Warning !
Before you read this blog post, you must keep in mind that I'm not a neuroscientist and that I'm only giving out tricks from my own personal experience or from trusted sources (they narrated their own personal experiences as well), so please do not assume that any of this is 100% objective.
Total Sensor Deprivation for 15 Minutes
When we talk about total sensor deprivation, I mean both vision and hearing. like staying in a dark quite room for 15 minutes, and that also means not even taking the phone in, to avoid the notification(s) sound, this will essentially give the brain a sort of reset, and your brain will also crave to do something, anything (Including somewhat-boring tasks like studying etc. or Front-End development for Backend engineers), just to not to feel that emptiness again.
It's like doing a short dopamine detox, you're essentially starving your brain for a short period of time.
Hypno-drills (Theta Waves) + Focus Trigger (Finger Snap)
Theta waves can be linked to memory consolidation and creativity, they could also be linked with deep thinking, which is extremely helpful when you're stuck with a complex problem with no clear solution.
It happens when our brain is empty and clear, when you wake up, when you're about to sleep etc...
Here are some examples times where Theta state is active:
1) Taking a warm shower: first of all, I said "a warm shower" instead of "any type of shower" because warm showers heighten Alertness, not relaxation. Besides that, have you ever been taking a shower and suddenly all of your thoughts were crystal clear ? in a way that you could sometimes even find solution or great ideas come flowing, and analyzing past events/interactions with people/things in general seems so effortless, suddenly you realize that you spent 5 minutes standing under the water just thinking and analyzing stuff without even trying that hard.
2) Doing a mindless task: you enter theta state when you do household tasks, or any mindless tasks really that are risk-free (working on a construction-related task is not considered risk-free), because the task at hand isn't really requiring that much reasoning or that thought-provoking etc., your brain starts to "think deeply", your brain somehow finds peace in the noise of the mindless task you're working on (warm water dropping on the dishes you're washing, vacuuming sound etc... )
3) Before going to sleep: have you ever got some kind of smart and genius-like solution right before going to sleep, at that point the brain shift to Theta state.
4) Swimming in a pool: a Pool and not the sea/beach because in an actual beach there is some risk if you're not that good of a swimmer, so your brain might not enter Theta in such an environment, unless you've handled risks there before.
5) Riding in a car: I am specifically talking about looking outside from a window while listening to music (or no music), the scenery and rapid movement make the brain enter in a state of relaxation, which makes the brain start to think passively. This could be the case in a bus/train as well.
Now the 6th method (Binaural Beat Waves) is a method that was Declassified by the CIA that was used by their operatives to enhance quick learning of languages and other things that require deep thinking. I'm quite skeptical of this specific method, it is used to enter Theta state "on-demand", it involves listening to specific audios (could be found on YouTube by searching something like "7 Hz binaural beat waves"), I am currently trying them out but It's still too early to say if they're useful or not.
Now on top of that, you could try to condition your mind to respond to specific Focus triggers, like a finger snap for example, you should essentially convince your own mind and that when you hear a "finger snap" the brain should immediately lock in and focus (all of this could be just Placebo but hey, if it works, it works)
Memory Palace
Memory Palace is an association between a real place that you know, and you know well, and a set of information. For example let's split the house into 5 sections:
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Living Room
- Bedroom
- Roof/Terrace Let's say for example that you memorize all these rooms/places very well, now the second step would be to empty those rooms in your mind (just leave the furniture), and GRADUALLY, add new things to different rooms and associate them with a specific information.
Here's the example of a thought process (VERY IMPORTANT):
"Ok so I need to memorize that there should be something linking the Front-End and Backend, okay so there's REST APIs and WebSockets, but in which room should I put them, hmm okay it would make sense to put them at the roof because Requests literally fly from one machine to another, okay okay, so for REST API let's place a multi-colored (RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, these are the colors present in the REST API Documentation tool "Swagger") Calendar on the wall of that roof, and let's create a real socket on the wall here next to it, ok so these are the 2 new items on this roof, cool"
Familiar Scent
Scent is one of the most powerful memory triggers, thanks to the way our brain processes smells.
