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LSQ Newsletter

A newsletter for lifelong learners looking to improve their processing, retention and recall of everything they learn.

Written by

Ray Blakney

The Grind Is the Enemy: Why Slowing Down Will Make You Learn More

The actual research on academic burnout, why "more hours" is one of the worst possible learning strategies, and how the people who learn the most are usually the ones who refuse to grind.

Ray Blakney

How to Actually Have a Life While Learning Something New

Apr 29, 2026

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8 min read

How to Actually Have a Life While Learning Something New

Why the "go all-in or fail" school of self-improvement is mostly wrong, and how to fit learning into a life that already has guitars, gardens, and Friday game nights in it.

Ray Blakney

You Are What You Eat (And So Is Your Hippocampus)

Apr 28, 2026

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8 min read

You Are What You Eat (And So Is Your Hippocampus)

How diet shapes your ability to learn

Ray Blakney

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

Apr 28, 2026

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8 min read

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

The cheapest, most-ignored cognitive enhancer on the planet, and the surprisingly tiny amount of dehydration it takes to start sabotaging your focus and memory.

Ray Blakney

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

Apr 27, 2026

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8 min read

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

The new research on what happens to your brain when you outsource your thinking, and why "AI as tutor" is good but "AI as answer machine" is quietly disastrous.

Ray Blakney

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

Apr 27, 2026

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8 min read

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

Why a 1,500-year-old game still beats most modern brain-training apps.

Ray Blakney

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Apr 26, 2026

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7 min read

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Why pulling stressed all-nighters is the worst possible way to learn anything, and why your "I work better under pressure" theory is mostly a lie.

Ray Blakney

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

Apr 25, 2026

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7 min read

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

Why the same brain skill that lets you replay Star Wars in your head also makes you better at chemistry, and how to deliberately train it.

Ray Blakney

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

Apr 24, 2026

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7 min read

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

Your brain just ran a marathon. Here's how to get it back to baseline...

Ray Blakney

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Archive

The Grind Is the Enemy: Why Slowing Down Will Make You Learn More

How to Actually Have a Life While Learning Something New

You Are What You Eat (And So Is Your Hippocampus)

Drink More Water, Learn More Things: The Boring Truth About Hydration and Your Brain

How Leaning on AI Quietly Undermines Your Learning

The Sixty-Four Squares of Cognitive Training: How Chess Quietly Sharpens the Brain

The Brain on Stress: Why Anxiety Quietly Sabotages Your Learning

Train Your Imagination, Train Your Brain: How Mental Imagery Supercharges Learning

After the Cram: How to Actually Recover From an Emergency Learning Session

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