Can You Teach Old Dogs New Tricks?

Our world is changing so rapidly that you may not believe you have the capacity to keep pace.  Wouldn't we all be more productive if we could assess applications that are best suited for our businesses and careers more quickly?  Everyone knows someone who is technologically illiterate, but does that mean they can't learn or it's too complicated to even try? 

The age old question "can you teach an old dog new tricks" comes to mind, and if you asked Dr. Barbara Oakley that question her response would be a resounding "yes".  Dr. Oakley teaches Leaning How to Learn, an online course that has been taken by nearly 2 million people worldwide to help them tackle difficult subjects and stop procrastinating. 

In a recent article in the New York Times, Dr. Oakley offered four tips to improve your learning capabilities.

1. Dr. Oakley says people think in two different ways.  One is where you concentrate on the material you want to learn and the second is diffuse.  Diffuse is the process the brain uses to absorb the information you focus on.  Diffuse is the place where connections between information and unexpected insights occur.
2. To help yourself focus and diffuse information, Dr. Oakley suggests setting a timer for 25 minutes of focused work.  When the timer goes off, take a break.  Give yourself a reward such as listening to music, taking a walk or grabbing a latte.  The goal is to think about something else, which enables your brain to process the information from the task you just focused on.  Setting a timer also helps avoid procrastinating.  Thinking about doing something you dislike activates the pain center in the brain, Dr. Oakley said.  Setting a timer "helps the mind slip into focus and work without thinking about the work."
3. Practice:  When you repeat a task or practice that you are trying to learn, you acquire a procedural fluency, Dr. Oakley states.  She compares the process to learning how to back up a car.  When you first try, it's difficult, but after you have backed up a car several dozen times, it almost becomes second nature and your brain thinks about other things when you do it.  The more you practice the easier it is to lean more complex information.
4. Be intellectually honest.  No one knows you better than yourself and the best way you learn new things.  Some people grasp new concepts right awa, while others take the tortoise route.  Those who take more time are likely to notice more details.  Dr. Oakley says that knowing the difference between tortoise and hare learning styles is a first step in learning how to approach unfamiliar material.