Friday 24 June 2016

Quote of the day

"We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit"
(Aristotle)

Oh, i can talk about this for hours. I am usually asked about learning and studying, by people who want to know how they can study 10 hours every day for 3-4-6 months, in order to pass some very difficult exam. I start by telling them that this is an impossible task, because i do not know anyone able to focus on studying for 10 hours. And i have my share of meetings with brilliant people. Then i tell them than it is possible to learn only a total of 3 to 6 hours, accumulated over a day, and remember twice as more as after 10 hours of unfocused learning. Because learning is not defined by the time spent, but by the quality of it. My first advice is to learn how to learn, to build a habit of learning without distractions, in smaller intervals of time, depending of each person optimal focus. I would suggest 30 to 45 minutes, follower by 15 minutes break. And then you can go again. 5 hours of intense study (45 min +15 min break) are enough to learn a one year study notebook in less than a month. If you add a minimal training in memory enhancing techniques (my book about this will be published at the end of this year probably), your work will be greatly improved. One day a week for complete relax, without study, will also help your brain and focus recovery from data overload. Remember, trying to force this, you can go for a while using your sheer force of will, but this is not unlimited and sooner or later you will be to exhausted to continue. While, by creating a habit, you will do this almost effortless.

Welcome to our pathways to excellence!
G.

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