Sweet student years… They are associated with placidity, loads of hilarious moments, but mostly ex-students will remember them for stacks of books, paperworks written in final hours, and many attempts to place all the information in their heads. The classical method “read and remember” is not relevant anymore. At present, we have access to the Internet, which is considered to be our major savior. Moreover, digital devices can solve our issues in a few minutes, or even seconds. However, they cannot live our lives, and we have to accumulate both theoretical and practical experience. So, how to remember a large volume of information, not lose essence during the study process, and make ends meet?
- Break Into Parts and Mark the Important
You don’t need to remember the whole text word by word: it is nearly impossible! You must be a great philosopher, or maybe a writer to realize that. Instead, try doing the next thing: when you have finished reading your notes, take a highlighter and a pencil, and try to separate the whole material into chapters. Afterwards, highlight the main concepts, names, dates, facts, etc. Notice: you should pay attention to those ones, which are genuinely crucial! Finally, while revising your notes, you will put more emphasis on key moments, which you need mostly, even if you need only to pass the quiz or the exam. These highlighted facts will serve you as a light at the end of the tunnel because you will know exactly which direction you ought to move in. Speaking of breaking into parts, if your exam is either oral, or written, you will make your answer more logical and argumentative. For the record: after some corrections, the text will look more attractive to read!
- Use Mind Maps
Have you heard of mind mapping? If not, it is one of the most creative methods not only to bear in mind lots of facts, but also to visualize them and add some more colors to the study process. In brief, it is a special diagram with above mentioned facts, dates, names, etc. The point is that it has a central idea which is developed into several branches, and so on. Thus, if you want to write health and social care essays, you may start with such a system with a core idea related to the topic. And don’t be shy to use different colors because it is like a painting! You can put it in front of you and learn its elements. Furthermore, it will be easier to remember some crucial points in a “visualized” way.
- Employ verbal and mnemonic techniques
Perhaps everyday we listen to songs, try to sing along, or we try to remember our shopping list. Eventually, somebody struggles to memorize the names of wives of king Henry VIII. There are some ways to make progress. Firstly, try not to read, but “sing” the material. Sounds weird, right? However, this technique of making up songs out of your notes is widely spread in Asian countries. Indeed, we are prone to memorize some entertaining things rather than dull theory. Finally, the already mentioned mnemonics can actually be translated from Greek language as “the art to remember”. The essence of the method is to memorize materials by creating associations. For example, you can make some acronyms, use the first letters of words and generate a sentence, which will have some clues and will be perceived even better!
- Refer to Cards
Apparently, you are familiar with this way of memorizing if it comes to words learning. Nevertheless, cards can be used even for some “non-language” subjects. For instance, you get yourself some free essays on finance, but you also have to learn some definitions written there. In this case, what should you do? Well, you can definitely write them down in your copybook, albeit it isn’t a copybook only for these definitions, right? Hence, write them on paper cards, and you can even carry them wherever you want, and revise whenever it is convenient for you! The technique is simple! Write on the one side the factual name of a concept or idea, but on the other – its definition, what does it mean. It looks like an exam paper, but with ready answers.
- Re-think your preparation process
Let’s be honest: when it comes to exam or quiz preparation, it becomes really difficult to manage your time, go to sleep on time, and find a few minutes for a break. Many scholars claim that people can effectively focus on work for only 20-30 minutes. That is why we start yawning and become bored in the second part of our classes. Here is the solution: you have most likely heard of a Pomodorro method. If not, it is very understandable. When you prepare for the final test, set a timer for 25 minutes. As soon as the alarm rings, have a break for 5 minutes, and do whatever you want, but not studying! Relax your brain, it needs some to take a deep breath. Imagine if we ran for an hour without changing the pace, or even increasing it. So, do not overdo it, and take care of your mental health!
