Nasos Papadopoulos

Languages

3 Qualities of Exceptional Language Learners

Although there is no single language learning method that works for everyone, what is universal is the mindset that you approach the process with and the qualities that you seek to cultivate in yourself. In this post I explore the fundamental principles needed to build the methods that work best for

Languages

5 Common Language Learning Myths Dispelled

A big part of the battle in language learning is in the mind and a great place to start is by dispelling the limiting beliefs that prevent so most people from making progress. In this post I explore the 5 most common language learning myths and offer strategies for combating them.

Business

Learning To Lead: 5 Things I Learned from the Hive Global Leaders Program

The way we define leadership is central to the way our world works so it makes sense to spend some time learning about it. And that's exactly what I did when I attended the Hive Global Leaders Program in San Francisco, a gathering of 150 global leaders from 40+ countries.

Understanding Yourself

Perfectionism: The Learning Mindset You Need To Avoid At All Costs

We all want to be perfect at anything we learn but these expectations of excellence are often unhelpful and more often than not they leave us in a state of paralysis. In this post I discuss the pitfalls of the perfectionist mindset and provide strategies for combating it.

Understanding Yourself

Why Competing With Yourself Is the Best Way To Learn Anything

The society we live in generates a lot of envy but condemns anyone who admits to experiencing it. In this post I look at how we can deal with envy in learning and present some strategies for managing the process of competing with ourselves and others.

Business

The Highs and Lows of Being a Jack of All Trades

Those of us with many interests aren’t always accepted by modern society. In this post I discuss how I've handled the challenges I've faced in my education and career as someone with multiple interests and give my thoughts on how you can do the same.

Understanding Yourself

3 Things The Matrix Taught Me About Learning

If you’ve seen The Matrix, you’ll remember that Neo and his friends are pretty good at learning. So good that they can upload skills to their brains in a matter of seconds and start using them right away. In this post I discuss what the film can teach us about the learning process and how to apply t

Creativity

5 Unexpected Things I Learned about Creativity from Starting a Podcast

Starting a podcast has been a great learning experience, for reasons I could never have predicted. But most of the things I've learned have nothing to do with podcasting itself. In this post I dive into the 5 things I've learned about creativity from the process.

Understanding Yourself

Zapping the Zeigarnik Effect: One Giant Leap for Your Productivity

Have you ever had that nagging feeling that you should be doing something else? It turns out the negative impact of these feelings on our ability to focus is much greater than we'd expect. In this post I discuss my own experiences and offer solutions to dealing with the problem of incomplete tasks.

Understanding Yourself

How The Growth Mindset Can Harm Your Learning and What To Do About It

It’s hard to think of an idea that’s received more attention in recent years than the growth mindset. In this post I explore how the growth mindset, when misinterpreted, can have a negative impact on learning and discuss strategies you can use to avoid this pitfall.

Learning

Emotional Encoding: How Your Mood Affects Learning and What To Do About It

Emotional encoding is the idea that material that's relevant to our emotional state receives special attention during memorisation, which will make it easier to remember later. In this post I discuss what drives this effect and offer advice on how to take advantage of it.

Learning

Environmental Encoding: How Your Surroundings Affect Learning and What to Do About It

If we can revisit or recreate the same external environment in which we initially learned something, will our learning and recall be stronger? In this post I explore the impact of environment on learning and memory and offer suggestions for using it to your advantage.

Learning

How To Become a Memory Master with Mnemonics

Mnemonic devices are powerful tools for improving your memory because they capitalise on the brain’s enhanced ability to encode, store and retrieve certain types of information. Mnemonic devices help you remember names, dates and related facts and in this post I show you how to use them.

Learning

Engineering Insight: How to Boost Your Creativity with the Focused and Diffuse Modes of Thinking

Understanding how we think gives us a clearer picture of what generates creative insights. In this post I explore scientific research and anecdotal evidence on the focused and diffuse modes of thinking and show you how to switch between them to boost your creativity.

Learning

Measure Up: How to Dodge Cognitive Biases Using Calibration

Being able to monitor our performance is a critical element of effective learning but we’re often misled by cognitive biases. Calibration allows us to sidestep these biases and in this post I present the key strategies for using it in your learning.

Learning

The Generation Game: Make Mistakes to Learn More

We often associate making mistakes with failure but they're a critical part of the learning process. In this post, I show you the strategies needed to use generation - the process of trying to answer a problem before being given the answer - to deepen your learning.

Reflect to Learn: How to Create Your Own Mental Playbook

One of the main reasons some people never learn and continue to make the same mistakes is because they haven’t taken the time to reflect on what they’ve learned and connect it to what they already know. In this post I show you how not to be one of those people.

Learning

Mix It Up: How to Accelerate your Learning with Mixed Practice

Mixed practice, the process of interleaving problem types and skills, leads to more effective learning even though it feels awkward. In this post I present the key strategies needed to implement it in your learning.

Learning

The Power of Elaboration: Get Creative to Boost your Learning

Our imagination is a remarkable tool but we're never taught how to use it to learn new information. Elaboration helps you access the potential of your imagination and in this post I show you how to use it to to remember what you're studying and have fun along the way.

Learning

Space It Out: Transform Your Learning with One Simple Strategy

Spaced repetition is the process of studying information more than once and leaving progressively longer gaps between sessions. In this post I explain why it's so effective and how to use it.

Learning

How to Use Testing to Cut Useless Studying

Effective learning techniques feel difficult – but the harder they feel, the better you learn. Testing is one of these counterintuitive strategies and in this post I give you the strategies needed to apply it. practice.

Understanding Yourself

ML1: Joshua Fields on Morning Routines, The Wisdom of Eastern Philosophy and Priming Your Mind for Learning

Discover the techniques you can use to prime your mind for learning, how to create a morning routine that sets you up for the day and the insights we can draw from Eastern Philosophy in the Western World.

Learning

ML0: Welcome to the MetaLearn Podcast - The Home of Self-Directed Learning

Welcome to the first ever episode of the MetaLearn Podcast. In this episode I provide an introduction to MetaLearn, featuring an exploration of the main themes in accelerated learning and skill acquisition as well as some insight into my own personal story.

Learning

Why You're Learning the Wrong Way and What To Do About It

The learning methods most of use may feel effective but the gains from them are limited. Research tells us that other strategies are more effective and I discuss these in this post.

Learning

Can You Master Anything with Deliberate Practice?

People overestimate how long it takes to get good at a skill, confusing it with mastery. In this post I explore the difference and provide strategies for rapid skill acquisition.