How many of you bicycled your way to school, or rode a two-wheeler to college?
Did it ever happen with you, that you were conscious of being in one location one moment, and the next moment you notice that you have traversed the entire or part distance to your school/college without even being really aware? Like you couldn’t recall, when you took that right turn, or if you jumped the signal or stopped for the light to go green? Like you were on an Automode!
Well, being on automode to do anything is not a function of skill or ability, it is in fact the function of the time you have spent practicing that skill over and over and over again.
Oh no Anupriya! Not this cliché of ‘Practice make perfect’ … not again! Are you cribbing silently? But my friends, I really have no option, but to impress upon this truth yet once again. I say this to my kids day in and day out. And I will repeat myself here.
There is a specific biology to the benefits of repetition. Not psychology, but biology. The biology called Muscle memory.
While human brain development is over by around the age of 25, our brains continue to change throughout our lives. Depending on our experience, including the memories we revisit and the skills we practice, some synaptic connections (connections between neurons) become stronger, while others wither away. This ability of our brains to change is known as plasticity.
Learning a new skill can be hard at first, but the more we do something, the stronger the neural pathways associated with that skill become, and the task becomes easier.
I was considered a geek when it came to excel and powerpoint when I used to work in the corporate. But for last 6 years of being a blogger and a nano influencer, I hadn’t as much opened a new powerpoint presentation. It was almost like I had broken up with Powerpoint and moved on to be with Canva full-time. I am glad my husband isn’t listening to this conversation. Very recently, I realized that I had to use Powerpoint to create a piece of content. Canva couldn’t have handled the nature of animation I required. So old-flame it was, once again. And you do know what they say about first love. None can ever get over their first love. Just 2 hours later, I had come up with what you now see on the screen.
That’s the thing about skills. 90% of the skills, once you have learnt them, you don’t just unlearn them. Yes, they gather dust, but once your brush it off with little effort, you are good to use the skill again. And coming to think of it, that’s the precise reason why concept of unlearn and re-learn gained so much popularity.
