Master Anything With The 9 Principles Of Ultra-Learning
Save your career by learning how to learn
In the last post, we learned what ultra-learning is.
Shortly, this is a learning strategy for acquiring skills that are both self-directed and intense. In his book, “Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career”, Scott Young proposes a new frontier to upgrade your studying and save your career.
There, Scott proposes 9 principles to structure and learn any topic:
Meta-learning
Focus
Directness
Drill
Retrieval
Feedback
Retention
Intuition
Experimentation
In this post, we will learn more about and how to use them.
Principle 1: Meta-Learning
Meta-learning is about knowing how knowledge is structured.
Before starting learning, you should understand how to learn it. Create a roadmap, find resources, and build a study plan. For example, you can use University curriculums to learn computer science.
Structuring your ultra-learning project is arguably the most important step.
Also, with a clear roadmap, you will gain more motivation.
How to do it
Structure your project.
Learn how your knowledge is structured.
Draw a map for the topics you need to learn to master it.
Find resources to learn the topic.
For example, to master machine learning you first need Python, Data Analysis, Math, and Machine Learning algorithms.
Or to learn a new language you need to learn A1, A2, B1, B2, and C1 levels ( (CEFR). Check what you need to know at those levels.
Principle 2: Focus
Once you have your roadmap and resources, study them.
Procrastination is a student’s worst enemy. This voluntary delay makes us skip doing a task we need to. Although this topic is complex, one popular method that works is the Pomodoro technique.
Shortly, this consists of doing something for 25 minutes and taking a break of 5.
This way, you can break down a major task (like studying a book) into small, short chunks. Short study sessions can add up to hours of study in just a week and you won't even realize it.
Use it to focus.
How to do it
Create an environment to focus on learning the topic.
Make a schedule for your study sessions.
Use Pomodoros to defeat procrastination (a free and simple app is Focus Keeper).
Brief study sessions are way better than long ones.
Principle 3: Directness
Learning by doing is underrated.
When studying a new topic, sometimes it is hard to understand why you would use it in the real world. This is a fair thought and represents one of the biggest problems in education: the transfer problem.
Directness is about studying and learning by actually doing it.
For example, if you want to learn programming sit down and code. If you want to learn a new language, speak it. Watching courses will not make you learn the topic. It will only give the illusion that you’re learning.
This is what directness means.
How to do it
Learn by doing.
Apply what you learned in real scenarios.
Learn actively, not passively.
Search for projects or ask Chat GPT to give you some ideas.
Make it fun.
Principle 4: Drill
We always have some weakest points when learning.
For example, my weakness was math when studying programming and machine learning. Here, the goal is to isolate and tackle (drill) it. Although uncomfortable, this is the only way to get along with it.
Don’t be scared, spot it and drill it.
How to do it
Study your weakest point when learning.
Isolate this and concentrate on it.
Drill your weakest point.
Use more Pomodoros to drill it.
In my case, I decided to dedicate more Pomodoros to drill all the math I needed into machine learning.
Principle 5: Retrieval
Arguably the most effective study strategy.
Learning is about linking information from your mid-term memory to your long-term memory. Retrieval is the simplest yet most effective way to accomplish this. It helps you to make the information stick to your head.
One easy way to practice retrieval is testing.
Create flashcards, tests, or anything that helps you bring back what you learned. Don't cheat! Rereading the correct solutions will not make you learn them. On the contrary, you will get fooled by the illusion of learning.
Always practice retrieval.
How to do it
Recall the information you learned.
Try flashcards, free-recall, or the question book method (closing the book and recalling what you read).
Ask chat GPT to create tests and get feedback.
Principle 6: Feedback
Feedback is uncomfortable but crucial when learning.
For example, we can learn a new language without feedback but it will only slow our process in mastering it. For example, when I was learning German, I spoke with native people to get feedback about my writing, and pronunciation.
I made many mistakes but it helped me improve my skills by 100%.
How to do it
Get positive feedback about what you’re doing good.
Get negative feedback about how to improve yourself.
If possible, ask experts to give you feedback on what you’re doing well and not so well.
Again, you can use chat GPT to get some feedback about what you’re doing good and wrong.
Principle 7: Retention
Once you learn something you want to retain it in your memory.
For example, learning how to drive a bicycle or playing an instrument can take some time, but once you master it you will not forget it. It becomes automatic. This is proceduralization.
Here, the goal is to automate what you learned.
How to do it
Once you learn it, automate it with proceduralization by repeating.
“Save” what you learned in your long-term memory. Retrieve information and use it in real-life scenarios.
Take note of what and why you forget.
Improve your encoding techniques (spacing, mnemonics, etc).
Principle 8: Intuition
This is about understanding the topic deeply.
For example, after studying neuroscience for a while, I realized that I had a better understanding of how some things work that I had never read about, such as research on consciousness, time perception, etc.
One technique that works with this is interrogative elaboration.
Shortly, this is about asking and answering how and why questions about a topic. By answering these, you gain a better understanding of how it works. Also, by trying to explain the concept to others, you gain more intuition about how understanding the topic works.
Another simple yet effective strategy.
How to do it
Use analogies (ask chat GPT to help you).
Focus on examples in context.
Use the Feynman Technique.
Use interrogative elaboration (ask and answer how and why questions).
Principle 9: Experimentation
Explore outside your comfort zone.
Remember the biggest problem in education? Well, this principle is specifically designed to tackle it. Here, the idea is to experiment with real-life scenarios that don’t necessarily adjust to what you learned.
Learning a new language is a great example of experimentation.
There is a big difference between learning German during lectures with actually applying it in real life. So if you are learning a new language, try talking to people who speak other dialects or engage in complex conversations such as science or politics. If you know Python for data analysis, try to code an app with Streamlit module to create a user interface data app.
In one word: explore.
How to do it
Explore outside your comfort zone.
Apply your knowledge in other contexts.
If possible, make it fun for you.
The 9 Ultra-Learning Principles
Ultralearning saved my career.
It helped me learn anything without overstudying or overworking. But remember, each person has a different life. Perhaps you work full time and also study. Or maybe you have a family, etc.
Be reasonable and don’t fall into toxic productivity.
Here are some last recommendations:
Don’t compare yourself with others. Take your time.
This is not a competition. This is about you. Make it fun and healthy.
Please take care of yourself. That’s the most important thing!
I hope you can achieve your goals with these 9 principles.
And I hope you love ultralearning as much as I do.
Some Questions For You
What do you want or need to study?
Is there anything you always wanted to study but never tried or gave up?
How would you use ultra-learning in your project?
Have you already applied meta-learning for your new project?
In the next post, I will write about how to get super-cool resources to learn anything.
Until the next time,
Axel
