Success Plan :: Charge your Grey cells

Your brain needs exercise just like a muscle. If you use it often and in the right ways, you will become a more skilled thinker and increase your ability to focus. But if you never use your brain, or abuse it with harmful chemicals, your ability to think and learn will deteriorate.

Here are 5 simple ways anyone can squeeze a bit more productivity out of the old grey matter.

1. Minimize Television Watching – This is a hard sell. People love vegetating in front of the television, myself included more often than I’d like. The problem is watching television doesn’t use your mental capacity OR allow it to recharge. It’s like having the energy sapped out of a muscle without the health benefits of exercise.

Don’t you feel drained after a couple hours of TV? Your eyes are sore and tired from being focused on the light box for so long. You don’t even have the energy to read a book.

When you feel like relaxing, try reading a book instead. If you’re too tired, listen to some music. When you’re with your friends or family, leave the tube off and have a conversation. All of these things use your mind more than television and allow you to relax.

2. Exercise – I used to think that I’d learn more by not exercising and using the time to read a book instead. But I realized that time spent exercising always leads to greater learning because it improves productivity during the time afterwards. Using your body clears your head and creates a wave of energy. Afterwards, you feel invigorated and can concentrate more easily.

3. Read Challenging Books – Many people like to read popular suspense fiction, but generally these books aren’t mentally stimulating. If you want to improve your thinking and writing ability you should read books that make you focus. Reading a classic novel can change your view of the world and will make you think in more precise, elegant English. Don’t be afraid to look up a word if you don’t know it, and don’t be afraid of dense passages. Take your time, re-read when necessary, and you’ll soon grow accustomed to the author’s style.

Once you get used to reading challenging books, I think you’ll find that you aren’t tempted to go back to page-turners. The challenge of learning new ideas is far more exciting than any tacky suspense-thriller.

4. Early to Bed, Early to Rise – Nothing makes it harder to concentrate than sleep deprivation. You’ll be most rejuvenated if you go to bed early and don’t sleep more than 8 hours. If you stay up late and compensate by sleeping late, you’ll wake up lethargic and have trouble focusing. In my experience the early morning hours are the most tranquil and productive. Waking up early gives you more productive hours and maximizes your mental acuity all day.

If you have the opportunity, take 10-20 minute naps when you are hit with a wave of drowsiness. Anything longer will make you lethargic, but a short nap will refresh you.

5. Take Time to Reflect – Often our lives get so hectic that we become overwhelmed without even realizing it. It becomes difficult to concentrate because nagging thoughts keep interrupting. Spending some time alone in reflection gives you a chance organize your thoughts and prioritize your responsibilities. Afterwards, you’ll have a better understanding of what’s important and what isn’t. The unimportant stuff won’t bother you anymore and your mind will feel less encumbered.

I’m not saying you need to sit on the floor cross-legged and chant ‘ommm’. Anything that allows a bit of prolonged solitude will do. One of my personal favorites is taking a solitary walk. Someone famous said, “All the best ideas occur while walking.” I think he was on to something. Experiment to find the activity that works best for you.

Conclusion – I hope you aren’t disappointed that none of the techniques I’ve proposed are revolutionary. But simple, unexciting answers are often the most valid. The challenge is having the will to adhere to them. If you succeed in following these 5 tips, you’ll be rewarded with increased mental acuity and retention of knowledge.

SUCCESS PLAN ::::: BETTER REVISION

We remember only 18% of what we have learnt initially, after 24 hours and we tend to forget rest of 82%. This is a very important fact for you to remember. We will discuss below how can prevent this loss by using the technique of Systematic Revision which is a programmed pattern of review.

The human brain has 1500 crore neurons or brain cells. Each single brain cell makes connection with 5000 to 10,000 other brain cells. The brain can be imagined to be a huge telephone network. When we learn something, new connections are created in the brain. Repetition strengthens that network.

Famous author Tony Buzan recommends Systematic Revision like this. The first review should take place 10 minutes after a one hour learning period and should itself take 10 minutes. This will keep the recall high for approximately one day, when the next review should take place, this time for a period of 2 to 4 minutes. After this, recall will probably be retained for approximately a week, when another 2 minute review can be completed followed by a further review after about one month.

Systematic Revision is an extremely powerful scientific technique for transferring information from the short-term memory to long-tern memory. This technique Improves your learning, thinking and remembering.

SUCCESS PLAN ::::: REMEMBER IN A BETTER WAY

In order to reduce or remove the causes of forgetting and so be able to remember better we have to

1. Get a strong impression by paying careful attention.

We must obtain a deep Impression Of the mind of what we wish to remember. The attention must be concentrated on only one thing at a time to the exclusion of everything else.
If you want to concentrate on something, you must feel that It matters to you. You must be interested in it. It must evoke your enthusiasm. The deeper and more permanent the interest the more sustained the attention.

2. Repeat under conditions in which repetition is effective.

Psychologists have discovered a number of conditions under which repeating what we wish to remember helps us to remember it. Those conditions are

(a) You remember better if you understand what you repeat (better comprehension).

b) You remember better if you study a little but often (spaced learning-have frequent breaks while studying)

Do not study more than half an hour continuously without any break. Give a break for every half an hour. A five minute break is good enough. Actually, we remember better at the beginning and at the end of a learning period. We remember less during the middle of learning period. It shows that if you have four learning of each 30 minutes in approximately in a 2 hours session, then there are 4 beginnings and 4 ends which correspond to high learning and high memory.

In the 5 minute break period, you may get up and walk or you may close your eyes and relax. You must remember two important aspects of  break :
(1) you must relax
(ii) you must continue study after about 5 minutes.

Relaxation results in increased blood flow to your brain, and that means you function at higher intelligence.

SUCCESS PLAN ::::: EFFECTIVE LEARNING

I. Always make an effort to understand the study material / lessons,
the principles which underlie it.

II. Instead of reading and rereading, read and then try to recall. The most popular way of doing a thing is not always the best way. For instance, People may expect to remember a piece of material after reading it once - or after reading it and then re-reading it.

Both methods are inadequate, the first because it is an uneconomical use of time. Research has shown that a second reading brings only 7 per cent more comprehension, while a third one adds only another 1 percent. The time spent on rereading is out of proportion to the gain that can be expected from it. A best method for super learning is P-V formula.

This P-V formula is your key to more effective study. Established by experimental research on learning methods.

(i) P stands for Preview : Browse through the study material / lessons to get a general idea of what it is about. Close the book and think about what you have gathered from your preview.

(ii) Q stands for Question : Ask yourself a few questions which you want your reading to answer. Some authors suggest such questions at the beginning of a chapter. If your author doesn’t, think of your own.

(iii) R stands for Read : Read the material and make sure that you understand it. Underline key words and phrases. Think about what you have read. Assess the relative importance of its various features.

(iv) S stands for Summarize : Make notes on what you read (create a Mind Map)

(v) T stands for Test : Test yourself on what you have read by using the information to answer the questions you asked under Q(above)- Answer the questions and problems set by your teacher Or by your text book author. Answer questions set In earlier exam papers. Discuss the subject with your classmates.

(vi) U stands for Use : Try to put material to some practical use In everyday affairs.

(vii) V stands for Visualize : Picture the ideas in your mind’S eye or visualize the actual pages of the textbook Or notebook.