3 Read the “There Are No Dumb Questions.” That means all of them. They’re not optional
sidebars—they’re part of the core content! Don’t skip them.
4 Make this the last thing you read before bed. Or at least the last challenging thing. Part of the learning (especially the transfer to
long-term memory) happens after you put the
book down. Your brain needs time on its own, to
do more processing. If you put in something new
during that processing time, some of what you
just learned will be lost.
5 Drink water. Lots of it. Your brain works best in a nice bath of fluid.
Dehydration (which can happen before you ever
feel thirsty) decreases cognitive function.
6 Talk about it. Out loud. Speaking activates a different part of the brain.
If you’re trying to understand something, or
increase your chance of remembering it later, say
it out loud. Better still, try to explain it out loud
to someone else. You’ll learn more quickly, and
you might uncover ideas you hadn’t known were
there when you were reading about it.
7 Listen to your brain. Pay attention to whether your brain is getting
overloaded. If you find yourself starting to skim the
surface or forget what you just read, it’s time for a
break. Once you go past a certain point, you won’t
learn faster by trying to shove more in, and you
might even hurt the process.
9 Create something! Apply this to something new you’re designing, or
rework an older project. Just do something to get some
experience beyond the exercises and activities in
this book. All you need is a pencil and a problem
to solve…a problem that might benefit from using
HTML and CSS.
Cut this out and stick it
on your refrigerator.
