The Best of Scott Young
20+ most popular Scott Young articles, as voted by our community.
My book, ULTRALEARNING, is out now: https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/
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Which Matters More: Method or Motivation?
Surprising results about what matters for learning from a famous study.
«you need a system. You need to understand how learning works, and how you can make best use of your time to make a difference.»
The Intermediate Plateau: What Causes It? How Can We Move Beyond It?
Why do we stop improving? I discuss the research behind why skills stagnate and how to move past it.
Good Advice is "Obvious"
Is good advice counterintuitive? Or is it something you already know? Oddly enough, the answer to both may be "No."
Scott Young on Better Living
You’re Never Too Good for the Basics
Everyone wants advanced techniques. But it's really the basics that count.
«All skills break down into elemental components–coding has commands, painting has brushstrokes, comedy has jokes. Mastery of the performance results from mastery of the parts.»
Scott Young on Critical Thinking
How to Improve Critical Thinking
The way we're taught critical thinking is terrible. Here's a different strategy to improving your ability to think clearly and make smart decisions.
Scott Young on Habits
Which Works Better: Habits or Projects?
Daily habits or intense, one-off projects? In this article I explain why both are necessary to do great things.
«Often, the habit works against improvement, rather than for it, as I have such ingrained writing behaviors that they are difficult to dislodge.»
What are the Limits of Building Better Habits?
Can you achieve anything just by building better habits? After decades of experiments, I share what can and can't be done.
«picking an approach, the foremost decision is to do what works. Sometimes that’s amenable to a process of slowly accumulating long-term habits. Other times, a more serious, obsessive effort will be needed. (And, sometimes you need both.)»
Scott Young on Hobbies
Who Has Time for Hobbies?
Should you schedule time for your hobbies? How to prevent digital distractions from eating up your time and what to do instead.
Scott Young on Learning
The 85% Rule for Learning
How often should you succeed at a task, to maximize learning? I review research suggesting the answer is close to 85%.
«we find that the optimal error rate for training is around 15.87% or, conversely, that the optimal training accuracy is about 85%.»
Maximize Your Learning Time with These Seven Habits
How do you learn more in a busy life? Follow these seven habits to increase the amount of learning, without overwhelming your schedule.
«A method known as pretraining can break down the difficulty of these pursuits. In this strategy, you first master the basics so that applying the new skill becomes much smoother.»
Scott Young on Mental Models
Ten Mental Models for Learning
Ten central ideas to keep in mind whenever you need to learn anything new.
«How much you’re able to learn depends on what you already know. Research finds that the amount of knowledge retained from a text depends on prior knowledge of the topic»
Scott Young on Passion
The Key to Career Progress
Think career capital, not passion, if you're trying to find work you love.
Scott Young on Productivity
Desirable Difficulties: When Harder is Better for Learning
Can you learn more efficiently by making things harder for yourself? These three strategies let you learn faster (even if it feels slower).
«However, practice testing is one of the most effective learning methods that has been systematically studied, while re-reading is one of the worst.»
The 10 Best Books on Productivity
Productivity is about doing more with less. Here are the ten best books to help you finish your work without stress and exhaustion.
Scott Young on Speed Reading
I Was Wrong About Speed Reading: Here are the Facts
Seven years ago, I read some books and articles on speed reading and started practicing some of the methods. I found I was able to increase my reading speed from 450 word per minute to 900 in the…
The Real Way to Improve Your Reading Speed
Most speed-reading techniques don't increase your speed without big costs to comprehension. But there is a way to read faster, and it's very simple.
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The Nine Habits to Increase Your Energy
Your energy levels are the basis of your success and happiness. Here are nine habits you can start today to feel more energetic in work and at home.
«Make the first four hours of your morning a quiet, deep work zone.»
Variability, Not Repetition, is the Key to Mastery
The science behind how (and when) to mix things up in order to accelerate your improvement.
«with the problem. A major difficulty in learning isn’t getting knowledge into your head — but getting it out at the right time»
Seven Easy Habits to Read More Books Next Year
Reading books is one of the best habits you can create for yourself. Here are seven easy habits you can implement to finish more books next year.
«Reading is a habit of compounding growth. Learn more and you’ll generate ideas and enthusiasm for making other changes.»
How to Decide What to Work On
Working hard doesn't matter if it's on the wrong things. Thoughts on making the hard decisions about what to focus on.
«One way to help manage these two conflicting mental states is to separate them in time. Make a decision, and don’t let yourself change it for a month»
Reader Question: Avoiding "Flashcard Hell" and Finding Enjoyable Studying Strategies
What should you do when the best way to study isn't much fun? See my answer to this reader's question.
«First, there’s the issue of flashcards specifically. In this regard, I find myself a lukewarm enthusiast for flashcards. Compared to most people’s default studying strategies, they’re excellent. On the other hand, flashcards are easy to abuse—it’s easy to inadvertently make flashcard decks that won’t transfer well to the subject you’re trying to master»
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