The Top Study Habits to Improve Learning | Dr. Andrew Huberman (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:03) now let's talk about how the best (00:00:04) students structure their days turns out (00:00:06) there are great studies on this there is (00:00:09) a really nice paper in fact that (00:00:14) surveyed close to 700 students these (00:00:16) were medical students approximately (00:00:19) equal number of male and female students (00:00:22) and analyze the most useful learning (00:00:24) habits that is the learning habits (00:00:26) associated with the most successful (00:00:28) students now anytime you do a study like (00:00:30) this where people take surveys there's (00:00:32) always the issue of causality in fact we (00:00:35) can pretty much set aside any possible (00:00:37) causality for instance I'm about to tell (00:00:39) you that the very best performing (00:00:40) students tend to study for about three (00:00:42) or four hours per day but you could (00:00:44) easily say Well they're the best (00:00:45) students because they study three or (00:00:48) four hours per day they don't study (00:00:49) three or four hours per day because (00:00:51) they're the best students and you'd be (00:00:52) exactly right okay we can get into all (00:00:54) sorts of discussions about correlation (00:00:56) versus causation about reverse causality (00:00:59) and on and on however none of that is (00:01:01) the point here the point here is to (00:01:03) establish what are the habits that the (00:01:05) most successful students seem to (00:01:07) incorporate over and over again (00:01:09) regardless of what classes they're (00:01:10) taking regardless of where they are in (00:01:13) their Arc of their learning trajectory (00:01:15) and so what we know based on this study (00:01:17) and I'll provide a link to it in the (00:01:18) show note captions is that there are at (00:01:20) least 10 study habits that the highly (00:01:23) effective students use I'm going to (00:01:24) focus on the top five or six just for (00:01:27) sake of time because it turns out that (00:01:30) most of the effect it appears of being a (00:01:33) better student can be attributed to (00:01:35) these top five or six habits first of (00:01:37) all they set aside time to study they (00:01:40) literally schedule time to study now (00:01:42) this probably serves several roles the (00:01:44) first one is that they are able to clear (00:01:47) out other distractions and in fact (00:01:49) that's the second thing that they do (00:01:51) they are very effective where they make (00:01:52) it a point of putting their phone away (00:01:54) and off of isolating themselves that's (00:01:57) right they're not studying with other (00:01:59) people they study alone which is not to (00:02:01) say that people who study with others (00:02:03) cannot be effective in their studying (00:02:05) but the best performing students seem to (00:02:07) study alone they put their phone away (00:02:10) they tell their friends and families (00:02:13) that they are not going to be able to be (00:02:14) reached during that time and yes they (00:02:18) study for three or four hours per day (00:02:20) but they break that up into a couple of (00:02:22) different sessions typically two or (00:02:24) three sessions so they're not doing a (00:02:25) three or four hour studying about all in (00:02:27) one (00:02:28) shot so they're managing their time (00:02:31) they're eliminating distractions and (00:02:33) they're studying for a consistent amount (00:02:36) of time at least 5 days per week okay (00:02:39) presumably they're taking some weekends (00:02:41) off although that wasn't made clear from (00:02:42) this paper the other thing that they do (00:02:44) and this is very important is that they (00:02:46) make an effort to then teach their peers (00:02:48) to teach other students in the class now (00:02:50) some of you may be thinking and I'm (00:02:52) thinking back to college here mostly (00:02:55) that if you spend all this time learning (00:02:56) the information and you are in a (00:02:57) competitive scenario with the other (00:02:59) students that teach teaching them the (00:03:01) information is kind of a freebie for (00:03:02) them and it's harder for you meaning (00:03:04) you're putting yourself at a competitive (00:03:06) disadvantage or you're giving them an (00:03:07) unfair Advantage for not having done the (00:03:09) work now while this paper didn't do an (00:03:12) analysis of whether or not these (00:03:13) students that served as the Learners (00:03:15) from the other students got an unfair (00:03:17) Advantage it's very clear that students (00:03:20) who make it a point to learn material in (00:03:22) isolation then bring that material