6 perspectives · Updated · 3 min read
Rereading notes and highlighting feel like studying. Tom Eisenmann says they mostly create the feeling of knowing something.
The professors here suggest methods that make you produce something: a self-quiz, an explanation out loud, a written answer against a clock. Others focus on who you study with and how you look at the material.
Their answers come from teaching, from research, and in Tyler Cowen's case, from how he learned to study chess.
Swap rereading and highlighting for work that makes you respond: quiz yourself, explain an idea out loud, or write answers against a clock. Several of these professors say studying with other people helps, and Ellen Langer says finding new angles in the same material helps you remember it.
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Six professors from Harvard, NYU, Cornell, and George Mason, including a social psychologist who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years and an economist who borrowed his method from chess.
Tom Eisenmann · Professor at Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS Foundry
Listen for: Why rereading feels productive and teaches little.
Tyler Cowen · Economist at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center
Listen for: Reading hard books in passes, and writing answers on a clock.
Ellen Langer · Social psychologist at Harvard who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years
Listen for: Finding new distinctions in material you already know.
Vanessa Bohns · Social psychologist and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell ILR
Listen for: Questions to ask yourself while you read.
Tessa West · Professor of Psychology at NYU who studies how people communicate at work
Listen for: When in the day, and with whom, to study.
Jeff Bussgang · General Partner at Flybridge Capital and professor at Harvard Business School
Listen for: How social pressure makes you process material.
Professor at Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS Foundry
Why themNames the failure patterns that threaten startups.
Tom’s advice: Stop rereading and highlighting; quiz yourself or explain the idea out loud to a peer.
Stop rereading and highlighting; it feels productive but mostly creates fluency illusions. I’ve seen students learn more from a quick self-quiz or by explaining an idea out loud to a peer than from hours of passive review.
Economist at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center
Why themWide-ranging on talent, culture, and work.
Tyler’s advice: Read hard books in passes, and write out answers under a clock instead of nodding along.
For hard books I read the first fifty pages three times, skip what bores me, and reread the whole thing once without judging, then again with some map of where it's going. The real trick is forcing yourself to write out answers under a clock, the way Kotov taught me to study chess, rather than nodding along and thinking you already got it.
Social psychologist at Harvard who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years
Why themChallenges common assumptions about health, aging, and happiness.
Ellen’s advice: Treat study as noticing: find new distinctions in the same material.
Stop treating study as memorization and start treating it as noticing. In our studies, the more new distinctions people found in the same material, the more they remembered and enjoyed it. So vary your angle, ask why it could be otherwise, and let curiosity do the work that willpower usually fails at.
Social psychologist and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell ILR
Why themExplains why asking, saying no, and speaking up feel so hard.
Vanessa’s advice: Turn reading into questions: what you'd predict, test, and push back on.
I don't have a particular study method from my own research, but I have noticed that the students who do best are the ones who turn passive reading into active questioning: they ask themselves what they'd predict, what they'd test, and where they'd push back.
Professor of Psychology at NYU who studies how people communicate at work
Why themResearch-based advice on difficult coworkers and job decisions.
Tessa’s advice: Study with other people, in real time, when you're alert.
The best way to study is with other people in real time, when your brain is actually alert. In our classroom EEG work, students learned most in mid-morning sessions, and their brain waves synced with the teacher's when they understood the material.
General Partner at Flybridge Capital and professor at Harvard Business School
Why themGives feedback from both the classroom and the investor side.
Jeff’s advice: The pressure of a cold call in front of peers forces you to process the material.
I teach the case method, and what makes it work is the social pressure: cold calls, peers watching, the risk of looking stupid. That fear forces you to actually process the material, not just skim it.
| Who | Their advice |
|---|---|
| Tom EisenmannProfessor at Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS Foundry | Stop rereading and highlighting; quiz yourself or explain the idea out loud to a peer. |
| Tyler CowenEconomist at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center | Read hard books in passes, and write out answers under a clock instead of nodding along. |
| Ellen LangerSocial psychologist at Harvard who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years | Treat study as noticing: find new distinctions in the same material. |
| Vanessa BohnsSocial psychologist and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell ILR | Turn reading into questions: what you'd predict, test, and push back on. |
| Tessa WestProfessor of Psychology at NYU who studies how people communicate at work | Study with other people, in real time, when you're alert. |
| Jeff BussgangGeneral Partner at Flybridge Capital and professor at Harvard Business School | The pressure of a cold call in front of peers forces you to process the material. |
Stop rereading and highlighting. Tom Eisenmann says it feels productive but mostly creates fluency illusions.
Quiz yourself or explain it out loud. Eisenmann has seen students learn more from a quick self-quiz or from explaining an idea to a peer than from hours of passive review. Tyler Cowen writes out answers under a clock.
Read with questions. Vanessa Bohns sees the strongest students ask what they'd predict, what they'd test, and where they'd push back.
Look for something new in the same material. Ellen Langer says that in her studies, the more new distinctions people found in the same material, the more they remembered and enjoyed it.
Study with people, when you're alert. Tessa West points to classroom EEG work in which students learned most in mid-morning sessions. Jeff Bussgang says the risk of a cold call in front of peers forces you to process the material.
Take hard books in passes. Tyler Cowen reads the first fifty pages three times, skips what bores him, then reads the whole book twice, the second time with a map of where it's going.
They split on rereading. Tom Eisenmann says to stop, because it creates a false sense of knowing. Tyler Cowen rereads hard books several times, though he says the real trick is writing out answers under a clock. They also differ on company. Tessa West and Jeff Bussgang favor studying around other people, while Ellen Langer and Vanessa Bohns describe what to do in your own head.
Tom Eisenmann says it mostly creates fluency illusions and suggests self-quizzing instead. Tyler Cowen does reread hard books, and pairs it with writing answers under a clock.
Tessa West says studying with other people in real time works best, and Jeff Bussgang says peers watching in class force you to process the material. Tom Eisenmann also recommends explaining ideas out loud to a peer.
Tessa West points to classroom EEG work in which students learned most in mid-morning sessions.
Ellen Langer suggests varying your angle and asking why the material could be otherwise, and says curiosity does the work that willpower usually fails at.
Put down the highlighter and make yourself answer something: a quiz, an explanation, a timed write-up. Then ask the professor whose method fits your subject.
We asked this question to professors on Delphi. Each quote is that person's Delphi answering in their own words, built from their own writing, talks, and interviews, and shown as given. Delphi wrote the introduction, the summary, and the steps from their answers. Last checked .