Want to Get Smarter? Neuroscience Reveals 6 Simple,

EXPERT OPINION BY JEFF HADEN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INC. @JEFF_HADEN

Who you know matters. But what you know, and what you do with what you know, matters a lot more, making learning faster and retaining more a business superpower.

Here are six neuroscience-based ways to learn more quickly -- and, even more important, better retain what you learn

1. Learn several things at a time.

The process is called interleaving: studying related concepts or skills in parallel. Instead of focusing on one subject, one task, or one skill during a learning session, purposely learn or practice several subjects or skills in succession. 

It turns out interleaving is a much more effective way to train your brain and your motor skills. A theory proposed in a study published in the Educational Psychology Review says interleaving improves your brain's ability to differentiate between concepts or skills: When you block practice one skill, you can drill down until muscle memory takes over and the skill becomes more or less automatic. 

When you interleave several skills, no single skill can become mindless, and that's good, since you then have to constantly adapt and adjust. You have to see, feel, and discriminate between concepts or movements. 

That process helps you better learn what you're working to learn since you'll gain understanding at a deeper, less automatic/muscle-memory level. 

Want more on how adaptation helps you learn? 

2. Frequently vary the way you study.

Repeating anything over and over again, in the hopes you will master that task, not only keeps you from improving as quickly as you could, but, in some cases, may actually decrease your skill as well. 

According to a study published in Johns Hopkins Medicine, practicing a slightly modified version of a task you want to master helps you "actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practicing the exact same thing multiple times in a row." The most likely cause is reconsolidation, a process where existing memories are recalled and modified with new knowledge.

Imagine you want to master a presentation. Here's the process:

1. Rehearse the basic skill. Run through the presentation twice, under the same conditions you'll eventually face when you do it live. Naturally, the second time through will be better than the first; that's how practice works. But then, instead of going through it a third time  ...

2. Wait. Give yourself at least six hours so your memory can consolidate. (That could mean you need to wait until the next day before you practice again, which, as you'll see in a moment, is a great learning effectiveness double-dip.)

3. Practice again, but this time ...

• Go a little faster. Speak a little (just a little) faster than you normally do. Run through your slides slightly faster. Increasing your speed means you'll make more mistakes, but that's OK -- in the process, you'll modify old knowledge with new knowledge, and lay the groundwork for improvement. Or ...
• Go a little slower. The same thing will happen. (Plus, you can experiment with new techniques, including the use of silence for effect, that aren't apparent when you do your presentation at a normal speed.) Or ...
• Break your presentation into smaller chunks. Almost every task includes a series of discrete steps, and that's definitely true for presentations. Pick one section of your pitch. Deconstruct it. Master it. Then put the whole presentation back together. Or ...
• Change the conditions. Use a different projector. Or a different remote. Or a lavaliere instead of a headset mic. Switch up the conditions slightly; not only will that help you modify an existing memory, but it will also make you better prepared for the unexpected.

4. Keep modifying the conditions as you keep practicing.

Best of all, the process can be applied to learning almost anything, whether memory or motor skills related. 

3. Test yourself -- a lot.

A classic study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest shows that self-testing is an extremely effective way to speed up the learning process.

Partly that's because of the additional context you create. Test yourself and answer incorrectly and not only are you more likely to remember the right answer after you look it up, but you'll also remember the fact you didn't remember. (Especially if you tend to be hard on yourself.)

So don't just rehearse your sales pitch. Test yourself on what comes after your intro. Test yourself by listing the four main points you want to make. Test your ability to remember cost savings figures, or price schedules, or how you will respond to the most common questions or types of customer resistance.

Not only will you gain confidence in how much you do know, but you'll also more quickly learn the things you don't know -- at least not yet. 

4. Repeat what you want to remember out loud.

Mentally rehearsing is good. Rehearsing out loud is better. 

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition found that compared with reading or thinking silently (as if there's another way to think), the act of speech is a "quite powerful mechanism for improving memory for selected information."

As the researchers write:

Learning and memory benefit from active involvement. When we add an active measure or a production element to a word, that word becomes more distinct in long-term memory, and hence more memorable.

So don't just practice your presentation in your head. Rehearse it out loud. (Or don't just repeat the name of someone you just met in your head. Find a way to say it out loud, like using their name in conversation.)

That way you'll remember what you thought and what you heard yourself say.

5. Take plenty of breaks.

Once you've drafted that presentation, run through it a couple of times. Take a few minutes to make corrections and revisions.

Then step away for a few hours, or even for a day, before you repeat the process; as a study published in Psychological Science shows, "distributed practice" is a much more effective way to learn. Why?

Study-phase retrieval theory says each time you attempt to retrieve something from memory, and that retrieval is more successful, the memory then becomes harder to forget. If you go over your presentation back-to-back-to-back, much of it will still be top of mind.

Which means you don't have to retrieve it from longer-term memory.

Another theory regards contextual variability. When information gets encoded into memory, some of the context is also encoded. That's why listening to an old song can cause you to remember where you were, what you were feeling, etc., when you first heard that song. The additional context creates useful cues for retrieving information.

Either way, distributed practice definitely works. So give yourself enough time to space out your learning sessions. You'll learn more efficiently and more effectively.

Especially if you ...

6. Get some sleep.

According to a 2016 study published in Psychological Science, people who studied before bed, then slept, and then did a quick review the next morning not only spent less time studying but also increased their long-term retention by 50 percent.

Why? One factor is what psychologists call sleep-dependent memory consolidation.

As the researchers write:

Converging evidence, from the molecular to the phenomenological, leaves little doubt that offline memory reprocessing during sleep is an important component of how our memories are formed and ultimately shaped.

Sleeping after learning is definitely a good strategy, but sleeping between two learning sessions is a better strategy.

Or in non-researcher-speak, sleeping on it not only helps your brain file away what you've learned, but also makes that information easier to access -- especially if you chunk your learning sessions by studying a little the next morning.

Better, more efficient retention.

Can't beat that.

Photo Credit: Getty Images.