{"id":82393,"date":"2018-03-06T12:55:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T18:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=82393"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:33:56","slug":"podcast-385-make-stick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-385-make-stick\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #385: Learning How to Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you study for a test or you\u2019re trying to learn a new skill, what\u2019s your typical approach? If you\u2019re like most people, you might repeat facts over and over again or do the same task over and over again until you can do it in your sleep. While these brute force tactics might make you feel like you\u2019re encoding new information into your brain, my guest today argues that you\u2019re just fooling yourself. His name is Peter Brown, and he\u2019s the co-author of the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning<\/a><\/em>. Today on the show Peter and I discuss why typical approaches to studying might make it feel like you\u2019re learning, but don\u2019t actually work. We then delve into research-backed advice on how to really learn something and really retain it. Some of these insights are going to seem pretty counterintuitive. If you\u2019re a student, someone who\u2019s looking to become proficient in a new skill, or just dedicated to the idea of lifelong learning<\/a>, this episode is packed with actionable advice.<\/p>\n

If you’re a student, or just want to better retain the things you watch, listen to, and read, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Make it Stick<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you study for a test or you\u2019re trying to learn a new skill, what\u2019s your typical approach? If you\u2019re like most people, you might repeat facts over and over again or do the same task over and over again until you can do it in your sleep. While these brute force tactics might make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nHow to Learn So It Really Sticks | The Art of Manliness Podcast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When you study for a test or are trying to learn a new skill, what\u2019s your approach? You might repeat facts over and over or do the same task until you can do it in your sleep. While these brute force tactics might make you feel like you\u2019re encoding new information into your brain, you\u2019re fooling yourself.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-385-make-stick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #385: Learning How to Learn | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you study for a test or are trying to learn a new skill, what\u2019s your approach? You might repeat facts over and over or do the same task until you can do it in your sleep. While these brute force tactics might make you feel like you\u2019re encoding new information into your brain, you\u2019re fooling yourself.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-385-make-stick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-06T18:55:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-06T14:33:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/385.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #385: Learning How to Learn\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-06T18:55:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T14:33:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":221,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/385.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Character\",\"Podcast\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Learn So It Really Sticks | The Art of Manliness Podcast\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-385-make-stick\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/385.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-06T18:55:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T14:33:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"description\":\"When you study for a test or are trying to learn a new skill, what\u2019s your approach? 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