We’ve all been there—

Big dreams, exciting ideas, a vision for the future. But without the right expertise, it’s easy to feel lost in a sea of endless information and options.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Spending hours on YouTube tutorials or scouring the internet to learn niche skills can be draining. You already know where this is going—we’re diving into AI and the powerful benefits of making it your personal assistant, your guide, your partner in creativity.

We all hit that wall sometimes—feeling stuck, uninspired, low on energy. Sometimes, we need a little spark, a nudge in the right direction. While ChatGPT may seem like a quick-fix Google, it’s so much more. It’s a teacher, a collaborator with infinite patience. The more you interact with it, the richer and more tailored your learning becomes.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through a simple, three-phase process to unlock new skills and understand complex ideas faster. Let’s get started.

Phase 1: Construct

Build foundational knowledge

"Laying the Bricks of Brilliance"

1. The most simple way to approach learning with Chat GPT is to have the dang thing structure it for you (If you have fears about the complexity of the topic make sure to include the key phrase “beginner-friendly” into your prompt)

2. Focus on Bite-Sized Learning —> Try to keep learning units small and clear

   Research in Neuroscience shows that Cognitive Chunking, a technique that emphasizes gathering small yet well defined units of knowledge, improves retention by reducing cognitive strain.

3. Start general then get specific —> begin by asking for a general summary of the topic and then dive into the details, one of my favorite prompts to give is “Explain the basic structure of [topic],” and then, “Go deeper into the mechanisms of [subtopic].”

4. My Personal Favorite —> Mind Maps/Visual representation technique

   Example prompt: “Create a mind map structure for [subject]”

Phase 2: Connect

"Making Connections: Where Ideas Meet"

What do you know? What are you trying to learn? Why not have Chat GPT bridge that gap for you?

Phase 3: Challenge

"Trial by Fire”

Endless swaths of research have shown that learning happens most effectively when a person is tested. Learning is most effective when a challenge is presented just beyond your current limits. Chat GPT is excellent at figuring out exactly where your limits are and tailoring problems so they pose enough difficulty to achieve optimal growth and gain in understanding.

Learning isn’t just about absorbing information—it’s about grappling with it, working through challenges, and pushing your brain to actively engage. Research by Kornell and Bjork highlights this perfectly: they found that testing yourself—forcing your brain to retrieve information—is far more effective than simply re-reading material. In fact, students who practiced retrieval retained 61% more information compared to those who passively reviewed their notes. This underscores the importance of struggle in learning. When you engage in effortful tasks, like recalling answers or solving problems, your brain builds stronger connections, making the knowledge stick. It’s this productive struggle, rather than easy repetition, that drives real progress and long-term retention.

If learning is your destination, then struggle and mistakes are your car.

How can AI supercharge learning through struggle and retrieval?

• Chat GPT is excellent at creating novel practice problems and providing detailed responses to such questions. What can take your learning to the next level, though, is trying to explain the concept you are hoping to learn to Chat GPT and having it criticize your explanation, pointing out holes and conceptual weaknesses.

• TIP: ASK CHAT GPT TO EXPLAIN COMMON PITFALLS AND MISUNDERSTANDING RELATED TO THE CONCEPT YOU ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND

• Create an ADAPTIVE RETRIEVAL CHALLENGE: based on your performance on a series of questions, have Chat GPT alter the level of difficulty to rest just outside of your current ability level.

• Simulate PRODUCTIVE FAILURE: put yourself in situations where you are likely to fail and have GPT explain your shortcomings.

• Utilize INTERLEAVING: if you are trying to learn multiple concepts or skills, you can have GPT alternate between related topics giving questions that test different concepts and skills which increases long term retention and learning.

Game Changing Tools

Useful Prompts

Construct

1. Prompt 1.0: You are an expert at ________. How would you recommend a beginner learn _________? Create a syllabus and lesson plan for me to learn this information effectively.

2. Prompt 1.1: Provide a bulleted list of other topics and concepts I should explore to understand (TOPIC A) more completely, and explain why each is important.

3. Prompt 1.2: Explain the concept of "Bloop pressure" (or any chosen concept) in simple terms for a beginner. Then explain how it relates to the big picture of cardiovascular health (or any relevant field).

Connect

4. Prompt 2.0: Create a table to compare and contrast: ___, ___, and ___. Then explain why the relationship between these concepts matters and how it helps me understand ___ as a whole.

5. Prompt 2.1: Help me explore additional concepts related to ____. Create a table of their similarities and differences, and then explain why those relationships are important.

6. Prompt 2.2: What are other related concepts I might have missed when learning about ____?

7. Prompt 2.3: Create three analogies to explain the concept of ___ from different perspectives. Then, explain the strengths and limitations of each analogy.

Challenge

8. Prompt 3.0: You are a physiology professor. Create a 10-question, short-answer practice test on the topics of cardiac physiology to evaluate my understanding and why this topic is important.

9. Prompt 3.1: After taking the test, provide the answers along with detailed explanations on why each answer is correct, and point out common pitfalls students make with incorrect answers.

10. Prompt 3.2: I'm learning about ___. Is my thought process accurate? Provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of my understanding, and suggest other points to explore for a well-rounded perspective.

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Goodbye is a bitter pill to swallow 🙃

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Afterword

ChatGPT has completely transformed my approach to learning and picking up new skills—it’s like having a tutor, minus the hassle of scheduling and paying. As a self-confessed lazy and occasionally irresponsible person, I couldn’t have been more excited to find out that ChatGPT could organize my learning journey. All I had to do was sit back, stay curious, and let the AI structure the process for me, tailoring it to my specific needs and questions.