Encoding · Part 3

Key ideas

• ▸We avoid studying because the brain (≈20% of resting energy) dreads the overwhelming task of organising information.
• ▸Organising = sorting marbles (facts) into cups (categories). Overwhelm comes from having no cups yet.
• ▸Three energy costs while learning: understanding, comparing to what you know, and deciding where it belongs.
• ▸Each rung of the ladder is low-effort — on each pass you grab only what feels easy and build a scaffold.
• ▸Each rung takes a little longer and goes deeper as more makes sense. Most topics fit in about three rungs.

Do this

• Break a topic into rungs by effort. Rung 1: skim for only the easy-to-grasp parts; build a rough scaffold with non-linear notes.
• Stop on any rung when tired; resume the next rung another day.
• Later rungs add detail to the map (or flashcards) — aim to finish in ~3 rungs.
• Use the same approach on projects: easy high-level plan first, more detail each pass.

In his words