Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

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Voytek
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Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby Voytek » Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:24 pm

I'm asking because I'm just curious is anyone of you using anything to improve their learning capacity. Personally, I'm supplementing my diet with the vitamin B3, B5, D3, magnesium chloride, lith and boron. Also, I used to use subliminals to improve my brain performance and it worked like a charm. I'm going to back to this soon.

Of course, the gym every day and 7-8 hours of sleep. :)
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby luke » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:32 pm

Naps.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby Soffía » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:35 pm

luke wrote:Naps.


I regret that I have only one "like" to give to this post.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby the1whoknocks » Thu Apr 27, 2017 12:22 am

General health seems to be my ulterior motive behind doing most of this stuff, so I’m not sure it qualifies as a method for improving learning capacity. Still, I think they help.

-1. Try to wake up the same time each day and work on my priority during the first 30 minutes of the day. Usually, this turns out to be something related to Spanish. I get a mental boost from completing something important in the morning, and this often leads me to complete something else important, as it relates to Spanish. A cascade effect of sorts.

-2. Follow a strength training program. I started this last November. Beyond the clichéd benefits of weight training, following a strength program has led me to make much better eating decisions. Before, I was guilty of not eating nearly enough or watching my nutrient breakdown. I credit these better nutrition habits not only for my higher energy levels, but for the mental focus I’m able to maintain, to the extent that I’m able do so. I’m in the gym between 45-60 minutes, three times per week.

-3. I train Krav Maga four nights a week. Before, this it was boxing and MMA training. Sometimes, I’ll throw in the occasional endurance event or 5K … all just to stay active.

-4. Start each day with about 2 glasses of water. Since January, I’ve been doing this, ‘gallon of water a day’ challenge. My mental alertness and overall energy level received a nice boost thanks to this change. I now drink more than a gallon of water per day without even thinking about it and very rarely touch caffeine.

-5. Have a habit of doing certain learning activities at certain points in the day. This part is probably all mental, but I find that it’s almost like my mind prepares itself to learn when I do the same thing at the same time every day. Similar to when you don’t need an alarm clock to wake up, because your body just ‘does’ on its own.

... naps work some serious magic regarding learning capacity!

Voytek wrote:[...] Also, I used to use subliminals to improve my brain performance and it worked like a charm. I'm going to back to this soon.


I sometimes take multivitamins and fish oil. Would ‘green’ smoothies count as ‘subliminals’? I would like to look more into that.

EDIT: After re-reading my post, I thought I should take the time to clarify my use of multivitamins and fish oil. I’m not entirely sold on multivitamins, but do use fish oil only for its omega 3’s, which is only intended to supplement my weight training; inflammation, cardiovascular health, etc.

Although it has not been suggested otherwise, I wanted to be clear that I do not mean to suggest that I believe that they directly help improve one’s learning capacity.
Last edited by the1whoknocks on Fri Apr 28, 2017 2:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby lingua » Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:37 am

I know that part of me hopes learning these languages will keep dementia away. It's a huge concern. But I don't take anything specifically to improve my capacity to learn.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby Voytek » Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:31 am

the1whoknocks wrote:Would ‘green’ smoothies count as ‘subliminals’?


I'm afraid, they would not. :)

the1whoknocks wrote:I would like to look more into that.


In nuce, I've been using sublimals for over two years and words can't desrcibe how massivley my life has changed, how many positive changes has happened in my mind thus my life. But we're talking here particualrly about a subliminal which increases learning speed. It not only instils into your mind (into the subconscious ) beliefs that you're a "super learner" and lets you act upon them in the daily life but actually improves your learning capacity.

I don't know if I can give you the name of this product here since it would be marketing and as far as I know it's against the rules but, of course, if you want to know it, just PM me.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby Cavesa » Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:47 am

Voytek wrote:I'm asking because I'm just curious is anyone of you using anything to improve their learning capacity.


Mostly the standard stuff supplied by medical faculties. Fear, despair, stress, self-hate, the idea of staying without a degree after so many years of hell, or being so bad I won't get a job abroad, rinse and repeat ad nauseam or ad examina. No maximum dosage set. No leaflets with side effects are being distributed to the innocent people entering the university.

......
Now seriously. Thanks for ideas, guys. I could do with applying some. I am really struggling these days to focus and learn. Both the ugly stuff and languages.
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby zenmonkey » Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:44 am

Personally I have the same confidence in subliminal as I have in a variety of other expensive, sold in the back of magazines. I don't doubt that perception influences a variety of biological and mind processes but most of these programs are just the new snake oil.

As to supplements, some are useful, most are overhyped. For example, there is no robust research for the effect of fish oil on memory at normal biological doses. Or taking something like uridine may influence memory but at the risk of increased cancer prevalence.
If you eat lots of greens, some fish have a beer every once in a while then you are taking in some great memory enhancers. Get your sleep, exercise, get away from screens, have sex and you are generally good to go.

Of course, if you personally feel that supplements are the cat's meow... go for it! Not my monkeys, not my circus. But if you want to focus on the things that are most effective - sleep, activity level, general stress, quality eating are where one should focus first.

(And check out examine.com for general public evidence based info on supplements...)
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby rdearman » Thu Apr 27, 2017 10:45 am

I find studying and reading help. :)
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Re: Do you have any particular method to improve your learning capacity?

Postby blaurebell » Thu Apr 27, 2017 11:04 am

My health sucks so my concentration and learning capacity sucks too. I have taken just about every supplement that is reasonably safe and the only one that didn't have side-effects and had an obvious positive effect is vitamin D. I'm more awake when I have adequate levels of that. All the other supplements I took were basically a waste of money.

The only way to deal with my reduced capacity for concentration is to have fun. As long as 90% of my learning activities are fun I can keep going indefinitely and learn automatically. Occasionally I try to push beyond that for a few weeks or a couple of months, but so far I've always paid for it with my health getting worse for a while. So, how to have more fun? Avoid deadlines, read stuff I want to read, watch TL TV, keep grammar to a minimum. Obviously that only works for languages at B2+. For any new language I usually have to pay the price when I overdo it.

I have learned one thing the hard way: We all have our limitations. Going beyond those usually doesn't come cheap. If you "optimise your learning capacity" too much and keep going beyond your limitations for a long time at some point your body will take the breaks it needs, whether you want to or not. The stress of my bachelor degree triggered a couple of chronic diseases. My master's degree came with the price tag of hospital and surgery. Humans are not built for continuous stress and a broken body can't simply be replaced or repaired. Don't overdo it.
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