How to actually learn something new

1. 01Ask a real question firstCuriosity is the cheapest memory aid there is. Start with a question you want answered rather than a chapter you want covered.
2. 02Read activelyRead a section, close the book, and write what you remember in your own words. The gap between what you thought you knew and what you wrote is the actual lesson.
3. 03Use the Feynman techniqueExplain the concept to an imaginary twelve-year-old on one page, no jargon. Wherever you stall, go back to the source and fill that hole specifically.
4. 04Space your repetitionReview after a day, then three days, then a week, then a month. Flashcards or a simple notes list both work; the schedule is what does the lifting.
5. 05Connect it to a mind gardenKeep one place — a notebook, a notes app — where each new idea gets linked to ideas you already hold. Isolated facts fade; connected ones compound.
6. 06Teach it once in publicA post, an email to a friend, a five-minute talk. Nothing exposes fuzzy understanding faster than an audience.

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