Ways to increase your knowledge about everything

General knowledge: why do we need that?

More and more people bother about general knowledge improvement nowadays. Knowing more is a mandatory demand of modern life because many everyday skills like intelligence, problem-solving, communication skills, and open-mindedness require a solid general knowledge base. From a social point of view, our personality is often judged by how much we know. It’s hard to be confident, express explicit opinions, and make a good impression if one lacks common knowledge. 

Lifelong learning is not merely a trend but an instrument to keep up with the ever-changing world. Improving general knowledge will pay dividends in all areas of your life. It boosts confidence and social skills, serves in your career and personal development, relationships and wellbeing. 

General knowledge is a fundament on which you can build your further learning, retain facts and gain enviable skills. 

There are plenty of things you might try to gain general knowledge about, and we would like to highlight some of them.

How to improve general knowledge?

Use Nerdish app to expand knowledge

We in Nerdish are all continuous learners, so we wanted to create an app where you can learn quickly about various topics, with information based on deep research, yet easy to read. Nerdish is designed for those who want to improve knowledge in an effortless and fun way. Here you can find easy-to-digest articles about social events, health, history, science, everyday things, etc.

We know about the value of time, so while every piece is well-packed with the newest discoveries and up-to-date facts, it`s not a manuscript. You can read the whole article in 10-15 minutes and use your daily subway ride with benefits to your brain. We added a tracker that measures your reading progress and motivates you to keep up. Nerdish is a healthy substitute for social media scrolling. It helps to develop better relationships with your smartphone with an accent on the smart part and expand your knowledge regularly. With daily Nerdish reading, you can grasp the essential information and thus increase your general knowledge about the world.

What else might you do to gain knowledge?

Read

The essential way to learn about anything is by reading quality literature: books, articles, and blogs. Check the variety of Nerdish topics from different areas of knowledge. It’s a scientific fact that 65% of people prefer visual information, so reading is suitable for most of us. Apart from learning new things, it enriches the language by boosting vocabulary and showing word usage. Also, reading activates multiple cognitive functions: attention, concentration, comprehension, and analysis. Simply speaking, reading stimulates our brain activity and makes us smarter on the physical level.

To transform reading into a habit, you should try reading every day and always have some materials on you, whether printed or digital. To choose books to improve general knowledge you can rely on recommendations from Amazon, New York Times, etc. These lists can give you ideas of what to read and how to get it.

You might even join some book club to keep your pace and socialize with people who have similar interests as you.

Check our post How long should I read a day to choose the best reading strategy.

Listen

It is also worth mentioning that we can learn not only from books. We can expand our life frames with versatile sources, like podcasts. They don`t spread only entertaining content, but also educational one. We can get the newest information from experts in different fields: economists, sociologists, art managers, etc., in simple and more personalized language. Plus, podcasts are portable, so you can easily combine listening with waiting-chores-shopping and thus transform a boring routine. iTunes is your number one provider in this case.

Watch

Okay, it`s hard indeed to stop rewatching “Friends” episodes for the hundredth time, but how about mixing it up a little? You can totally learn laying on the sofa and hugging a cat. There are plenty of documentary movies, explanatory videos, professional channels, and TedTalkes: a myriad of sources for increasing your knowledge. Learning through watching provides you with visual and auditory information and has a high impact on an emotional level (through actors playing, set decorations, music), so you are more likely to memorize presented facts.

Use Microlearning

Microlearning is a niche training that focuses on what you need to know for solving a specific task at work or home. Microlearning has gained massive popularity over the last few years because it involves short-term learning (read time-saving), focuses on one theme, and gives information in small doses (read easy to digest). No water, no time waste, no cognitive overload. It is your support in the moment of need. 

Microlearning in practice uses various instruments: watching explanatory videos we`ve already mentioned above, looking up encyclopedias to clarify a specific question, looking at question & responses lists, or using infographics and schemes. So, microlearning can fill knowledge gaps that will improve your overall skill-set and 一 again 一 help you to obtain knowledge.

Follow the “one thing a day” rule

To gain knowledge about everything, you might implement some basic self-demands that would ensure real progress in a short time. For instance, you can try learning one new thing every day. Either a big and complicated concept or something simple, like “How is a cooking type of banana called?”

Even if you don’t have much time, you surely can find spare five minutes for one fact. Just think about it: one month later, you will grasp thirty new things about various issues.

Socialize

You don’t have to bury your nose in books to become more intelligent. Knowledge may come from conversing with others when interacting with their culture, language, life views, etc. Try to participate in conversations with educated and experienced people to gain life-based knowledge. People with different backgrounds and life views give you some wholly new perspectives, enlarge your life frames and push you to think out of the box.

Explain things to others

The second important part of socializing is telling stories and explaining some things to others (only if those others are interested). Your new knowledge can become a fascinated theme for conversation. Numerous studies show that the brain needs to reproduce information to improve memory. In this way, neurological connections are created to ensure that knowledge is safely saved. So, explaining things to others is beneficial not only for your know-it-all reputation but also for boosting your intelligence.

Рlan out your learning journey

It may seem like a lot of work, but if you plan first, you will study more constantly, cover different topics evenly and implement learning into your day-to-day life. First of all, you can define areas of general knowledge you should know: geography, history, art, political systems, or herbology: whichever topics you’d like to know, it’s helpful to see them before your eyes. Choose topics you are interested in and start with them. Focus on small sessions covering one subject at a time.

Mix it up

While it`s helpful to concentrate on one topic in one learning session, our brain needs variety. Different subjects help activate other brain parts and change intensity. Even a question we are interested in can become boring if we focus on it exclusively. Mixing up applies not only to subjects but to learning approaches too. For instance, you read about The paleo diet in the morning commute, then have small chitchat with your coworker about a new art exhibition, then you listen to a podcast about new technology on your way home. You will cover three different topics with three various sources. Your brain is going to love this.

Learn regularly

To feel real progress, remember to study regularly. The rule applies that learning less every day is better than suffering for 8 hours once a month. Again, one thing a day rule is your lifesaver. Learning is one of the best instruments to fill ‘dead’ time and have this feeling of achievement before you go to bed. Suppose you need motivation not to give up. In that case, you can set a goal∶ to pass a general knowledge test with 90% accuracy, memorize all world`s capitals, understand the meaning of all famous Greek metaphors, etc. These goals will work as inner fuel and won`t let you give up in the middle.

Another motivation tip is to ask friends or family members to assist you or join you in your pursuit of knowledge. You can listen to the same podcasts, read the same books or watch videos together and discuss them afterward. In this way, you might become even closer and have one more experience to share.