How to Study Like a Learning Expert

Behind the scenes of applying my self-management and learning system.

Every week, I distil what really works for improving results, memory, depth of understanding, and knowledge application from over a decade of coaching into bite-sized emails.

=== Paid Training Program ===

(Designed for busy students and professionals aiming to achieve top results without endless studying. 77% of our students cover the same amount of study material in 30% less time within 1 month.)

=== About Dr Justin Sung ===

Dr. Justin Sung is a world-renowned expert in self-regulated learning, certified teacher, research author, and former medical doctor. He has guest lectured on learning skills at Monash University for Master’s and PhD students in Education and Medicine. Over the past decade, he has empowered tens of thousands of learners worldwide to dramatically improve their academic performance, learning efficiency, and motivation.

[JustinSung]

Every week, I distil what really works for improving results, memory, depth of understanding, and knowledge application from over a decade of coaching into bite-sized emails.

[Spartos]

You know what funny? We spend all this time in high school and even in college but the teachers don’t teach us to learn. They either label you as you have a learning disabilities or you’re a gifted student. A gifted student knows the secrets of studying and is likely to have a tutor that has been passionate about practicing the art of studying. I wish colleges never kept throwing subjects and timeline due dates that are very unfair and could just teach how to learn like you’re doing. Either way, loving your videos man, keep up the good work!

[suryaprabhatpali]

For more visibility, I'm also posting whatever amazing things Dr Justin has taught in the previous videos. I may not have understood accurately. Only to refer. I'm adding my inference below for everyone's benefit.


Thank you so much, Dr Justin for all your effort in helping us out by the way. I am trying my best to religiously follow your advice.

ON NOTE-TAKING:




Step 1 - Reduce the number of words in notes. Break the idea of perfect sentences and focus more on perfect LEARNING.


You need to be uncomfortable about the amount of time you waste on just listening to/reading lectures and not learning and retaining (which I am)

So you always strive to be more efficient.



Step 2 - Delay Note-Taking process - Start by writing notes for only one paragraph, then for two paragraphs, and reduce in a phased manner.

So there is more time you give to(in your head): (Being capable to retain and conceptually working through the information in head)
1. Conflicting ideas - Resolving
2. Associating and Relating what you learnt
3. Digesting the concept

And then putting this new understanding of yours on paper.



So if you are listening/reading a lecture and at a point you are uncomfortable and think I have to put this down, just delay it a little bit more and then put it on paper. So at one point, albeit slowly, you don't write anymore.
'Just gonna read a little bit more and then I write my notes'

Step 3 - Get rid of lined paper. Mind Map. Making information non-linear.


Ideal Combination of Study Tools - Mind Maps(for the logical and conceptual) + Flash Cards(for random information)- Incorporate this with Spaced Repetition and make it magical.


HOW TO ACTIVE READ?


1. Before reading a paragraph, ask the question WHY? And WHAT AM I GETTING OUT OF THIS? - By doing this you are identifying the GAPS of knowledge to fill.
2. This may lead you to read haphazardly, because you are going to be going through only information that is required to fill the gap.
3. Once you filled the gap, you then think of the next gap of knowledge that needs to be filled and repeat the process.

Have a Detective-like mindset when going through the reading.



What should be going on in your Mind while Learning?

1. Trying actively to SPATIALLY ARRANGE the concepts in your head.
2. Make room to see how they flow together.




HOW TO ATTEND A LECTURE?





Step 1 - Know the topic of the lecture beforehand and Prime yourself over the information.




Step -2 - Make a Skeletal Mind map of what you understood from the Priming.





Step -3 (In the lecture) - I'll be testing this logic(of skeletal mind map) and add the concepts and important details, while I am APPLYING and SIMPLIFYING. *You have hold in your head what the teacher is saying while doing all of this.(cognitive threshold, I believe, which is probably very low for me)

At the end, you are Chunking the information and then LINKING it to your existing knowledge.




Step - 4 - If all of that becomes too much in the head (about to cross your cognitive threshold), when you feel you can't hold on to it, you then represent what model you've built in your head so far on paper. And then continue from there again in your head.





Step - 5 - Now during this process, you are going to be missing out on a lot of other details, the stuff and also the random factual information to remember, for this another 1 hour may be given separately to 'mop' up all the remaining information.

[Faiyad-ymss]

0:33 - Prioritizing tasks to avoid procrastination.
03:19 - Starting the study session.
04:33 - Writing reference notes for specific details.
06:28 - Tips for note taking and encoding.
09:13 - End of just 50 minutes of studying
10:11 - Breaking out of the endless grind of studying.

[sarahthomson]

I really appreciate you putting this content out. As someone who can’t afford your course right now I totally understand that you can’t put all your tricks out there but it’s very kind of you to care enough to help us all for free!

[madameperdue]

As a Korean studying English as a second language, I've landed your channel accidentally. I've watched lots of different Youtube videos which can help me improve my listening ability. While watching your videos I thought I could get some tips to study English more efficiently. Besides, for a person who's been used to American English like me, It's quite a privilege to listen to the accent of New Zealander's thanks to Youtube.

[JustinSung]

In this video, I show you how I study when I have only an hour to spare on a busy day with lots of other commitments.

