Research has confirmed that a special place devoted just to working is particularly helpful.

The patient ability to keep working away, a little bit at a time, is important. This is why, if procrastination is an issue for you, it will be critical to learn some of the upcoming neural tricks to effectively address it.

But be wary of the idea that some people are “left-brain” or “right-brain” dominant – research indicates that is simply not true.17.

Testing is itself an extraordinarily powerful learning experience.

Just focus on whatever section you are studying. You’ll find that once you put the first problem or concept in your library, whatever it is, then the second concept will go in a bit more easily. And the third more easily still. Not that all of this is a snap, but it does get easier.

Internalizing problem-solving techniques enhances the neural activity that allows you to more easily hear the whispers of your growing intuition. When you know – really know – how to solve a problem just by looking at it, you’ve created a commanding chunk that sweeps like a song through your mind.

You may want your learning to progress more quickly – to somehow command your diffuse mode to assimilate new ideas faster. But compare it to exercise. Constantly lifting weights won’t make your muscles any bigger – your muscles need time to rest and grow before you use them again.

Incidentally, the little book Calculus Made Easy, by Silvanus Thompson, has helped generations of students master the subject.

They say experience is the best teacher. Instead, it should be that failure is the best teacher. I’ve found that the best learners are the ones who cope best with failure and use it as a learning tool.

To be a successful problem solver, focus first. We get stuck in problem solving when we don’t first prepare our brain by focusing on the basics. Don’t just dive into problem solving without studying the explanations first. You need to lay some basic trails on the focused pinball table.