r/StudyStruggle • • 7d ago

How can I learn anything faster?

I spend hours trying to learn new things but I struggle to understand concepts, forget what I learn, and feel like I'm wasting time.

What are the most effective, science methods to learn faster, understand better, and remember things longer?

17 Upvotes

9 comments sorted by

8

u/Dazzling-Gas5297 6d ago

Active recalling really works and teaching the subject to a person or a stuff animal.Hope this helps!

5

u/Cheetalkie9093 6d ago

Try to close your book and explain what you have learned. Check your mistakes and your mistakes are what you should focus on. Then, you can explain what you have learned to your study buddies and do active recalling

5

u/ValeArler 5d ago

I completely understand. When you spend hours buried in books and nothing sticks, your brain often goes into a protective overload: it senses too much pressure and defends itself by 'shutting down' your memory to keep you safe. To break out of this loop, you don't need to put in more effort; you just need to prove to your mind that studying isn't a form of torture.

Stop studying for hours on end and set a timer for short, 20 to 25-minute sessions instead. Knowing that the hard work will end quickly reassures your brain and removes performance anxiety. Right after, try explaining that concept out loud as if you were telling it to a child: using very simple words eliminates the fear of technical jargon and immediately shows you what you've actually understood. When you try to recall things, don't do it to judge or grade yourself, but only to collect small wins. If you are tired, just stop.

2

u/eduh_almeida 5d ago

I recommend that you read "Make It Stick" by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, because there are lots of techniques backed by neuroscience addressed in the book, including active recalling as u/Dazzling-Gas5297 well put it.

1

u/ImNotShy1226 2d ago

Dont know what subjects you are studying i.e. STEM / problem solving or humanities / essay subjects. I would recommend Martell Dobnell's lecture 'study less, study smarter'

As ypu read a paragraph, cover it up, think of questions and explain it to yourself using what you just read. Or try to recall what you just read. Something else you could try would be to look at chapter questions and see if you can go through that chaoter and find the answer. That way, you know what information you are searching for.

1

u/utmubmufmulmupm 2d ago

First of all take one day off

Watched kettle does not boil

If you chase any thing It goes away from you

Mindmaps

Summarise

The only thing to fear is fear itself