Though research shows luck plays a surprisingly important role, ask people which factor contributes the most to career success and many will point to intelligence, judgment, decision making, the ability to learn quickly—and use what you’ve learned.
Inc. has compiled a few research-backed tips to help improve your brain:
• Retain more by spacing out your study or practice sessions. Say you want to nail a presentation. Run through it once. Take a few minutes to make a few corrections or revisions. Then walk away for at least a few hours, or even for a day, before you rehearse again.
• Test yourself to speed up the learning process. While it can be frustrating to fail, considerable research shows that frequently testing yourself as you learn, especially if you get something wrong, is an extremely effective way to speed up the learning process.
• Keep modifying the way you practice and double your learning speed. When you want to gain expertise, how much you practice matters. But what matters even more is the way you practice. Don’t just repeat it over and over again and hope you’ll eventually master that task. Mix it up a little.
Read the full story, which goes into greater detail about each of these tips (subscription).
