Doing the exact same thing every day can make your brain fall into a routine. Instead, speed up your study session or add a slight variation, such as playing a learning game or upping the difficulty, so it challenges you in a different way. Since you have to adapt to the new situation, it ingrains the information faster. Hearing yourself repeat the information helps you remember it easier. Read aloud if you’re studying from a book, website, or your notes.
You can also try making a funny sentence that’s easier to remember. Since you’re associating visuals and images with the concept, you’ll have an easier time remembering. Since you only have to remember shorter phrases, you won’t spend as much time on the difficult subjects. While it’s faster to take notes on a laptop, using a pen and paper will help you learn and comprehend better. Researchers at Princeton University and UCLA found that when students took notes by hand, they listened more actively and were able to identify important concepts. Taking notes on a laptop, however, leads to mindless transcription, as well as an opportunity for distraction, such as email.
The next time you have a key item you need to remember, try making a memorable visual image to represent that item. Images are important because they connect directly to your brain’s visuospatial centers. Images help you remember difficult concepts by tapping into visual areas.
For example, think about the country of Syria as shaped like a bowl of cereal and the country Jordan as a Nike Air Jordan sneaker. Metaphors—especially visual ones—can stick with you for years. They help glue ideas in your mind because they make connections to neural structures that are already there. This technique involves visualizing a familiar place—like the layout of your house or dorm room—and using it as a visual space where you can deposit concept-images that you want to remember. This technique can help with remembering unrelated items, like a grocery list.
It’s often easy to forget that the little things are those that matters the most. The research shows that if you get enough sleep, you’ll be more focused, you’ll learn faster, and your memory will improve. So as a tip to learn faster, spread out your study time for each subject.
Therefore, in order to believe that you can learn the skill that you’re trying to develop, adopt a growth mindset. The fact that I haven’t been meeting my expectations in college do my homework bewilders me . Especially considering the fact that I have put in the necessary work needed. From reading this article, I realized that I have been doing a lot of things wrong.