Learn how to learn faster! #BrainHacks, Speedreading, Tips & more

What we’re talking about today, is learning how to learn faster!   

Improving your brain with #BrainHacks is something that can help you learn faster and improve yourself faster. And in this post, I'll be talking about 3 different Topics: Speed Reading, Brain Games and Brain Food.

So the first method is Speed Reading. 

We are reading roughly 100,000 words everyday. Newspapers, Books, even text mesages and facebook posts. Think of all those steemit articles you’re reading alone! 

So if there was an opportunity to read faster, and therefore get more time to do something else, that’s something you could try right ?   

I remember how I first found out about Speed Reading: I was watching a really old YouTube video of a 13 year old , reading at an incredibly fast pace:

Old but Gold!

I read a lot, I incorporate reading into my daily routine and try to finish roughly 1 book a week. So this was something I wanted to try out immediately!

Here are my tips for speed reading : 

1 .

Use your finger or a pen to guide your eyes while reading. Most people don’t know this, but when reading, our eyes actually don’t read simply go from left to right. They jump back to the beginning of the sentence after each word. So by guiding your eyes, you force them to read strictly from left to right. Also when doing this, try to go faster than you would think is possible. You’ll be surprised how much you actually remembered from the text!  

2 .

Try out the (free) App “speed reading”. It’s a very simple App that helps you improve your reading speed and memory with different tasks.  

(I'm not affiliated with this App, nor is it my own. I have no connection at all to it)

3 .

Do not mutter the words you read to yourself. Also don't "read them to yourself" inside your head. Reading them as if you were reading aloud will slow down your speed drastically. 

4 .

When starting a new book, make sure to read the back and also the table of contents. These are the most important points of the book, summarized. Your brain will memorize those aspects and look for them in the text while speed reading, which helps you understand the most important points of the book. 

5 .

When reading a paragraph, only properly read the very first and very last sentence, as they often contain the most information and a conclusion. (This is not always the case though). Skim through the middle of the paragraph.   

Now, our next topic is Brain Games.

I used to play Lumosity every day for several months. They claim to improve your cognitive abilities.

Afterwards I found several studies that showed: Playing brain training games doesn’t actually improve your brain capacity / your skills. 

You just get better at the game, which makes you feel like you’re making real progress. So they’re basically selling HOPE. Watch this video if you want to see the exact scientific studies .

 But I don’t regret falling into that trap, and I will continue playing these games on certain times.  Why? Because these Brain Training Games might not improve your brain’s skills long term, but what they do is warm up your brain. They get you ready and focused. 

It’s the same as doing a warm-up before your workout!  If you play these concentration games for 15 minutes and start your task afterwards, you’re immediately focused and can start working more efficiently.
It’s the same like leaving the gym, your muscles are still pumped up, but the effect fades after a while.   

I try to recommend things to you guys that are absolutely free, I’m not affiliated with any product/app I talk about here. I’m just trying to tell my own story and which tools I have used.     

So the last aspect of this article will be: Brain Food ! What do I mean by that? 

I’m talking about foods that contain certain transmitters that will trigger something in our brain.
Let me explain: Serotonin is also called the “Happiness Hormone”.
Serotonin is a Neurotransmitter that contributes to the feeling of happiness and general well-being. Of course, you’re working better (and faster) if you are in a good mood.  So how can you eat in the best way possible, to give your brain the most “fuel” as possible?  

Here are some foods that contain tryptophan, the ingredient that is needed for the body to produce serotonin: Quinoa, Amaranth, Eggs / Dairy products, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, soy products, salmon, fresh tuna, sardines, seaweed, Spirulina, nuts and seeds (especially Cashew Nuts), legumes and beans are all high in tryptophan.     

But simply eating lots of these foods won’t do the trick, because the tryptophan is in a constant battle with amino-acids to be absorbed through the brain. So there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration: 

- Eat carbs in combination with it. Eating carbs results in insulin being released into your system, which promotes the absorption of amino-acids into the muscles and organs. The Tryptophan that’s left behind is now more likely to be absorbed into the brain. 

- You would have to chew them a lot – back in the stone age, our ancestors were chewing every bite 100-150 times and our brain still expects the same. 

- After the meal, exercise is needed! As you can see, it’s not as easy as simply taking serotonin pills or eating only foods that are high in tryptophan.   

At the end of the day, all these groceries are very healthy anyway – Everybody has to decide for themselves! Trying it out dosn't cost you anything.

 Other ways of boosting your serotonin levels are regular exercise and sunshine.  

Generally, listening to classical music while reading/learning something helps you to get into that concentrated state and can relax you.

Ludovico Einaudi for example is one of my favorite artists of classical music:

If you have more tips or information on this topic, I’d be happy to read them in the comment section – I read every comment with respect.           

I hope you enjoyed this educational post, and it helped you learn how to learn faster ;)  

 Disclaimer: I’m just trying to help people here and give them tips how to make their life a little easier. Maybe this method doesn’t work for you, but there are hundreds of ways to improve yourself and everyone is different. I’m just talking about my own experience and what has helped me. If you have any tips or more information about this, leave a comment below and I’d be very interested to read about it and learn more – I’m still a student and will always be!    

Topics: #reading #SpeedReading #BrainGames #lumosity #health #brain #learn #tips #BrainHacks #education #motivation