AI Prompts To Accelerate Your Learning

Apply Pareto’s Law for Efficient Learning

Prompt
“Based on Pareto’s Law, what 20% of concepts in [insert subject/field] would give me 80% of the full understanding? Please explain the concepts in a clear and concisely manner.”

💡 Why is this prompt powerful?
The application of Pareto’s Law (80-20 Principle) suggests that 80% of the full understanding can come from studying just 20% of the available material. Thus, by targeting the key information, you can achieve a substantial level of understanding in significantly less time and with effort.

Learn more about Pareto’s Law:
Pareto’s Law: the Power of the Vital Few for Maximum Results

Use the Feynman Technique to Understand Complex Topics

Prompt
“Can you explain the concept of [insert topic here] as if you were teaching it to a 5-year old? Please use simple language, short sentences and avoid the use of jargon.”

💡 Why is this prompt powerful?
Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. He believed subject mastery was achieved by:

• Identifying a topic.
• Explaining it to a child/5-year old.
• Study to fill in knowledge gaps.
• Organize, convey and review.

The above prompt helps you to clarify your overall understanding of a given topic.

Make a Spaced Repetition Study Plan to Retain Information Long-Term

Prompt
“Make a spaced repetition study plan to retain information long-term. I have the following topics I want to cover and the number of days left until my exam for each topic: Topic 1: [x] days, Topic 2: [x] days, Topic 3: [x] days. I have 3 hours available to study per day. Make sure to specify for how long I should study each topic per day and when I should review the topics to ensure maximum long-term retention.”

💡 Why is this prompt powerful?
The act of forgetting information and then re-learning it, ideally multiple times, is what cements memories in the brain. The process of forgetting, and then repeatedly filling in those memory gaps, makes them stick. Structuring this process is called spaced repetition, and involves ever increasing intervals between each review/repetition. You can not add to your knowledge unless you give yourself a chance to forget (make retrieval effortful).

Learn more about Spaced Repetition:
Approaches to Accelerate Your Learning

Leverage Atomic Habits’ 4 Laws to Build the Habit of Learning

Prompt
“I would like to develop the habit of [insert the desired habit here]. Can you provide creative ideas for each of the Four Laws of Behavior Change? Specifically, suggest a cue that will remind me to start the habit, a way to make the habit attractive and create a craving, a method to make the habit easy to perform as a response, and a reward that will make the habit satisfying.”

💡 Why is this prompt powerful?
The author of the book Atomic Habits, James Clear, explains in the book that there are four laws to building a habit:

1. Make it obvious
2. Make it attractive
3. Make it easy
4. Make it satisfying

The above prompt will help you in building any learning-related habit such as workout routine, going to bed at the right time, keeping your house tidy, eating healthy, etc.