HOW TO LEARN BETTER

LEARNING doesn’t happen in a silo. We sit in classrooms that are full of distractions, experience emotional highs and lows, and sometimes would really rather be doing something different. Learning to control your own brain is a great way to improve your learning.

It can be difficult to stay focused for long periods and, without paying attention, we simply don’t absorb information and learn. Unfortunately, our hyper-connected, interruption-rich world can make it difficult to maintain attention. Fortunately, it seems that our attention skills can be trained, and researchers are currently trying to find out whether this can benefit how we learn in the classroom.

Controlling emotions can be a powerful way to stay focused and maximise your learning. Anxiety is one emotion that is common in classrooms: sometimes we worry about why our friends are being mean to us; at other times we worry about an upcoming test.

Whatever the cause, high levels of anxiety can distract us from the task at hand, make us doubt our own abilities, or decrease our motivation. These all make learning more difficult.

By taking steps to overcome our anxieties – for example with excellent preparation, or by practising mindfulness to clear the mind and focus on the present moment – we can transform how well we perform at school.

It’s no secret that if we really care about something, we’re more likely to do a good job. This is motivation at work. When motivated to learn, our attention zeroes in on the task at hand, we prioritise our activities (for example, staying away from the Playstation for the night), and we form strategies about the best way to achieve our goals.

How can you boost your motivation? The key is to believe that something is important, and if you need help understanding why learning is important, your parents and teachers will be happy to explain it to you!