Wanted: learn faster

I'm quite sure I'm not the only one with this problem: I love learning about stuff I'm interested in, have a line-up of books that I need to comb through, maybe have relevant equipment on-hand to compliment the experience, and there's the incentive of better command over technologies I work with as well as potentially better pay ... but I need to absorb (and retain) material at a faster rate than what I'm doing now.

Honestly, I think I'm a little on the slower end of the scale when it comes to "getting it" with new material. That sucks. What are your techniques in making sense of all the little details besides just relentlessly grinding away reading the books every free waking moment and working the labs? I'd like to increase my ARBBO (Absorption Rate Before Burn Out).

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Comments

Devilsbane

I always question whether I learned the material well enough. I can read a book, watch the cbt's, do transcenders, and go pass the test with a decent score. But I have trouble memorizing things. I can get conecpts but really struggle with commands and switches, for example.

Then I come back here and listen to some of you guys spouting off about things, and wonder what I did wrong. I'm told that this is normal though, that there is such a vast amount of material that the more you know = more that you know you don't know.

mikedisd2

docrice wrote: »

What are your techniques in making sense of all the little details besides just relentlessly grinding away reading the books every free waking moment and working the labs? I'd like to increase my ARBBO (Absorption Rate Before Burn Out).

I think that's your answer; studystudystudy. I hated the site of yet another fat MSPress book, then I wised up and used CBTs. Having someone explain a subject to you is much more effective, albeit not as in-depth.

I have a much better level of comprehension if I'm actually using the technology at work. I think having a purpose for the material you're studying is the key, instead of just a cert to stick on the shelf. For me, it's the difference between listening and understanding.

eMeS

Whenever I'm learning something new there's two things that I've found that help me quite a bit.

First, regardless of what it is, I immediately accept it as fact. This may not be the case, and I can revise my opinion later, but immediately accepting something your learning as true tends to knock down barriers to learning. This helped alot back in college with Calculus. You may not like it, and you may not be good at math, but you can still accept what is being taught as true, and this tends to help.

Second, whenever I am learning something I tend to associate it with some other concept, or something else that I can make a relationship to. This works for me. I will often associate concepts with entire movies, or parts of movies, and it tends to help me remember it.

That all said, I think everyone has to figure out what technique works best for them.

MS