Hyperfocus

Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!

Book of the Month

Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction, by Chris Bailey. This book gets right to the heart of how to tame distractions and get your attention keenly focused on the task at hand.  But Bailey does more—he also discusses intelligent use of the diffuse mode (“scatterfocus”) to help with creative problem-solving and incubation of new and different ideas in both learning and work.  We very much appreciated Bailey’s simple, yet effective illustrations. But even so, this is also a fine book for audio. Another popular book by Bailey, (which we haven’t read yet), is The Productivity Project.

Barb Speaking in London, Paris, and Gothenburg, Sweden

Barb will be speaking in London at St Matthias School on Bacon Street, Fri, February 1, 2019 5:30 PM – 6:45 PM. The event has restricted enrollment, so register as soon as possible if you plan to go. There is a separate separate comparative judgement training session being taught by Daisy Christodoulou, the author of the fantastic book Seven Myths of Education—if you’re also interested (as is Barb!) in that session, register here.

Barb will also be in Paris speaking for OpenClassrooms on January 14th, and in Gothenburg Sweden keynoting for the Blå Stjärnan Akademin Conference on January 19th and 20th.

New Feature from Class Central: Custom Lists

After a recent silent launch early, Class Central users have already created hundreds of lists using the new Class Central features for custom lists. Learn more about custom lists here or start creating your own lists by visiting this link. To see an example of how a list looks like, check out our 2018’s Most Popular Free Online Courses list.

How to Study Smarter, Not Harder

Here’s an interview with Barb in Emmz Guide to Life blog, answering questions like “How important is routine,” “what was your impulse to change,” and “how do you conquer tests”?  

An Inspirational Email about Changing Your Life through Learning

One LHTLer writes: “I am emailing to express my gratitude in your… efforts in promoting learning how to learn. I came across your work 5 to 6 years ago when I was struggling to find career opportunities in medical research. After reading through some of your works and going through the online course I was able to fundamentally change my perspective on learning.”
“This change eventually led me to become a better student and ultimately get into medical school. I am about to enter residency for internal medicine. In many ways your work has resonated with me and completely changed my life. For that I am incredibly thankful.” Best Regards, Nithin.

26 Can’t-Miss Education Conferences for 2019

Have you ever wondered what some of the best education conferences are?  Jessica Slusser has compiled a great list of some of the best, including locations, dates, the number of expected attendees and speakers, and a little bit about the conferences’ areas of focus.  If you’re trying to pick the right conference for you this year, or just want to expand your circle of friends and acquaintances, check out this list.

The Best MOOC Platforms

Here’s a worthwhile article that evaluates the various MOOC platforms to see which one provides the best quality.  The article is as interesting for learning which platforms were cut from consideration, and why, as to discover which platform is best, which was… (go here to find out!)

That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!

Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team

• Get the course recommended text, A Mind for Numbers!
• And Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens. Great ideas for parents, too!