the right kind of focus
See you in the next article!
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Thanks for reading!