Motivation
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
You may already be familiar with the concept of ‘bad habits’; things that we do automatically that are negative or which do not lead us to our desired end goal. In fact, we probably all have bad habits we are trying to get rid of. However, have you ever considered that you might have some ‘bad learning habits’? Some behaviours that might look helpful in the short term but hinder your ability to be a powerful learner in the long term? Learning should be fun and should have long-term value to us. However, some of these ‘bad habits’ can make learning tedious and ineffective.
As we kick off this lesson on utilizing specific strategies to improve our learning, we will start by exploring habits that support or prevent us from getting the best out of the learning process.
Good Study Habits
Reflection: Getting Real About "Studying"
List of the "secrets" from the article:
- Pursue passion, not A’s.
- Get comfortable with failure.
- Make a personal connection to your studies.
- Read and think actively.
- Ask big questions.
- Cultivate empathy for others.
- Set goals and make them real.
- Find a way to contribute.
Here are some key takeaways from the video:
- Remember that IQ is not the most important factor to doing well in school.
- Some critical skills for success are: Self-discipline, Self-motivation, Resilience.
- Hard work is neccessary, but not sufficient. You have to work hard doing the right things.
- When creating a study timetable, first block out the times when you have other commitments, then fill in your study time around it. This will create a more realistic schedule that you will be likely to stick with for longer.
Bad Study Habits
These points speak to studying but are clearly relevant to the way you think of your learning journey as a whole. Let's talk about some of the "bad habits" in more detail:
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Cramming
This is when you try to memorize a great amount of information in a short period of time. Cramming defeats the purpose of learning, which is to understand. While memorization is important and useful, cramming typically does not add much long-term retention. If you have ever crammed anything before, ask yourself how much of it you still remember.
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Passive learning
Passive learning as explained in the video is just going through the motions of learning without real engagement, reflection, and practice on what you are learning. You might be forced or you might force yourself to engage in passive learning due to the pressure of knowing you should study and just tick that box. However, such learning ends up without any real impact despite the amount of time that might have gone into it.
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Studying without a proper plan
Without a proper plan, studying might take longer, be more difficult, and might be ineffective. When you plan out your study/learning, it is easier to identify what you want to learn, how you will learn, how much time you will require, and more in order to have a meaningful study/learning experience.
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Procrastination and distraction
With all the multiple channels of information, social connection, and more online, we are more distracted than ever, especially when studying online. We are trying to study/engage in learning while watching Instagram reels or random YouTube videos. These not only lengthen the time we spend learning, but also affect our brain’s ability to focus.
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Not sleeping enough
Sleep is essential to the functioning of the brain and to our energy. When you do not get enough sleep, you have low energy. as well as an inability to focus, or consolidate your learning. This will negatively impact the quality of your learning.
These are just a few of the several bad learning and study habits you might have picked up at some point that makes the learning process less effective for you than it should be. The good news is you can learn new and more effective learning approaches and strategies. We will explore these more in the coming sections of this week's lesson.