Taking three simple steps before you start to study will massively improve the efficacy of your learning, says Liliya Kirylenka.
When I was between 13 and 17 years old I kept disappearing from school to chase medals at the national mathematics ‘Olympiad’. It sounded glamorous, until I came home to 10 chapters of chemistry, physics and biology waiting for the next test. I had to cover all of that within a week or two.
For me, learning to ‘learn fast’ was not a hobby, it was a necessity. And now, as a tutor, I have loads to read – past papers, changes in syllabus, technical articles – so I’m still motivated to learn about ‘learning lifehacks’.
So what have I learned?
Silence the noise
Most revision plans fail in the opening five minutes. That’s because the brain is already overloaded. Strip out three kinds of noise and you’ll double what you learn.
| Noise | Why it hurts | One-minute fix |
| Visual Clutter | Every dirty mug, every Post-it Note is treated by your brain as a ‘to-do’ item. | Clear your desk. If a task can be done in a few minutes, just do it. If it can’t, write it down in your diary and put it out of sight. |
| Audio Chatter | Multi-tasking is a myth: the brain just toggles between tasks and loses time. So no, you can’t listen to Billie Eilish while tackling MCQs if you want to maximise your outcome. | Ditch radio/podcasts. I personally prefer tiny earplugs like Loom – they don’t hurt my ears and block out barking dogs, playing kids and other noise. |
| Mental Dialogue | Ever caught yourself halfway through a chapter with no idea how you got there? If your brain is repeating a dialogue with your boss or thinking about next Friday, you just can’t concentrate. | Run a 30-second ‘Five-Finger Reset’ (see below) or try a simple breathing exercise. |
The Five-Finger Reset
Place the index finger of your right hand at the base of your left thumb.
Inhale as you trace up the thumb, exhale as you trace down into the valley.
Repeat for all five digits.
The light touch sparks both brain hemispheres, the paced breathing drops your heart rate. Best of all, it has a clear end, so even those people that hate breathing exercises stick with it. Use it before an exam, an interview or a tricky conversation.
Make it a ritual
Do the three-step noise check every time you sit down. The whole sequence (desk sweep, earplugs in, Five-Finger Reset) takes barely two minutes but pays back in sharper reading and longer recall.
Next up
Silence is step one, step zero is motivation to push yourself to open the book in the first place. I’ll be back to tackle that in the next issue. For now, clear the noise and let the learning stick.
- Liliya Kirylenka is an SBR tutor at AMALearnOnline.com