The main points are:
- Methods of prioritisation and an example of "Eat the Frog"
- A quick shout-out to some apps I commonly use
- Showing this "layering approach" to learning where you go wide and shallow each time you study, which allows you to build a widely connected and relational cognitive scaffold each time you study, starting from the very first session. Each subsequent session, the scaffold gets more added to it, with more and more detail. With each layer, the knowledge gets more specific, but you always maintain the underlying scaffold that gives information meaning. All of this creates higher quality encoding and the DIFFICULTY associated with figuring out the BEST scaffold is the cognitive load necessary to drive up the encoding in the first place.

Remember, good learning should feel challenging!
It means your brain is working.In this video, I show you how I study when I have only an hour to spare on a busy day with lots of other commitments.

The main points are:
- Methods of prioritisation and an example of "Eat the Frog"
- A quick shout-out to some apps I commonly use
- Showing this "layering approach" to learning where you go wide and shallow each time you study, which allows you to build a widely connected and relational cognitive scaffold each time you study, starting from the very first session. Each subsequent session, the scaffold gets more added to it, with more and more detail. With each layer, the knowledge gets more specific, but you always maintain the underlying scaffold that gives information meaning. All of this creates higher quality encoding and the DIFFICULTY associated with figuring out the BEST scaffold is the cognitive load necessary to drive up the encoding in the first place.

Remember, good learning should feel challenging!
It means your brain is working.

[faustopf-.]

Finding your channel was one of the best things that happened to me this year so far!!! Thank you for everything!

[clive_edwinn]

Would be valuable in seeing you take a topic from a subject in the sciences or mathematics. Great work Justin thank you for the tools for learning better!

[ReflectionOcean]

- Tackle most important tasks first to avoid procrastination - [0:08]

- Utilize available time effectively before scheduled appointments - [0:31]

- Prioritize tasks that enhance long-term skills and knowledge - [1:06]

- Choose study techniques that reduce cognitive load and increase retention - [6:24]

- Simplify complex ideas during the study to aid memory retention - [7:28]

- Use mind mapping for visual organization and recall - [2:44]

- Select note-taking apps like Concepts for infinite canvas benefits - [2:46]

- Offload detailed information to apps like Roam Research for organization - [4:49]

- Simplify notes by removing unnecessary words for easier visualization - [6:24]

- Focus on efficient encoding to reduce the need for constant repetition - [8:35]

[shivangi]

Your all old videos are really helping me out with my studies. I can't be more grateful. Happy to find you on utube 😌 after so many trials and past disappointments.

[polobank]

I will keep following you for the rest of my study-journey. ❤️

[bennyboot]

Your closing comments are so inspiring and hopeful. Thank you.

[charumathiilango]

Everything said in this video is true and effective. But don't you think the thumbnail is misleading. Who can study 4 weeks worth of material in just 2 hours? no one. They can certainly maximise their efficiency not to that extent. So please don't use such clickbait in your videos, I'm sure many people would have clicked on your video even if you had not. Don't give young and impressionable members of the audience a wrong idea of what they can realistically do, when they don't achieve that, they are going to feel bad about themselves, which I'm sure is not your intention.

[lukebanwell]

I like the semi vlog style of you holding the camera, yet another great video from you, keep it up 👍🏼

[sohamgawande]

The master is back. Plz upload frequently means a lot to everybody 🤞

[Satyaprakash__]

Please come up atleast a short in a week to let us be in contact with u and motivated us to implement the knowledge u have given through your utube videos (for those who can't afford this for now, due to financial crisis in this pandemic)

[CompSciSimplified]

Sir, i saw in one of your videos in which you told that why Pomodoro technique does not work.
I am deeply impressed by the logical and reseqrch based points put forward by you, however i would like to put forward a few more points in support of Pomodoro technique-
1.When you keep a fixed time limit which is already set by you before, you have a facility to focus upon that time limit instead of your work, which saves you from procrastination.For example, if you have to read an article about say "Dynamic Programming" which would take anywhere around 1 hour, research suggests that if you would focus upon completing the article, you would start procrastinating right away.Your brain would start loosing focus and you woun't be able to maintain Flow state.
If however, you focus upon length of time, say out of 25 only 8 min. are left and you are focusing upon that, you would be able to maintain your focus and flow state.
This is well suggested by research.

2.By completing the Pomodoros, it gives you a feeling of accomplishment, which then releases dopamine and hence it helps to maintain flow state.
The technique which you suggested, doesn't provide facility of that kind as you can quit at any time, whenever your focus reaches 50% of it's optimum.
The only thing from which you can take feeling of accomplishment is only number of minutes, which is trying to capture the liquid without container.
Really number of minutes don't give you that much pleasure as number of pomodoro does, your mind doesn't recognize that.

3.When you have a time limit put on your brain, it avoids procrastination and forces your brain to concentrate.(See Parkinson's law)

[aryansrivastava]

from priming i get the sense that i list down the headings in the textbooks and sources and i see which relate to which when i study the chapter and during that i get in deep detail like when studying atomic structure, i will list down Dalton's hypothesis and law, discoveries, models of atoms(thompson, rutherford, bohr, quantum) and etc topics and then i will read the book and see how do these topics inter relate like here these models are successors to each other and have incorporated the pred's conclusions and their failures and deep within these topics i get the knowledge of alpha, beta and gamma rays and i relate them to discoveries heading and use kinematics and electrodynamics to relate Z and n with parameters like radius and velocity in bohr and rutherford.
is this correct explanation?(sorry for bad english)

[Sci-Fi_Fan]

This was very interesting. Glad to have come across this channel recently. Thanks for the info.