How to study effectively

From an early age we were told that learning is the result of self-discipline. As a consequence, we ought to focus on learning, and have a regular studying habit. And yet the latest scientific research tells us that these may not be a good idea. How to make learning more effective? Benedict Kaili, a famous science journalist in the New York Times', summed up the most up-to-date scientific approach to learning in his new book——How to Learn.

First, we felt we should adhere to a studying habit in the past, but this book says it is not vital. On the contrary, most people get better results because they always change their learning or training places. The more complex your surroundings are, the clearer contents you will learn . Besides, you will remember the contents longer in your mind. Meanwhile, what you will learn won’t depend on your surroundings. And your ultimate goal is to make yourself be able to perform well in any situation.

Second, learn to be distracted. Having distractions is obviously wrong when you need to concentrate on your lectures. However,when you encounter a difficult problem, it's a good method to take a few minutes to rest, surf the Internet and look at the news in order to help you break through the difficult points. The reason is that if you are constantly pay attention to the one problem, then your brain is still in the "offline" state when you are at rest. Even in the subconscious your brain keeps working , but out of the restrictions that make you thinking.

Third, a deliberate pause is also a good idea. When you come across a project that involves a lot of mental effort, such as writing a job report, a thesis, etc., don't postpone it. The sooner you begin doing it, the better it will be. Then let yourself have a rest during the process of doing it and do something else. The book says, while doing the time-consuming and complicated task, breaking in from time to time will make your brain to "activate" the subject, and let you start to see and hear anything relating to this subject in daily life. Apart from this ,it can let you be more sensitive and pay attention to those scattered information surrounded by you.

从小就有人告诉我们，学习是一个自律的结果，要专注，要有一个有规律的学习习惯。但是最新的科学研究成果告诉我们，这些未必是好办法。那如何才能让学习更有效呢？《纽约时报》顶级科学记者本尼迪克特•凯里在自己的新书《如何学习》里面，总结了关于学习的最前沿的科学方法。

第一点，过去我们觉得要坚持一种学习习惯，但这本书里说，这并不重要，大多数人反而会因为总是变换学习或训练场所而获得更好的效果。你练习时的周遭环境越是复杂多变，你学的内容就越能记得清楚、长久，同时你学到的东西就越不会依赖于周围的环境条件。而你的最终目的，是要让自己在任何环境中都能发挥出色。

第二点，学习要学会“分心”。当你需要集中注意力听课时，分心显然不对。但当你遇到某个难题的时候，花几分钟休息一下，上上网，看看新闻，这是一个能帮你突破难点的好办法。因为如果你真的一心惦记着某个难题，那么在休息的时候，大脑仍然会在“离线”状态下、在潜意识中继续运转，而且是跳出了那些让你受到限制的思路。

第三点，刻意停顿也是一种好办法。当你遇到某个很耗费脑力的课题时，比如写工作报告、毕业论文等，不要往后推延，越早开始越好；然后中途让自己停顿一下,去做做别的事情。书里说，把耗时而复杂的任务时不时地中断一下，会在你的大脑中“激活”这个课题，让你开始能看到、听到日常生活中任何与这个课题有关的事物,同时也会让你对周遭这些零零散散的信息更为敏感和关注。