How can I improve the way I think and learn?

We learn new things every day – at home and at work. Have you ever wondered if you are maximising the way you think and learn?

Most of us think that our ability to learn, read quickly, be creative, and solve problems is fixed. We learned these skills years ago but realise that the qualifications, strengths and skills with which we entered employment are unlikely to remain sufficient for our working life.

Most organisations already recognise this and have a range of management and personal development options in place for managers and staff at all levels. This often represents enormous investment in both time and money. Unfortunately, what many organisations fail to do is address the woefully low levels of understanding about how the brain works and how it can be made to work more effectively.

That’s why we’d like to introduce you to three techniques that are the perfect complement to your existing management and personal development plans.

Improve your Memory:

Do you believe that you either have a good memory or a poor one? Memory is one of the mental skills which people bemoan frequently. Most people think that memory is a fixed skill – the truth is very different!

Whether we remember or forget things is because of well understood but little known rhythms. When in training sessions we normally remember a lot from the beginning, quite a lot from the end, but very little from the middle. There is a very simple, but effective remedy to this – short breaks! With just one simple change you can dramatically improve the amount you remember.

It is also important to systematically review what you’ve learned - the impact, long term on the amount that you remember is quite incredible.

Improve Note-Taking/Making and Remember More:

Taking or making notes is a regular task in business. Most of us take linear notes in booklets that we struggle to find or remember. An alternative to linear notes is Mind Mapping. It’s the note-making and note-taking system that uses images, colour, words and numbers arranged in a connected, radiant and hierarchical structure. Originally devised by Tony Buzan as a way of helping people to learn more effectively, Mind Maps® are now used throughout the world to improve the quality of learning, thinking and working.

Reading Faster and Remembering More:

… if you spend 40% of your day reading (reports, email, journals, books for qualifications etc.) and you double your reading speed – you save a day a week… just think if you trebled your reading speed!

Speed Reading gives you the skills to increase reading speed without reducing comprehension or retention to help you save time, read faster, understand better and remember more.

 

Combining the Techniques

Mind Mapping, Speed Reading and Memory techniques, when combined together, make time spent on both formal and informal learning, significantly more effective and efficient. Of course, if people find that the time they spend on adding to their knowledge and expertise is well spent, they are much more likely to do more of it. So a virtuous learning circle is set up.