1. Understand how your brain works

your brain has two modes: a “focused” and “diffused” mode. The focused mode consists in sustaining your attention on one specific task, such as reading this article or solving a coding challenge. The diffused mode consists in letting your mind wander, leaving your brain to make new connections on its own.

“shower thoughts”⁠—after intently studying a topic, the shower is a place where we usually relax, and new thoughts seem to just pop into our mind.

Sleeping allows our brain to solidify new connections, get rid of toxins that build up during the day, and be ready for your next study session.

2. Forget about your learning style

A learning style can be defined as “the complex manner in which, and conditions under which, learners most efficiently and most effectively perceive, process, store, and recall what they are attempting to learn” or, alternatively, as “the preference or predisposition of an individual to perceive and process information in a particular way or combination of ways.”

A framework that’s historically been used to figure out one’s learning style is called VARK, which stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing or Kinesthetic learning.

While most students believe that learning styles influence performance, recent research shows that there is very little evidence to support the idea that learning outcomes are best when teaching styles align with people learning styles.

what’s most important is to use learning strategies that maximise your recall. Such science-backed techniques include spacing out your study sessions over time, testing yourself on the material, and experiencing the content in multiple ways so you can make meaningful connections.

3. Just do it

You set a timer and do nothing except studying the topic at hand, and keep on focusing until the time is over. A typical Pomodoro timer is 25-minutes with a 5-minute break afterwards.

learning is not a project with a beginning, a middle, and an end. You need to fall in love with the process.

Trust the process and you will go from good to great.