Learning Strategy 18: Fluency / Automaticity

Description

Fluency, also known as automaticity, is the ability to recall information, solve a problem type, or perform a task quickly and without thinking. It is the result of overlearning–continuing to study the subject or material even after you  have learned it. For example, most people can recite the alphabet or the months of the year very quickly. These lists have been learned to the point of fluency.

Test.

1. Say the days of the week as fast as you can, beginnig with Sunday.

(My best time, pronouncing the days clearly, is 2.13 seconds.)

2. Now say the days of the week backwards, beginning with Saturday.

(After a few rounds of practice, my time is 3.37 seconds.)

If you are like me, you are more fluent in the forward direction than in the backward direction. That’s because you have practiced the forward direction and are now fluent in it. (For a more dramatic time difference, say the alphabet forwards and then backwards. To learn it backwards with ease, see Learning Strategy 1 on Mnemonics.)

Method

The method of fluency is simple. Whether you are learning vocabulary by flash cards, practicing a gymnastic routine, playing a piano piece, or learning calculus, it’s important to continue to study and practice even after you have learned the material or skill. Keep practicing always, and the knowledge or ability will continue to be refined and improved and be accessible faster and faster.

If you desire fluency in an area such as formulas (such as conversions from Fahrenheit to Celsius,  grams to ounces, or even furlongs per fortnight to miles per hour) practice by solving many examples (and in the case of conversions, in both directions).

Most areas of knowledge have certain fundamental “infotools” that are handy and used frequently. Lists of prepositions, conjunctions, and linking verbs in English, basic formulas in geometry, dates of important historical figures or events, and so forth can serve you well if you have them memorized to fluency. The same is true of the steps for problem solving or systems analysis, and on and on. Whatever you use frequently and want to stop having to look up–screen sizes, RGB color codes, you can become fluent with.

Keep practicing and your speed will increase.

High Performance Tip
For conversions and equivalents, develop a reference table that shows the relative values or products of a conversion for several sets of items. Memorize this table and you’ll be able to interpolate a good guess just off the top of your head. For example, say you need to be familiar with the relationship between miles and kilometers. It might be a challenge to multiply 50 by 1.60934 in your head to find out how many kilometers are in 50 miles, but if you have a reference card, guesstimating woud be much easier:

If you need a handy guesstimator for outdoor temperatuers, memorize this table and you’ll always know how the temperatue reported in Celsius relates to the temperature in Fahrenheit.