How to Learn: Insights from Andrew Huberman

The medium of learning isn’t the key; the goal is to counteract the brain’s natural tendency to forget. Here’s how to make your learning more effective, according to Andrew Huberman.

Neurons and Neuroplasticity

  • Neurons form connections called synapses. These connections can either weaken or strengthen over time.
  • Weakening a synapse isn’t the same as forgetting; it’s part of the learning process.
  • Strengthening or weakening synapses alone doesn’t determine whether you’ve learned or forgotten. What matters is how these processes are engaged.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to retain knowledge through focused learning.

Strategies for Learning

  • Focus and Attention: Actively engage with the material. Passive consumption doesn’t lead to deep learning.
  • Sleep Well: Proper sleep is crucial for focus and memory consolidation. If you can’t get enough rest, try Yoganidra, a relaxation technique that can help rejuvenate focus.
  • Active Learning: Make yourself interested in the subject. Treat learning like meditation—bring your attention back to the topic repeatedly. This process triggers neuroplasticity.
  • Mental Endurance: Learning requires effort and releases chemicals that prepare the brain for change. You can train this focus by practicing meditation, like Vipassana, for 10 minutes daily.
  • Short Study Sessions: Focus is limited but can be renewed. Study in manageable blocks, like 30 to 60 minutes at a time.

Importance of Sleep

  • Learning is solidified during sleep, particularly during REM sleep. The first night after learning something new is crucial for consolidating that information.
  • While the first night effect is powerful, it doesn’t mean you won’t learn if you miss it—it just means subsequent learning might take a bit longer.

Effective Learning Habits

  • Set a fixed time for studying to train your brain to focus during that period.
  • Study alone, free from distractions like your phone.
  • Aim for 3-4 hours of study a day, broken into smaller sessions (e.g., 1+2+1 hours).
  • Take one day off a week to rest.
  • Teach others what you’ve learned—this reinforces your knowledge.

Staying Motivated

  • Motivation drives consistency. Use your goals as fuel to push through challenges.
  • Aspiration helps when topics seem dull but turn out to be essential later.
  • Interest in the subject combined with a strong aspiration will keep you engaged over the long term.

Embrace Challenges

  • Learning that feels challenging is the most effective. Effort is essential—challenging material stimulates deeper learning.

Active Recall: The Key to Retention

  • Simply reviewing material isn’t as effective as testing yourself on it.
  • Self-testing increases retention and accuracy, even if it feels harder at first.
  • After studying, test yourself on the material the same day to improve retention. If you wait too long, retention decreases.
  • Testing isn’t just for evaluation—it helps you find gaps and solidify information in your brain.
  • Recollection is more important than familiarity. Familiarity makes you think you know something, but real learning happens when you can recall it under pressure.

Best Practices for Testing

  • Ask yourself open-ended questions and try to answer in your own words.
  • Use the “gap effect”—allow time between tests to strengthen memory.

Benefits of Active Recall

  • Improved focus and long-term retention.
  • Ability to connect information from different areas.
  • Clear understanding of what you know and where gaps exist.
  • Most importantly, it offsets the brain’s natural forgetting process.

Learning is a dynamic process, and with the right strategies—like focused attention, active recall, and sleep—you can maximize your ability to retain and apply new knowledge.

References:

  1. Andrew Huberman’s Podcast on Learning and Memory Techniques