The document presents effective learning strategies, emphasizing the importance of understanding the habit loop and the two modes of thinking—focused and diffuse. It highlights the benefits of adequate sleep and techniques like the Pomodoro technique to combat procrastination and improve learning outcomes. Additionally, it discusses how to teach these strategies to others and integrate them into daily life for enhanced learning efficiency.

1. Controlling
the Loop of
Learning
Christian Bernard T. Ramos
Learning How to Learn
University of California, San Diego

2. Overview
• The presentation will tackle on how you can take control of your
learning habits
• Provide learning exercises that will aid your learning process
• Discuss the diffuse and focused mode of thinking and when to use
them
• Illustration of the habit loop to identify how you can relate and
modify it to suit your learning
• Benefits of guilt free sleeping and napping at work
• Defeat the inner procrastinator inside of us

3. How the project will be
used in my life.
• This project will serve as my reminder on how I
can learn more effectively as a student
• I will share this presentation on those I observe
who are not effectively learning
• Make this presentation available online to share
to those interested and showcase what I
deemed relevant in this course.
• As a member of an organization I will teach the
youths the how learn about learning.

4. Topics that this project will address
• The habit cycle
• The two modes of learning-diffuse and
focused mode
• Effective sleeping
• Defeating procrastination

5. Two Modes of Thinking
• Diffuse mode- creates new neural
connections often needed to be able to
solve difficult/new problems. Looking at
things broadly from a different perspective
• Focused mode-concentrating intently on
things you need to understand. Looking at
things closely and focus.

6. Attention
• To understand the two modes of thinking
we need to understand attention.
• “the taking possession by the mind, in
clear and vivid form, of one of what seems
several possible objects”( James 1890)
• Like a Flash Light Selective Attention
involves focus on a small spatial
region

7. Attention
• While diffuse attention’s focus is on a broad
spatial region, also known at “lantern
attention”
• Selective attention is like focused mode,
meanwhile diffuse attention is the diffuse
mode
» these two modes can only work one at
a time; mastering the modes will allow
you tap your creative side and the
analytic side of your brain.

8. Switching Attention
• Salvador Dali and Thomas Edison; both
famous in their respective fields. Created
creative ways to switch attention from
focus to diffuse mode by placing
objects(keys/ball) in their hands when they
fall asleep or in a deep state of relaxation.
Dropping the object would wake
themand thus writing the
information in diffuse state.

9. Learning Strategies
• Alternate focused thinking with diffuse
thinking; when you get "stuck“, process
information's by switching modes.
• Eat your frogs First-start with the hard
problems so that parts of brain can make
connections and process information's in other
ways.
• Switching Attentions by: Relaxation,
nap/sleep, exercise or shift gaze.

10. Sleeping in the Philippines
• The Philippines is home of the most Business
Process Outsourcing; this requires the call
center agents to sleep during the day and work
at night.
• Though our culture is known to have “sietas”
• Siestas has been associated to the
reduction of coronary mortality because of
less cardio vascular stress brought by
daytime sleep.

11. Sleeping and Napping Studies
• It was reported that a nap of at least ten
minutes has been able to show
improvement cognitive function and
reduce sleepiness and fatigue.
• Studies show that pilots given a nap of 30 minutes on
long flights, displayed a 16% improvement in their
reaction time. Meanwhile the Pilots who was not given
a nap time saw a 34% decrease over the
course of the flight.

12. Learning through Sleeping
• Sleeping can wash out the brains toxic
metabolic byproducts. Sleeping causes
the brain cells to shrink allowing to release
the metabolic toxins “poison”.
• Sleep is critical in thinking and learning, it
impairs concentration,
attention and reasoning
making it difficult to learn.

13. Sleeping and Memory
• Cleans up ideas and concepts in learning, by
erasing irrelevant parts.
• During sleep brain rehearses neural pattern
you try to learn
• Sleep allows you to comprehend problems
you have difficulties in learning; putting
neural solution to learning task.
• Dreaming of what you study can enhance the
ability to understand by creating chunks.

14. Sleep Deprivation
• Heart failure
• Irregular heartbeat
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Dying Earlier

15. Sleep Deprivation

16. Overcoming Procrastination
• Procrastination is putting of, delaying or
postponing something that is of priority.
• Finding distractions now a days are very
easy to find with the advance technology
• Pleasure brought by distraction is only
temporary, the uneasy feeling really goes
away once the task has started.

17. 3 types of procrastinators
based on their reasons:
The avoiders – the individuals who are very concerned with what others think
about them and who have a strong fear of failure or success. Essentially,
they do not want to be judged harshly and instead of having their abilities
criticized, they prefer others blaming them for their lack of effort
The thrill-seekers – even though it may seem a bit far-fetched, some people
prefer doing things at the last minute due to an euphoric rush sensation
The decisional procrastinators – the individuals who cannot make
decisions and who believe that they are not taking any
responsibility, since they did not select one way or the other

18. Stages of Procrastination

19. Pomodoro Technique
• work in small bursts.
• Pomodoro Technique- Is used to defeat
procrastination. You just need to set a timer for 25
minutes and work for that whole duration without any
distractions, and when it goes off, take a short break for
5 minutes. Reward yourself with a phone call, video
online or open your social network. Once you have done
four Pomodoro sessions, reward yourself with something
longer and repeat as necessary.

20. The Pomodoro Technique

21. Habits and its Loop
• Habits-as defined is a routine of behavior that is
repeated regularly and occurs unconsciously. A
fixed way of thinking, willing or feeling acquired
through previous repetition of mental
experience.
• Just as our Zombie mode, habits tend to occur
mindlessly going about things without focusing
our attention. Habits occur in our diffuse
mode of thinking, it does not
require much concentration for we just
act upon it.

22. The Habit Loop
• The Habit loop- is a neurological loop at the
core of our every habit. The loop consist of
three components; Cue, Routine and the
Reward.
• Cue-The trigger or signal to prompt another
event
• Routine- sequence of actions regularly
followed
• Reward-a token for an achievement

23. The Habit Loop

24. Procrastination
The battle of defeating the
procrastinator in each of us
may be overcome by building
a habit. For me my cue is the
Coursera courses; I do my
best to get it out of the way by
starting the exercises with my
new technique the Pomodoro.
Each time I am able to
accomplish 25 minutes or so
of working. I always reward
myself with down time.

25. Diffuse mode Loop habit
The illustration on the left
shows that a habit can be
formed to take advantage of
the diffuse mode of thinking.
A time of mental blocks, you
can exercise what Thomas
Edison did, sleep and recite
the problems you have
encountered. This routine
can bring rewards such as
the answers in difficult
problems

26. Sleeping
To improve memory and
simply avoid dying
earlier. Make it a habit
that you get enough
sleep, have a set time for
sleep and waking up to
get enough rest. Alarms
will serve great help.
Enough sleep can also
help your memory in
remembering things and
overall have a good
health are its rewards.

27. Charles Duhigg
• Author of the Power of Habit, and further
developed the habit loop.
• Research shows that much brain activity
was displayed the first time you do an act;
but once you get used to it, it just instantly
occur mindlessly.
• I can make the connection of habits with the
zombie mode of thinking. Being able to control our
habits will allow us to learn more effectively.

28. Citations
• http://tdlc.ucsd.edu/educators/educators_webinar_• http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/
excessive-sleepiness-10/10-
results-sleep-loss?page=3
• http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/