We learn new things every day. Some of us prefer learning a new language, while others prefer developing new technological qualities. Some might be interested in learning martial arts, while others might be passionate about dancing. We are all different, but what we have in common is that we all learn new things every day. Unfortunately, we are sometimes too selfish to think about giving it all back. We take the information in, yet fail to pass it on to our peers.

When we finally decide to share, we realize that we, ourselves, still have a lot of learning to do. In order to expand our knowledge even further, we find ways to learn faster. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don’t.

If you haven’t yet, but you are looking for ways to increase your learning speed, here are some ways to do it. Time is money, and more importantly, time is time (which you won’t ever get back). So, why not make the best out of your time by maximizing your efficiency, yet minimizing your learning time span?

1. Teach It

Teaching the information received increases awareness of the topic. That happens because teaching compels the instructor to be specific and to provide a detailed analysis of the data collected.

Your mentee will not take in new concepts and skills as long as he or she does not comprehend the information thoroughly. In order to understand the info, they must pay attention to your explanations. Therefore, you won’t allow yourself to be confusing – that’s because somebody else is relying on you. Thus, your learning skills have to develop quicker than before. You will somehow feel much obliged to learn faster in order to teach it forward.

2. Make Use of Your Mental Space

Your mental space is a vast tool which can be used to learn faster. There are so many people who think that over repeating the data encountered will make them better (or even faster) learners. These are the people who don’t make the logical connection between ideas. They discover how learning should feel, but they fail to actually become aware of the new information – they are more concentrated on the process of learning itself, rather than on what they learn.

As you might have already realized, these people do not use their mental space properly. Imagine your mind as a house with multiple rooms. Every room should be cleaned perfectly well at the end of the week, but if you clean all of them at once, you will end up disappointed with your results. You won’t be able to clean all of them very well in one day since there are so many. So isn’t it better to clean one room per day? That way, you save energy and do your job properly all the time.

The same analogy applies to the process of learning. If you learn a little bit of information every day and repeat it constantly throughout the week, there is a higher chance you’ll understand the information better and make connections faster. At the end of the week, your “house is going to be very well cleaned,” and thus your mind very well shaped.

3. Write it Down

Here I put the emphasis on the word “write” itself. There is a reason I didn’t say “type it down.” Taking notes by hand is a faster method of learning. When we write things down, our minds perceive the information more accurately. It feels like we have a closer connection with the things that we learn. Antonio Tooley, editor at EduGeeksClub, shares his opinion on the matter. “In college, I used to type everything down. One day, I did not have my laptop with me, so I was forced to take notes by hand. It was that moment when I realized how connected I felt to what I was learning. Typing can get boring, yet writing things down gives a personal, insightful note to the process of learning itself.”

4. Take Breaks

Social scientists believe that the best formula for increasing learning speed is working for 52 minutes, and taking 17 minutes breaks after that. It is efficient and productive. During those 52 minutes of learning, you give out the best in you. Your productivity rate increases, and your capacity to accumulate new information expands. You can focus on your tasks better and more efficiently.

After those 52 minutes of intensive learning, you do something that takes your mind completely off of it. Those 17 minutes are made for you to relax completely. No more learning, no more memorizing, no more connecting ideas. Simply taking a break from it. The 17 minutes are followed by 52 minutes of intensive learning again, time in which you give out the best in you one more time. If you keep going like that, your work rate will grow exponentially, and you’ll find yourself learning faster than you could imagine.

Learning for a definite period of time, and taking clear-cut breaks makes the process of learning easier. This process is so explicit, that it allows you to understand how your mind works. You relax completely for a short time, save energy, and then transform that energy into new grasps of continuous information.

5. Consider Making a Change

Sometimes, accumulating new information can be tricky. We think that our way of grasping data is the best, yet it turns out our method doesn’t give out the best results.

Pay attention to your process of learning, and if it is not efficient enough, change it up. Try different ways of practicing, and find out which one fits you the best. There is no set way in which you can increase your learning speed. There are many methods, but no certainty that one of them is the one for you. In order to find that out, try multiple ways of learning, and eventually take the right decision for you. Explore it, and go with the flow!

Wrapping Up

If you find the learning method that fits you best, the skills you want to master are going to be easily conquerable. There is no need to stress about it anymore! By taking things step by step, having patience and confidence in yourself, and taking the right decisions for you, you will increase your learning speed and expand your knowledge quickly. Be smart, and find your way! Good luck!

Warren Fowler is a marketing enthusiast and a blogger at BestEssays, who loves music. If he doesn’t have a guitar in his hands, he’s probably embracing new technologies and marketing techniques online! Check him out on Twitter or Facebook.