To aid your brain in remembering information, we have searched our brains and the internet for the greatest study hacks. Muscle memory exists. Bring it into shape. You’ll recall things more quickly and simply as a result of this. You will benefit from this in both your life and your tests.
Walk Before An Exam
Go to the gym or go for a quick walk if the thought of finals makes you perspire. Dr. Maggie Wray, a neurobiologist and behavior specialist who specializes in mentoring and coaching teens and young adults, believes that cardio exercise, such as running and jumping rope, is particularly helpful for lowering tension and anxiety. Exercise has been shown to improve memory and cognitive function. Dr. Chuck Hillman’s research at the University of Illinois shows that exercising for around 20 minutes before an exam can boost performance.
Speak Out Loud Instead of Simply Reading
To read aloud has a number of advantages. Let us give you five of the most significant. These include increased vocabulary, focus, comprehension, recall, and better information processing. Try it even if you could come across as a little insane. You’ll be astonished by how much more you can recall after reading it aloud. Don’t try this in a crowded library though.
Reward Yourself With A Treat
One of the most crucial systems in the brain is the reward system. Our behavior is influenced by pleasurable stimuli like food. You can include a reward system into your routine in various ways to learn how to study for tests more effectively.
Teach What You Have Learned
Try teaching it to someone else to see whether you really grasp what you’ve learned. Some researchers have discovered that tutoring students put in more effort to understand the material, remember it more precisely, and apply it more successfully. The phenomenon of student teachers outperforming students who are solely interested in learning for their own sake on tests has now been given the scientific name “the protégé effect.”
Create Mental Associations
Making connections is a skill that not only makes it simpler to recall knowledge, but also serves as the basis for intellect and creativity. The famous quote from Steve Jobs goes, “Creativity is merely connecting things. People that are creative may feel terrible when asked how they achieved something because they didn’t actually do it; rather, they just saw it. By providing a visual representation of many relationships, mind maps make it simple to link concepts.
Draw Diagrams
A circle diagram is an excellent tool for presenting topics as parts of a larger whole. You can better visualize information that would be difficult to convey by creating diagrams. You’ll develop a mental image of it that you can recall during an exam as a result. Get ready for your exam since you might even be asked to sketch or label schematics like the human heart!
Times New Roman is the Fastest Font to Read
Simply, Times New Roman is the default font for most applications for a reason! Serif fonts like Garamond and Times New Roman are typically used by newspapers and book publishers. Serif fonts have tiny extra strokes and extras around the edges of the characters. Arial and Courier are two examples of well-known sans-serif fonts (sans means without).
Use Apps to Block Distracting Sites
There are many website blocker tools available that can help you in resisting the allure of addictive and distracting technology. These tools prevent you from accessing your biggest sources of distraction, as opposed to making you rely solely on willpower. The SelfControl app blocks websites for a set period of time to assist you in avoiding distractions.
Watch a Documentary on the Topic
Documentaries are a fun way to condense a long story into a small amount of time. It’s challenging to know everything, whether you’re a voracious reader or you prefer to hear your own voice. Furthermore, even if you do, new information is constantly being discovered. Documentaries are a great way to do just that if you’re interested in broadening your knowledge and filling in any knowledge gaps. This will help you in recalling important information from a story, and you might even receive extra credit if you mention that you took the effort and viewed a documentary on the subject!
Search Google Like a Pro
Use Google, the most popular search engine on the planet, to your advantage while looking for materials online. Imagine that you have been given a university assignment that requires you to locate specific scholarly books, reports, articles, and other resources. However, you don’t have much time to finish it, and you don’t want to spend it scrolling through page after page of websites. Introducing the Google Scholar search engine, your new best friend. The Google Scholar search engine, also referred to as the academic version of Google, saves the day by conducting scholarly website searches rather than performing a standard web search.
Create Flashcards for Quick Memory Buzz
Use flashcards to quickly assess your understanding of important terms, quotations, definitions, and formulas. Flashcards may seem like a kid’s toy, but there’s a good reason they’ve been a popular study technique for centuries: they actually work! In actuality, when used properly, flashcards are without a doubt the most efficient way for motivated learners to study and retain factual knowledge.
Take Regular Study Breaks
According to research, taking deliberate breaks (anywhere between 5 and 60 minutes) from studying to recharge your mind and body increases your energy, productivity, and capacity for concentration. You need to take regular study breaks when your brain is active to increase information retention while also maintaining your motivation and focus. Take a little break after 45–50 minutes of studying because after that time, your focus and concentration will be diminished. Anything learned after 1 hour 30 minutes will not be retained.
Listen to the Correct Type of Music
It’s crucial to choose the correct music to listen to because some can slow you down while others can enable you to advance more quickly. Have you created your Spotify playlist for Mozart yet? According to studies, music has a variety of advantageous effects on the body and brain of people. Both the left and right hemispheres of the brain are stimulated by music at the same time, and this fact can maximize learning and enhance memory.
Make Your Study Space Portable
Although many of us have favorite chairs at the library and are creatures of habit, switching up where you study actually helps you retain more knowledge. So getting to as many places as you can while studying is a key factor in success, rather than having a tidy workspace or a quiet environment. If you give it some thought, that makes sense too! If you get used to one place, studying sessions quickly turn into a mixed flurry of thought, each subject or detail more difficult to find than the last.
Practice, Practice, Practice…
Your brain can be trained to retrieve knowledge by practicing sample answers to prior exam questions. The same is true for reading assessments. Create exam-like, realistic conditions and use a variety of quizzes to assess your comprehension. This was proven to be an effective method to increase productivity and yield better results while studying.
Don’t Stay Up All Night Before an Exam
The nights before your tests, be careful to get enough sleep. The information you have learnt while studying is assimilated by your brain while you sleep, so obtaining a good night’s sleep will help you remember those tricky arithmetic formulas you need for the exam! Before an exam, you should get at least 8 hours of sleep. Any less will make it harder for you to focus. Even if you stay up all night studying, you still won’t be able to come up with clear conclusions and straightforward answers on test day. Your mind won’t be able to think clearly due to fatigue.
Discover New Ways to Learn
Trying out various study techniques will help you discover what works best for you. Utilize technology to your advantage by, for instance, downloading helpful dictionary applications or watching instructional TED Talks. For years, researchers have worked to determine the most effective ways for students to learn through research. The VARK model remains one of the most widely accepted theories today. The visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing learner types are the four categories identified by this model.
Use Scents or Gum to Jog Your Memory
Looking for a quick, efficient way to perform better on an upcoming test? What if we told you that one of the most effective exam preparation strategies is simply chewing gum to improve your test performance? Although it seems absurd, some research supports the idea that chewing gum leads to better performance.
Spraying an unknown smell while you study may seem a little strange, but it’s one of the study techniques that can help you remember things when you spray it again right before an exam. It will function the same way if you chew some odd gum.
Study in a Group
Studying with others can help you discover new information and improve your learning. Students who participate in productive study groups can learn course material in a more in-depth, practical way. Effective groups create a good vibe, encourage participation, instill discipline, and demand commitments from their members. These abilities are unquestionably crucial for learning.
Meditate
One study technique that can help pupils maintain their focus while studying is meditation. Not only can meditation enhance your mental and physical health, it will also help you focus when you are studying and minimize pre-exam tension.
Stay positive is our final piece of advise for those of you taking examinations. When all you want to do is go to bed, it’s remarkable how a positive outlook may influence your exam scores or spur you to finish that assignment.