Using a metaphor,
story, or visualization when trying to learn a concept is one of the best ways
to remember and understand it. Welcome to the story of…
Sir Learn-a-Lot
Or: How to Defeat a Dragon and Gain Your Lady’s Love
in a few Easy Steps
Once upon a time, in
a land not so far away, there was a young knight named Sir Learn-a-Lot. Every
time the local dragon captured a local lady, Sir Learn-a-lot would
procrastinate and when at last he rode the rescue he was always just in time to
be much too late. Needless to say, Sir Learn-a-Lot had a lot to learn.
The trick to beating procrastination is to
realize that it has become a habit. There are four parts to habits: The Cue,
The Routine, The Reward, The Belief. To change the habit, you must first change
the reaction to the cue.
One day a wise old
man came to visit Sir-Learn-a-Lot. He found him engaged in one of his favorite
pastimes: surfing the interwoven webs of the enchanted palace spiders. He said
to the young man, “My lord, have you heard that the dragon has stolen the
blacksmith’s daughter?” On hearing these words, the young man felt a familiar
sense of dread, and picking up a new surfboard, he was about to hop onto the
web again, when the wise old man caught his arm. “Do you not desire to rescue
the lady, my lord?” he queried.
“Of course!” the
young man replied, “It won’t take long though—I can do it later. The dragon
won’t eat her for at least another hour or so.”
“A wise learner
doesn’t waste time,” the old man commented. The knight was on the verge of arguing
when the old man reached into his satchel and brought out a parcel. “It is for
you, Sir Learn-a-Lot,” said he.
Pleased at receiving
an unexpected gift, the knight eagerly tore off the paper. He stared at it
incredulously for a long moment. “It’s a tomato,” he said at last.
The Routine: make a plan, get rid of
distractions, and focus.
“It’s a pomodoro,”
the old man corrected.
“Oh. I knew that,”
the knight said, blushing slightly beneath his helmet.
“You must focus on
the process, not the destination,” the old man said, taking the pomodoro (which
was in fact a magical timer) and setting it to twenty-five minutes. “If you
will dive into the process of saving the lady, the dragon that you must face
will not frighten you as much.” And with that he drew a knife and disconnected
the interwoven net of webs so that the knight would not be tempted to avoid the
rescue any longer.
“Well, all right,”
Sir Learn-a-Lot said, “twenty-five minutes isn’t too bad, I suppose I could
reach the cave by then.” He paused, “But what do I get out of all this? Even if
I did like her, the blacksmith’s daughter is already engaged.”
The Reward: Have something to look forward to
when you finish the task whether it’s the satisfaction of a job well done,
drinking a latte, or watching a movie.
The wise old man
smiled, “Have you met my daughter, Lady Luck?”
The knight’s eyes
lit up with delight, “Ah, she is most wondrous fair! I would give anything to
gain her favor!”
“Lady Luck favors
those who try, my lord.”
The young man put on
his armor with renewed alacrity and leapt upon his horse. As he was about to
ride away he seemed suddenly struck with doubt. “Will it really work?” he asked
the old man.
The Belief: Believe that your new system will
work. Find like-minded people to keep you on track.
“It will, Sir
Learn-a-Lot,” the wise man replied, “The blacksmith’s daughter is Lady Luck’s
friend. Now hurry, you have only twenty minutes more, then you may pause to
rest.” He pressed the weird ticking pomodoro into the knight’s shiny metal gauntlet.
The knight rode on
and was so focused on the journey that he didn’t even notice when the timer
ended for he now had a greater motivation. As he rode, he planned his mode of
attack. He knew that he was prepared—he hadn’t spent all those years in dragon-fighting
school for nothing. He could almost hear his teacher’s voice,
It’s often helpful to pretend you are the
concept you are trying to understand.
“I am a dragon,” Sir
Learn-a-Lot said to himself. “I am a dragon. I am a dragon. I am a dragon.” He
could see it now: the dragon rearing up to roar and spew flames at him. In
fact, he really could see it, and hear it as well, for he had just come upon
the dragon’s lair. Suddenly he found himself understanding what the dragon
would do next! He must act quickly. He leapt from his steed, drew his broad
sword and slid the blade neatly into the dragon’s innards. The dragon fell
over, dead, so Sir Learn-a-Lot scooped up the maiden (who was just inside the
cave, petrified with fear) and galloped home. He met the wise old man waiting
at the front door with his lovely daughter, Lady Luck.
Recall—after you’ve worked on something,
practice remembering it. Especially in places outside of your regular learning
space. This makes test taking easier as you won’t be thrown off by being in an
unusual room.
Working together—when you study with friends,
they can catch what you miss. Explaining what you’ve learned to someone else
helps solidify it in your own mind.
Lady Luck invited
Sir Learn-a-Lot to dinner, where he told her how her father had inspired him to
rescue her friend. “It’s amazing, this little pomodoro,” he said, holding it
out for her to examine, “Simply setting a timer and cutting down my web was all
it took to get me started, and once I got started… well,” he looked smilingly
around, “Having your father to keep me on track helped a lot too.”
Lady Luck was much
impressed. They became engaged that evening and were married within the week.
The End
This was written as the Final Project for the class "Learning How to Learn:Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects" which is taught by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski and is available on Coursera.org
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