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Steps to apply the Feynman Technique

1. Choose a concept to learn

Select a topic you’re interested in learning about and write it at the top of a blank page in a notebook

2. Teach it to yourself or someone else

Write everything you know about a topic out as if you were explaining it to yourself. Alternately, actually teach it to someone else

4. Simplify your explanations and create analogies

Streamline your notes and explanation, further clarifying the topic until it seems obvious. Additionally, think of analogies that feel intuitive.

3. Return to the source material if you get stuck

Go back to whatever you’re learning from – a book, lecture notes, podcast – and fill the gaps in your knowledge

REASON

You face what you don’t know. By writing a topic down on a blank page or you’re starting from scratch or at least filling in some blanks

REASON

It makes it harder to trick yourself. When you have to truly explain something, whether through writing or aloud, you encounter the holes in your reasoning

REASON

Learning becomes an iterative process. Rather than viewing learning as a one-and-done, this step gives you permission to continuously refresh your knowledge

Simplicity is a proxy for understanding. When we can’t rely on big words that make us sound smart, we have to distill what we truly know to the most basic form.

REASON

It’s even harder to trick others. If an explanation you’re providing doesn’t make sense, they’ll often tell you or you can pick up cues like blank stares

REASON

You’re actively engaged. Using sources to polish our own explanations and models is an active process. When we learn passively, memory details are more challenging.

You build confidence. When you truly understand something, it clicks. You can explain it forward and backward, pointing out exceptions and spotting logical inconsistencies.

You need to be specific. Given the accumulated knowledge in the universe, most of us know nothing about most things! Writing down what you don’t know provides you a starting point

Start small: You really only have a page to fill up with information. You can’t fit everything there is on the articles. Instead, work on smaller more defined concepts.

You expand your knowledge base. We have to take into account this: the more we learn, the more our capacity to learn increases.

Analogies are easier to recall and explain. When you understand a challenging concept, analogies allow you to create a recalling for explaining it to others clearly.