To most of us, learning something ‘the hard way’ implies wasted commitment. Great teaching, we believe, ought to be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that produce learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable tips like these on the head. Many common research habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new abilities create the illusion of mastery, but benefits fade quickly. More technical and learning result from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until just a little forgetting offers set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking many urgently to college students, teachers, trainers, and atheletes, Make It Stay will appeal to all those thinking about the task of lifelong learning and self-improvement.