Training in your sleep

Sleep is a great booster when you learn. Having a rest after learn-

ing something strengthens the information that you learned. Think

of your school days. Remember those multiple choice exams? They

look so easy yet they can be so confusing if more than one choice

seems like the right answer! Many situations in daily life can con-

fuse people. For example, you may forget whether you turned off

the oven when you’re on your way out the door.

Not only does sleep improve memory, but you also make fewer

errors in working on a task. When you sleep, your brain uses this

time to recharge and separate real events and factual information

from information that’s not correct. As a result, not only are you

more refreshed, but you’re less likely to get confused and forget

whether you left the oven on. In Chapter 14, I talk more about the

power of sleep in recharging your brain and making learning stick.

When musicians try to memorise a piece of music, they don’t just

play a song over and over again. They get their brain involved too.

You may be wondering why. The reason is simple. If all musicians

do is play a song over and over again, their muscles learn the

movement, but if they get distracted partway through the song,

it’s harder for them to pick up and carry on playing. In fact, some

people have to start all over from the beginning because they can’t

just pick up playing from a random point in the song.

You don’t have to be an amazing musician to benefit from musi-

cians’ techniques. When you’re learning something new or have to

do something you’re nervous about, such as giving a presentation

at work, get your brain involved too by focusing carefully on what

you need to do. First, get rid of distractions. Next, instead of just

giving your presentation over and over again out loud, you can

also give it in your head. Go over different questions that your col-

leagues may ask you. Finally, stop and think about your answers

to these questions when you’re halfway through the presentation.

And then pick up from where you stopped and continue your

presentation.