Work smarter.

The key to accelerated learning is not just putting in more hours, but maximizing the effectiveness of the time spent learning.

The development of the Learning Pyramid in the 1960’s — widely attributed to the NTL Institute in Bethel, Maine— outlined how humans learn.

As research shows, it turns out that humans remember:

5% of what they learn when they’ve learned from a lecture (i.e. university/college lectures)

10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading (i.e. books, articles)

20% of what they learn from audio-visual (i.e. apps, videos)

30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration

50% of what they learn when engaged in a group discussion.

75% of what they learn when they practice what they learned.

90% of what they learn when they use immediately (or teach others)

The point here is that instead of forcing our brains on how to remember more information with “passive” methods, we should focus our time, energy, and resources on “participatory” methods that have proven to deliver more effective results, in less time.

This means that:

• If you want to learn how to speak a foreign language, you should focus on speaking with native speakers and gain immediate feedback (instead of mobile apps)
• If you want to get in shape, you should work with a personal fitness trainer (instead of watching Youtube workout videos)
• If you want to learn a new instrument, hire a local music teacher in your city

Ultimately, it comes down to this: Time or Money?