A friend of mine buys a specific scented perfume and regularly smells it while preparing for his exams, he studies Law so you could tell that he does indeed have a lot to memorize, and on the day of the exam he wears the same perfume to smell it and let the memories flow back in, of course it's not a magic trick, the perfume helps to reconstruct the same neural pathways that he had when he was studying/memorizing.
So the same thing could be applied in any Field including IT, you could associate a specific scent with specific Fields in IT.
For example:
- Citrus: Networking Concepts (TCP/IP or OSI Model)
- Cinnamon: System Design
- Coffee Scent: Algorithms and Data Structures etc...
But REMEMBER, the trick is to smell the same scent when you're working/studying/memorizing things about that specific Field, otherwise your brain won't link that field with that specific scent.
Hard Things Make Them More Memorable When They’re Solved
I've noticed countless times that when I work with some new technology that I don't understand 100%, I do find myself being faces with many obstacles (obviously because it's new territory to me), but when I do eventually solve it and understand it, then my brain rewards me with dopamine and also because of the emotional strain it left on me, the brain remembers it very well, simply because it triggered an emotional response.
The Feynman Technique
The Feynman Technique is a powerful learning method that helps you understand complex topics deeply by breaking them down into simple explanations.
If you can't explain a specific topic without being able to use simple everyday words then you probably have some blindspots in your understanding.
Imagine a commercial airplane carrying passengers. Each passenger represents data from different applications, all traveling together in the same aircraft—just like how a network packet can contain various types of data.
Now, let’s introduce exfiltration—the unauthorized transfer of data. In this scenario, one of the passengers is secretly smuggling illegal substances. The illegal substances represent the sensitive data being exfiltrated.
Before boarding, all passengers go through TSA security—which in our analogy represents firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), or other security mechanisms designed to inspect and detect threats. A well-trained TSA agent would catch anything suspicious.
However, the smuggler is clever. He disguises himself to blend in, using tricks like:
- Hiding the contraband in a false compartment (e.g., data obfuscation or encryption).
- Posing as an innocent traveler (e.g., exfiltrating data over allowed protocols like HTTPS or DNS).
- Bribing or distracting security (e.g., using covert channels to bypass detection).
If TSA fails to notice the smuggler, he successfully boards the plane and takes off—just like exfiltrated data sneaking past security measures and leaving the network without detection.
Dual Coding
Dual Coding is a cognitive learning theory that suggests combining visual and verbal information enhances understanding and memory retention. Instead of just reading text or listening to explanations, integrating diagrams, illustrations, charts, or mental imagery alongside words makes learning more effective.
I personally love and use this method more than the other ones, making diagrams for systems and apps and whatnot adds more to my understanding and lets me know if I have a flaw or missing info in my understanding.
and because Diagramming is not really a mindless task but at the same time it does give some space for the brain to operate on its own to get creative ideas and deepen your understanding about certain topics.
For example, the diagram above was a rough attempt by me to understand how SSH Tunnels could be used as Proxies, as you can see with a diagram they summarize explanation and the fact that you associate your brain with BOTH a visual and verbal info make the information stick in your head a lot better.
Mind Mapping
It helps you see the bigger picture and understand relationships between topics, complementing both verbal and visual learning strategies.
In the example above I was in a Language learning phase, I had to memorize a bunch of verbs, I took a mind mapping approach to solve that problem, and consequently I found myself keeping track on this massive amount of verbs, categorized by the topic/context they talk about, and also tracked based on how much I memorized them (RED being the worst, GREEN being the best).
Here's another example, this one is that of a System Design diagram, it covers all the aspects of my System/Application, having this in one place sort of removes a burden off my brain, because the details are already present here, I employ my passive thoughts to think of other things other than the already planned stuff here.
[BONUS]: 100 mg Caffeine + 200 mg L-Theanine
This combo is well known for enhancing attention and concentration without the anxiety or crash that can come from caffeine alone.
I believe that it could serve a better purpose if taken before an Exam or an Interview.
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