How to

Remember Things

You Study Better

How to Remember Things You Study Better Do you find that when it comes to test time, you just

can't remember what you studied? Studying is

actually really complex, just like your brain, and

science has shown us that there is a "right" and a

"wrong" way to do it. You might be doing it the wrong

way! With some wikiHow help, you too can

remember the things you study. Whether you're

improving your study habits, learning to use

mnemonics, or employing various cognitive tools,

you'll be nailing tests and dancing your way through

classes before you know it.

Priming Your Brain

1 Get plenty of sleep. The first thing you should do is

make sure that you’re sleeping properly. When you

don’t get enough sleep, your brain doesn’t work as

well and all the studying in the world isn’t going to

make a difference. You’ll have to put the parties and

hanging out aside for awhile until you feel better

about your studying.

New scientific studies have shown that when we

sleep, our body goes through a sort of cleaning

cycle where our brains get flushed of all the bad stuff

that shouldn’t be there. When you don’t get enough

sleep, this bad stuff builds up and makes your brain

work a lot worse.

Some people need eight hours of sleep, but some

people only need six while others may need nine or

more. Everyone’s body is different, so experiment to

see how you feel.

2 Eat balanced meals. Eating a healthy, balanced

diet is also important. Your body needs lots of

different nutrients in order to work right and when

you don’t have those nutrients, it can be hard to

focus and absorb information. Eating balanced

meals doesn’t just mean eating a lot of kale

(although kale is really good for you). It mostly

means making sure that you’re eating a lot of

different foods in healthy proportions. You have to

adjust for your particular lifestyle, but a good balance

to start with is:

30% vegetables. Lean towards dark greens like kale,

chard, spinach, and broccoli, since these have more

nutrients in them.

20% fruits. Try to choose nutrient-rich fruits, like

citrus fruits and kiwi, or fruits which are high in fiber,

like apples, pears, and bananas.

30% whole grains. Choose nutrient-rich grains like

brown rice, quinoa, and oatmeal, and look for whole

grain products whenever you do eat any grain.

20% protein. Try to choose lean proteins when you

eat meat (turkey, chicken, and fish) and complete

proteins when you eat other protein-rich foods (you’ll

need to mix foods like nuts, lentils, and beans to get

a complete protein, or eat whole soybeans like soy

nuts and edamame).

Limit your dairy intake. Most nutrients that you get

from dairy products you can get just as easily from

other sources. Dairy products tend to be very fatty,

so when you do eat them, choose low-fat versions.

You’ll want to be sure you get enough calcium,

though, so eat calcium rich foods like kale, collard

greens, and sardines.

3 Drink plenty of water. You probably know that your

body is made up mostly of water, so you’re probably

not surprised to hear that getting enough water will

be very important for helping you focus. Dehydration

will give you problems focusing and if you can’t

focus, then you’re going to have a really hard time

remembering.

A good rule of thumb is that you’ll know you’ve had

enough water when your urine comes out pale or

occasionally clear. Eight 8 oz glasses a day is a

good starting point, but different people need

different amounts of water.

4 Wear comfortable clothing. When you study, do

what you can to wear clothes that are comfortable.

This will let you focus all of your attention on your

work, rather than breaking your focus to worry about

heat, cold, or your pants pinching you in that spot

you don’t want to talk about.

5 Use caffeine carefully. Coffee, 5 Hour Energy, Red

Bull….whatever your poison is, be careful when you

pick it. Caffeine does help you study...but only if you

drink it after studying.[1] If taken before you study, it

can make you too jittery to focus properly. Caffeine

also has lots of other downsides, so try not to rely on

caffeine in general.

Negative side effects of caffeine include caffeine

addiction, headaches, dehydration, fatigue, anxiety,

and disruption of your sleep cycle.

Embracing Learning Styles

1 Evaluate how you learn. There is a theory that

different people learn better in different ways and

that by exposing yourself more to the method that

works best for you, you’ll have an easier time

studying. Now, there are studies which show that

learning styles might not work, but many people feel

like this does make a difference in their learning.

You should feel free to experiment because as long

as it works for you, that’s all that matters.

You can find a number of tests online that can help

you figure out your learning style. Any one of them is

about as reliable as any other and they may give lots

of different results. The best route is to pay attention

to how you feel and what things feel like they work

for you.

2 Work with a visual learning style. Have you ever

noticed that you learn better by looking at charts or

graphs? When you think back to lectures in class, do

you remember what the Powerpoint slides looked

like better than the actual words your teacher said?

These might be indications that you’re strongly

drawn towards visual learning. Try to find ways to

make the information you study into a visual

representation, in order to help yourself remember it

better.[2]

For example, try using different color highlighters

and tabs to color code the important information in

your textbook.

3 Adapt to an auditory learning style. Have you

ever noticed that you have an easier time

remembering what your teacher said, rather than

what information was written in your textbook? Do

you feel like you absorb information better when you

listen to music while you study (sometimes even

being able to recall the information simply by

“replaying” the song in your head)? These might be

indications that you’re strongly drawn towards

auditory learning. Try to find ways to make the

information you study into an auditory

representation, in order to help yourself remember it

better.

Try recording your lectures and playing them back

while you drive or before or after you study.

4 Facilitate a physical learning style. Have you ever

noticed that you’re happiest when working with your

hands? Maybe you tap your foot or fidget with your

hands while you’re in class. These might be signs of

a kinesthetic learner, or someone who learns best

when they’re physically moving. This learning style is

more rare than the other two but important to work

with if you have it. [3]

Try taking breaks to run around the block or get

other brief exercise while you study. This may help

you process the information better and keep you

from getting too wound up.

