Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0285: Reprise: Is it OK to take notes while doing an accelerated learning course?

Episode Date: April 10, 2015

Today Timothy revisits the question on how to take notes while doing an accelerated learning course, with some extra comments on how he would change his answer today. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Hey everyone, this is Timothy and welcome to episode 285 of Master of Memory. Today we're doing a reprise episode of episode 55 about taking notes during a memorization course. This episode is a good reminder that when you're taking any course, you're working for a specific intended result, not just trying to practice some arbitrary rule that you have to memorize anything or anything like that. You're working for one specific result. So I think there are some great recommendations in this episode, and I really have nothing else to add to it. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster

than ever. Blake asked in an email about taking notes during accelerated learning courses. Is it appropriate to take notes and review the notes while going through a memory course, or should it be strictly memory? Well, Blake, the important thing to remember in this and any learning endeavor is you should ultimately be striving however you can for the intended result. Now, the intended result of a memory course is to be able to remember things at the end of that course that you learned during the course. So if you take the James course, for example, that's out there at masterofmemory.com slash James, the intended result after that course should be that you can recite the whole book of James

and that you can recite any verse from any reference or any reference from any verse. So whether or not you take notes is going to depend on what's going to help you to achieve that intended result. So there's nothing inherently wrong with taking notes as long as your notes aren't being used as a crutch. To continue using the James course as an example, since Blake mentioned this in his email, my recommendation is that your notes always help you somehow to remember the mnemonics. The mnemonics in the course are really ultimately what's going to set up triggers in your mind so that you can always remember what you need to

remember anytime that you want to remember a verse or want to recite a passage. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with, while you're going through them, actually writing down maybe mind mapping, adding things, taking things out that you don't think will work for you, and generally building on the mnemonics that are there so that it's in your mind more solidly. And then you can review these notes later so that you can refer back to the mnemonics just to make sure that they're solidly in your head. And actually one of the revisions that we're making to the James course right now

as we re-release it for the new version as opposed to the version that we had just for March is that we actually have some notes for you that are in the form of images. So at the end of each day, you can see images that represent the mnemonics that basically summarize the mnemonics for each of the verses that we learned that day. This is sort of an example of notes because the point of the notes is if you ever have trouble remembering what the mnemonic is or how that ties to the meaning, you can refer to those notes, get whatever it is more solidly in your head, and then that way you can remember later without the notes.

So that's my answer, Blake. Do use notes as they help you learn. Do use notes to help you remember so that you don't need notes later and always remember that you're trying to serve the intended result. All right, I hope you've enjoyed this reprise episode. For anyone who has any questions about learning or memorizing anything faster than ever, feel free still to leave a message at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll be able to respond quickly to your message from wherever I am. I just won't be able to record an episode on that topic until I'm back in the States

in May. Meanwhile, if you want to support the show, please check out our Spanish course at masterofmemory.com slash Spanish. Or if you want to follow my adventures in Argentina or wherever else I might happen to be, you can do that at