Effective Learning

Is there a best strategy to learn effectively regardless of the field of knowledge, be it learning how to solve complex algorithmic problems or mastering a foreign language? I’m trying to handle both, and I see some common patterns. It’s not new knowledge, but I find it useful to briefly lay it out here.

1. Persistence

The key is repetition. Over and over again. One cannot be good at something if they only do it once a year. Ideally, the more often, the better. But see what works best for you to avoid becoming too overwhelmed and to actually integrate learning into life as part of a continuous process.

It’s okay to do something on particular weekdays and skip others. We all have many other things to do, after all! The most important — but at the same time, the trickiest — part is to just be persistent and keep going.

2. Bias for Action

Reading is cool, and watching videos is even better! You can consume so much in a day and feel so productive! But does it really make sense to do so?

When I study, I do read and watch. And I feel that I understand many things. But then I try to reproduce the explanation to myself or, to aggravate the case even more, to a friend or a colleague, and here my self-assurance comes down to earth: I realize that I can be really bad at it. I can get lost in nuances or even incorrectly transmit some general ideas. And I see that I’m not the only one who encounters this problem.

That’s why the difference between active and passive learning is highly perceptible. Learn something and repeat it. If you cannot repeat it, you don’t really know it. Solve that LeetCode problem on your own, even if the solution you read was clear as day (but not in cloudy Hamburg where I live now 😶‍🌫️). Speak out loud that German phrase you learned, imagine the contexts where you would say it, and write a small text to yourself using it. And these are just the examples closest to me — I’m sure you can quickly come up with your own, whether you’re learning how to cook, play guitar, do karate, or study some subject at university.

To sum up, say no to passive learning. Be biased for action and get your hands dirty as soon as you’ve taken your first learning step!

3. Pareto Principle

I bet you’ve heard this in many formulations. Here’s the most generic one: 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Applied to learning: focus primarily on the 20% of topics that are most important.

To give an example, I can clearly see this in languages. My English is good enough to watch all WWDC presentations without any issues and to talk for hours with my friends and colleagues on a pretty wide range of topics. But I’m still at a stage where I can open a well-known news publisher, like The New York Times, and encounter quite a lot of words that I might understand from context but would never use myself. I can express the same concept at a more basic level that suits me and the person I’m speaking to.

Now, as I’m intensively investing in German, I try to focus on the 20% of vocabulary that is considered the most widespread. And I already see the results, as I’m able to communicate relatively well in everyday situations, despite the many errors I still make (German is demanding, no denying).

The same applies to other fields: focus on the terms, concepts, and patterns that are most likely to be needed. And learn them well.

4. Feedback Loop

Feedback is important. Honest feedback can hurt your pride, but it will help you grow — and likely do so faster than if you had to figure everything out on your own. There might be many reasons for this: we may simply not know something significant, or even if we do, we might treat it as so obvious that we don’t even realize we’re doing it incorrectly.

Try to find a person who excels at what you’re trying to do. Ask them to mentor you and help you identify the 20% of knowledge you need the most so that you don’t feel like you’re adrift alone. It’s the best thing you can do.

Alternatively, seek feedback from the people around you — your boss, colleagues, friends — as long as they are involved in something you want to improve at. Even a simple comment from another person can help you find your blind spot and support your growth.

Conclusion

This is what I’ve learned from my experience so far. I genuinely wonder what others think about it and how their approaches may differ. Please share if you have any thoughts.

I would also love to come back here in 5 or 10 years and see how these principles have stood the test of time and what kind of achievements they have helped me gain.