Getting Engaged with School

1 Find things to enjoy. You’ll have an easier time

remembering the information you study if it’s

something that you care about or can get excited

about. Now, some stuff in school will be naturally

interesting for you, but other stuff may seem really

boring on the surface. When this happens, you’ll

have to find a way to get yourself interested in the

material. There are lots of different ways to go about

this, but you can try:

Finding a reason why the information will be useful

to you later in life. For example, the math you’re

learning can help you calculate how much money

you’ll need to save in order to retire. Be smart, and

you might even be able to figure out how to retire

early.

Make the information into a story. For example, if

you’re studying history, find a way to adapt what

you’re learning into your own episode of Game of

Thrones. If you’re studying science, think of a way

that the science could be used to make your

superhero origin story.

2 Actively listen. If you pay very close attention

during the original lectures, not only will you have an

easier time remembering the information but you’ll

also be able to study more efficiently because your

brain will have an easier time recalling the

information. Really work to listen when you’re in

class and keep yourself engaged with the

conversation of learning by asking questions and

really getting involved with the lessons.

3

Take notes. Another good way to “listen” to the

lecture is to take notes. This will help keep you on

track for paying attention, but it will also give you

great material to study from later. Remember, when

you take notes, the idea isn’t to write down

everything that your teacher says. Instead, write

down the important stuff. Write down the outline of

the lecture and fill it in with facts, and explanations

for the tough concepts that you know you’ll struggle

with.

For example, if you were taking notes on each

article, you’d probably break your notes down for

each section of the article, and write one or two

takeaways for each step.

4 Do your own research. You can help yourself

remember what you learn and also help yourself get

more interested in what you’re studying by taking

ownership of your education and looking for more

information outside of what your teacher talks about.

This can help you better understand the concepts

but also give you a more solid framework on which

you can build with the information covered in class.

You might even find interesting things that you think

are really cool!

For example, let’s say you’re studying chemistry and

your teacher is talking about the discovery of all

sorts of new compounds around the late 1800s and

early 1900s. You might stop and think to yourself,

“What did people do with all this new stuff?” If you

did some research, you’d find out that all those new

compounds were used to make new, brightly colored

paints. These new colors were responsible for an

artistic revolution which gave us painters like Van

Gogh and Monet.

5 Get some context. If you’re having a hard time

following along with what your teacher is saying, try

giving yourself a bit more context for the information.

Sometimes, when you can more clearly visualize

what’s being discussed, you’ll have an easier time

understanding what’s happening and keep track of

new information as it comes in.

For example, if you’re studying history but you find

you just can’t keep track of everything that’s

happening, try going to a museum or watching a

documentary that deals with that subject. This will

give you something to imagine as you learn and it

might even explain some ideas in a different and

better way than your teacher.

Using Memory Tricks and Tools

1 Use a mind map. A mind map is a great way to help

yourself remember information better. To make a

mind map, break down the information that you need

to learn into categories, and then into individual

ideas. Write down all of these ideas on note cards

and then pin or tape them to a large wall, with the

ideas grouped by category. You can then connect

similar ideas with string or color code the cards to

convey even more information.

This means that (if you learn your mind map) when

you go to take a test, all you have to do is bring up

the map in your mind and you’ll have a much easier

time “finding” the information you need.

2 Create your own mnemonics. Mnemonics are

songs, phrases, or words which act like a shorthand

for much more complicated information. You can

learn common ones for more standard information,

or you can make up your own that are specific to

what you’re trying to remember.

For example, the phrase “Every Good Boy Deserves

Fudge” is commonly used to remember the notes on

a staff. Another example is the name “Pvt. Tim Hall”,

which can be used to remember the list of the

essential amino acids. [4]

3 Study in groups. When you study, try studying with

other people. This works really well for a lot of

different reasons. Mainly, it can engage many

different learning styles and most people will find

that they understand information better when they

have to explain it to someone else. Studying in

groups also means that if one of you doesn’t

understand something very well or if you were gone

on an important day, there are other people there

who can help you get back on track.

Talk to your classmates about studying in groups,

but remember that it’s not really a time to be social.

You shouldn’t choose study mates based on who

you’re friends with. You should try to study with

people that take the class seriously and put in as

much effort as you do.

4 Focus on one task at a time. When we break our

focus, it can often take 20 minutes or more before

we can properly regain our focus, according to

studies.[5] Our brains also have a limit on how much

attention can be paid at any given time, never mind

our basic physical limits. This is why it’s best to sit

down in a place with as few distractions as possible

and just study until you’re done studying.

Avoid music or TV too. Focusing on one task means

it’s also a good idea to skip on watching TV or

listening to lyric-heavy music while you study.

Studies have shown that these almost universally do

more harm than good, because it takes too much

brain power to both hear the music and intensely

focus on your task.[6]

5 Make connections. When you’re studying, try to

make connections between the material you’re trying

to learn and the material you already know. By

making connections you’ll not only understand the

material better (making it more useful to you in your

everyday life), you’ll also have an easier time

remembering it. You shouldn’t feel limited by subject

matter either: if you see a connection between your

favorite subject in history and your new assignment

in math, then by all means make that connection

solidly in your mind.

For example, you might notice that there are some

weird words and sentence structures in English. This

can be connected to the various cultures that have

conquered in England (and the colonies) over the

course of history.

6 Start studying as soon as possible. The best,

least complicated thing that you can do to help

yourself remember what you study better is to just

start studying as early as possible. The earlier you

start studying, the more chances you have to go

over the information repeatedly and really lock those

facts away in your brain. Studying the night before

really won’t do you any favors, maybe earning you

two or three correct questions on a test. Studying for

just a short time every other day for a month leading

up to a test will probably earn you a perfect score, or

at least that “A” you’re hoping for.

Learn More, Study

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