to (00:03:24) other students in the same course and (00:03:26) teach them perform exceedingly well in (00:03:29) comparison to the other students so (00:03:30) don't be afraid to be a teacher of your (00:03:32) peers in order to test this is key to (00:03:36) test and develop Mastery of the material (00:03:40) now in my laboratory for years we used (00:03:42) to have a saying which I simply picked (00:03:44) up from the Laboratories I was trained (00:03:46) in I didn't come up with the saying (00:03:47) which was watch one do one teach one and (00:03:49) that was referring to doing surgeries or (00:03:51) suturing or doing an antibody reaction (00:03:54) or a western blot or things that you do (00:03:56) in (00:03:58) Laboratories watch one do one teach one (00:04:01) watch one do one teach one of course (00:04:02) should be reserved to anything where no (00:04:04) one's going to be put in danger by the (00:04:06) watch one do one teach one procedure (00:04:08) right some procedures especially in (00:04:09) Laboratories can be dangerous given the (00:04:11) materials you use Etc and of course (00:04:14) today we're talking about learning and (00:04:15) studying generally so provid it it's (00:04:17) safe watch one do one teach one is an (00:04:19) excellent means to learn that is to (00:04:23) study new material to develop (00:04:25) proficiency and even Mastery and over (00:04:27) time perhaps even virtuosity we'll (00:04:29) return to that that later those (00:04:31) distinctions so going back to this idea (00:04:34) that the best students set aside time (00:04:36) they designate time to study alone (00:04:39) without distractions that is sure to (00:04:41) help them anchor their focus and (00:04:43) attention they know that they're going (00:04:44) to need to use their focus and attention (00:04:46) during that time and we know with (00:04:49) absolute certainty that focus and (00:04:51) attention are a limited but renewable (00:04:54) resource in the human brain the longer (00:04:56) you're awake the more is the buildup of (00:04:58) a molecule called adenosine in your (00:05:00) brain and body it makes you sleepy makes (00:05:02) it harder to focus when you sleep (00:05:04) adenosine levels are pushed down again (00:05:06) you're able to focus again you feel more (00:05:07) alert you can think of adenosine as (00:05:09) limiting your attentional budget which (00:05:11) is not to say that some people don't (00:05:12) study best in the afternoon or in the (00:05:15) evening or even late at night right I (00:05:17) recall times during University when I'd (00:05:19) study between the hours of 10: p.m. and (00:05:20) 2: am. I don't do that any longer (00:05:23) but scheduling time where you know (00:05:26) you're going to need to be focused and (00:05:28) attending is perhaps one one of the most (00:05:31) important things toward being able to (00:05:33) focus and attend to the material now if (00:05:35) you're taking courses you probably are (00:05:37) going to be a slave to the timing of the (00:05:39) courses you aren't going to be able to (00:05:40) tell the instructor okay listen I want (00:05:42) you to do this course at you know 3 p.m. (00:05:44) because that's when you learn best or 8: (00:05:46) a.m. because that's when you happen to (00:05:47) be able to attend best however to the (00:05:49) extent that you have any control over (00:05:51) the time in which you're going to study (00:05:53) keeping that at a regular time or times (00:05:55) perhaps one block early in the day one (00:05:57) block later in the day perhaps two (00:05:59) blocks early in the day and and so on is (00:06:01) going to be beneficial it turns out (00:06:02) that's also supported by the research (00:06:04) literature that the brain just like with (00:06:08) its sleep wake cycles that entrain to a (00:06:11) regular schedule that is your brain and (00:06:13) body get used to being active and (00:06:15) inactive at particular times based on (00:06:17) your exposure to sunlight your exposure (00:06:19) to activities your social rhythms Etc if (00:06:22) you regularly meaning for the course of (00:06:24) about 3 days make it a point to focus (00:06:28) and study at particular times again (00:06:30) pulling your attention back it's not an (00:06:31) automatic process but pulling your (00:06:32) attention back to a specific location (00:06:35) perhaps on a page or that you're (00:06:36) listening to in a lecture your body and (00:06:39) brain will start to entrain to that (00:06:42) Rhythm such that you will be able to (00:06:44) focus and attend better simply by virtue (00:06:47) of the regularity of the timing of the (00:06:49) exposure to the material okay so you (00:06:52) probably need about two or three days to (00:06:54) break into a regular schedule of (00:06:56) focusing and attending and studying at a (00:06:58) given time or times (00:07:00) allow yourself that transition period (00:07:02) but then make it a point to schedule (00:07:05) those times to study set aside your (00:07:07) phone tell people you're going offline (00:07:10) turn off the Wi-Fi if you need to or (00:07:12) have to you may need it for your (00:07:13) studying I don't know depends on what (00:07:15) you're studying but limit distractions (00:07:17) at all costs and learn to just focus on (00:07:20) the material and this is a skill this is (00:07:22) the most important thing to understand (00:07:23) it's a skill to be able to focus and (00:07:26) study and it's a skill that you can (00:07:27) learn very quickly especially if you SK (00:07:30) schedule it for regular times and you (00:07:31) give yourself two or three days in which (00:07:34) to adapt to those schedules and times (00:07:36) and then try and stick to them as (00:07:37) regularly as possible perhaps even on (00:07:39) the weekends if you're approaching you (00:07:41) know the end of the quarter or (00:07:42) semester perhaps even on the weekend (00:07:45) even if you're not in the quarter of (00:07:47) semester keeping those regular times (00:07:49) will entrain your nervous system to (00:07:51) study and learn at its best at those (00:07:54) particular times there's one other point (00:07:56) that I wanted to pass along from this uh (00:07:58) really nice study on the study abits of (00:08:00) Highly Effective medical students that (00:08:02) I've been referring to and that is when (00:08:05) one examined or these people were asked (00:08:08) about their motivation for studying the (00:08:11) best performing students had an (00:08:13) interesting answer they had a very (00:08:16) long-term understanding of how or belief (00:08:19) rather about how their success in (00:08:22) medical school would impact their family (00:08:26) how it would impact their life Arc how (00:08:28) it would change them and they weren't (00:08:30) particular about the ways in which it (00:08:32) would change them or their family in (00:08:33) fact it was a rather broad abstract (00:08:36) aspirational way of thinking about their (00:08:38) study efforts so what I like so much (00:08:41) about this paper is that you know in (00:08:43) addition to having a fairly large sample (00:08:45) size close to 700 students that were (00:08:48) evaluated and yes it's purely uh you (00:08:50) know self-report and this kind of thing (00:08:53) nonetheless it Bridges the two extremes (00:08:56) of studying and learning you know it (00:08:57) gets right down into the nitty-gritty of (00:08:59) how long they study when they study the (00:09:01) things they do to limit distraction that (00:09:03) we just discussed but it also gets to (00:09:06) their underlying psychological (00:09:08) motivations and the thing that they use (00:09:10) in order to pull them forward through (00:09:11) their study efforts perhaps especially (00:09:14) when their desire is waning or their uh (00:09:17) level of fatigue is increasing I don't (00:09:19) know that I'm speculating here but this (00:09:21) is this aspirational component of going (00:09:24) to medical school which it turns out in (00:09:26) the country in which the study was done (00:09:28) um only very very select few of the very (00:09:31) best students are able to achieve that (00:09:33) they have to learn the information in a (00:09:35) different language altogether which is (00:09:37) incredible I always Marvel at that you (00:09:39) know I have friends that did their PHD (00:09:41) thesis in Italy they're Italian by birth (00:09:44) they now happen to run a laboratory in (00:09:46) Italy and they had to do their PHD (00:09:49) training and write papers and give their (00:09:50) thesis dissertation and defense in (00:09:54) English even though English was their (00:09:55) second language so talk about a (00:09:57) challenge and um that's just one example (00:09:59) that I can think of there are many (00:10:01) examples of (00:10:03) that these students that I'm referring (00:10:05) to in this study are not necessarily (00:10:08) constantly thinking about how their (00:10:10) efforts will transform themselves and (00:10:13) their families but they certainly were (00:10:15) able to report what it was specifically (00:10:18) that they are seeking what they're (00:10:19) aspiring to besides just trying to do as (00:10:22) well as they can getting into and (00:10:23) through medical school so the high level (00:10:26) aspirational stuff within you whatever (00:10:29) that is for you it's going to be highly (00:10:31) individual is certainly important and it (00:10:35) offers a bookend to the nuts and bolts (00:10:37) he kind of stuff that you're going to do (00:10:39) I would hope in order to best study and (00:10:41) learn the specific material so the (00:10:43) specific actions that you're going to (00:10:44) take each day to learn specific bits of (00:10:46) information that will pull you toward (00:10:49) those important aspirations and now (00:10:50) again if you love the material you're (00:10:53) learning this aspirational component is (00:10:55) probably not as important right I can (00:10:57) recall during University and uate school (00:11:00) and so on thinking oh my goodness this (00:11:03) is like the coolest thing I've ever (00:11:04) heard I probably say that about a (00:11:05) million different topics like oh my (00:11:06) goodness circadian rhythms seasonal (00:11:08) rhythms melatonin neural circuits (00:11:10) dopamine I was just a wash with (00:11:11) excitement about what I was learning but (00:11:13) of course sometimes I would take a (00:11:14) course where the material was I don't (00:11:16) know if it was more challenging or not (00:11:18) but I had a harder time getting engaged (00:11:20) by the material either by virtue of how (00:11:22) it was being taught to me or the (00:11:23) material itself so the ability to attach (00:11:26) to some aspirational goal to pull you (00:11:28) through can be very valuable you're not (00:11:31) going to love every topic you have to (00:11:33) learn however I will say that at least (00:11:36) in my experience some of the courses (00:11:39) that I look back on most fondly are the (00:11:41) courses that I struggled with the most (00:11:44) and in fact that's the basis of the next (00:11:46) and easily one of the most important (00:11:49) studying tools so a key theme in all of (00:11:52) the excellent literature that is the (00:11:54) peer-reviewed research on how best to (00:11:57) study is that studying that feels (00:11:59) challenged in is the most effective I (00:12:02) know nobody wants to hear this everyone (00:12:04) wants to hear about flow everybody wants (00:12:06) to hear about information just sinking (00:12:09) into their brain by osmosis I think it (00:12:10) was a Garfield cartoon where he talked (00:12:12) about learning by osmosis there's this (00:12:14) very cute real world video of a kid in a (00:12:17) classroom uh I believe uh it's in China (00:12:20) where he's taking the book and he puts (00:12:21) it on his head maybe I can find this (00:12:23) clip and he's just kind of like trying (00:12:24) to wash it into his brain it's super (00:12:25) cute clip but guess what that doesn't (00:12:27) work I mean it works to put the book on (00:12:29) your head it doesn't work to it's not (00:12:31) going to get the information into your (00:12:32) brain uh perhaps someday there will be (00:12:35) ways to rapidly download information (00:12:37) into neural circuits right now we know (00:12:40) we've known for hundreds if not (00:12:42) thousands of years that effort is the (00:12:47) Cornerstone of learning so I know there (00:12:49) probably some groans about that I know (00:12:51) some of you perhaps were hoping that (00:12:53) today I was going to tell you how to (00:12:54) study so that studying wasn't (00:12:56) painful I think I can accomplish that by (00:12:59) the end of today (00:13:00) episode but in order to do that let's (00:13:02) take another quiz can you name or List (00:13:06) off in your mind three tools that the (00:13:08) most effective students have been shown (00:13:10) to (00:13:11) use I can think (00:13:14) of limiting distraction by virtue of (00:13:17) putting away phones and telling others (00:13:19) you won't be in contact with them two (00:13:21) and I'm getting these out of order I (00:13:23) realize is to isolate to study alone and (00:13:27) the third that I can recall is (00:13:30) to teach others in the same course okay (00:13:34) you can probably think of a few others (00:13:36) now why are we taking these silly little (00:13:39) quizzes Well turns out they're not so (00:13:41) silly when one considers that hopefully (00:13:44) you'll remember the information from (00:13:46) today so that you don't have to listen (00:13:48) to it over and over again but that if (00:13:51) ever there was a strongly research (00:13:54) supported tool in the literature in the (00:13:57) peer-reviewed literature about how (00:13:58) students can learn information better (00:14:00) it's testing and I know I know I know we (00:14:04) think of tests as a way to evaluate our (00:14:08) knowledge but it turns out that testing (00:14:10) is one of the best ways to build our (00:14:12) knowledge to retain our knowledge and (00:14:14) again to offset forgetting (00:14:18) [Music]