In the last 2 years, I worked as trainer/mentor at various bootcamps. And got a chance to interact with thousands of learners. One of the most frequently asked questions is, how to learn anything fast? How to master XYZ technology in hours/days/week?
This is an interesting question. There are topics that I read a few weeks back and hardly remember anything 🤷♂️. There are topics that I learned years ago and still remember vividly. Here is what I learned by learning and failing to learn many things so far in the last 15+ years
People (including me) typically try following things to speed up learning.
1. Choosing a faster medium 📺
Most learners choose video over books. Assuming video content can be consumed quickly and less boring than books. While some claim that text can be consumed faster. As per Educative, the average video tutorial is spoken at 150 words per minute, while you can read at 250
2. Increasing speed of consumption ⏩
Like watching a video at 1.5x+ speed which is also highly promoted by other fellow developers. I watch all videos at 1.5x speed. Or doing speed reading so you can finish a book quickly.
3. Preferring short version of the content 🧵
Instead of reading through the complete book, just read a summary of it. Or watching a quick/high overview video etc. Or just asking someone to explain the concepts.
But does it help? What works for you? Let’s keep this boring topic aside for a moment and talk about something more interesting.
Something like food 🍔 Suppose you are sitting at your favorite McDonald, and order your favorite big mac burger. Now there are two ways to finish the tempting burger
- Finish the burger quickly by gulping it down. You will save some of your eating time. But your stomach would have to work hard to digest it further. Also, you may not get optimum energy out of it.
- Or you can take your sweet time, chew it well. So your stomach does not have to work hard and you will get good energy out of consumed food.
So what is more important? Finishing burger quickly or getting optimum energy out of it?
The same applies to learning. Is it about learning fast so you can forget it quickly or is it about learning well so you can successfully implement it?
In my personal experience, I learned
The way to learn fast, is to learn well!
Do not worry about the medium you are using or the time you are taking. It is irrelevant. It is more important that you should understand it well and should be able to apply it in your work.
What is the topic you really enjoyed learning? What is your secret of learning well?
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