From talking to yourself to taking in a cardio session, here are ten memory hacks that will
help you learn anything faster!
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10.
Rest Up
One of the most important steps to take when trying to learn something new is to make sure
you’re well-rested.
Studies done on both people and animals suggest that how much sleep you’re getting, as well
as how well you sleep, are significant factors in memory retention and learning.
According to an article on the Harvard website, research indicates that sleeping helps with
these processes in two ways.
The first is that someone who is sleep-deprived is unable to focus their attention, thus learning
efficiently becomes nearly impossible.
The second is, the act of sleeping is strongly and directly involved with solidifying memories
- an essential step in learning new things.
Although there is still some mystery concerning why sleep is so important for retaining information,
there are three primary functions in the learning process.
The first is acquisition, which is when new data is introduced to your brain.
The second is consolidation, which is when the memory becomes locked in.
The last primary learning process is recall.
Recall means you can access the newly-stored information either consciously, or unconsciously.
But, the third function just not possible if the new knowledge isn’t properly stored.
Meaning, sleep is required when trying to retain information.
So, get to bed early after your study session, if you want to retain and recall the info
you just ingested, and ace that test!
9.
Self-Test
One of the best ways to study is to test yourself.
Most of us already do this, but you might not be doing it in the most effective manner.
An example of self-testing is using flashcards.
Having a flashback to the third grade yet?
We’ve all been pressured to recall specific dates, names, definitions, or events for a
big exam, business, or social situation.
To master it, the trick is to keep testing yourself, whether or not you believe you’ve
learned the material.
Listen up.
If you’re one of the many people who take some flashcards out of the stack after you
think you’ve learned it -take note - this is a mistake.
According to research done by Purdue University, the key to getting the best results by self-testing
is to keep all the flashcards in your pile, to continue practicing recalling the information.
Another reason testing yourself is highly beneficial is that you’re more likely to
remember the correct answer to something just by recalling an instance where you had to
look it up before.
You should also test yourself out of order.
Mix your flashcards up.
By doing this, you’re ensuring that you actually know the information and aren’t
just familiar with the order of the cards.
8.
Make Connections
Remember elementary school days of making connections between new information and something
you already knew?
It’s an effective way to learn things more quickly and efficiently.
It’s much easier for our brains to retain knowledge when information is grouped, rather
than when it’s isolated.
For instance, if you’re learning about the inner workings of a cell and you associate
it with the different tasks each person has at your job, then you’ve drawn a connection
between new information and something you’re familiar with.
The next time you think about a cell, you’ll automatically think back to your job, making
recalling the information much easier.
So, if you’re having difficulty remembering something, then purposely connect it with
something else in your mind.
7.
Old School Notes
Although we all love to get things done as quickly as possible these days.
But if you need to study, you might as well do it right.
In the end, you’ll learn more quickly than if you try to take the easy way out.
One of the best things you can do to improve your learning skills is to take notes the
old-fashioned way: by hand.
Research done by Daniel Oppenheimer and Pam Mueller, authors of a book about the advantages
of writing over typing, indicates that students who take the time to write their notes out
during class learn more than those who use a laptop.
Despite the latter taking more notes, the people who wrote their notes on paper during
the Mueller and Oppenheimer experiment understood the information better.
The reason for this is believed to be that taking hand-written notes requires a different
kind of cognitive processing than typing them out.
Since it’s impossible to take down every word a professor says during a lecture, writing
by hand forces students to listen closely, analyze the information, and summarize it.
6.
Teach To Retain
Have you ever wondered how your teachers and professors seem to not only remember everything
about a certain subject, but also have a perfect understanding of it?
Of course, they’ve spent years studying and learning in and out of school themselves,
but one of the primary reasons they can recall the information with such ease is that they
teach it regularly.
Learning through teaching is called the protégé effect.
The concept of this theory is that when you have to explain something to another person,
you understand it better yourself.
The benefits of this were detailed in 2007 in the Science and Intelligence journals.
Don’t tell your older siblings, but studies suggest that children who are born first are
often more knowledgeable than their younger siblings.
This is because the older children must teach the younger ones how things are done.
One way you can learn by teaching is to become a tutor.
Since your job is to make sure the other person understands the information you’re relaying,
you have to study more conscientiously.
When preparing to teach, one must organize the knowledge they’ve gathered, resulting
in a better understanding.
Plus, while explaining information, people identify what they’re missing themselves.
5.
Aerobic Braining
Another key to learning things quickly is staying in shape - or at least staying active.
A study performed at the University of British Columbia indicated that routinely participating
in aerobic exercises increases the size of one’s hippocampus, which is the portion
of the brain that deals with learning and verbal memory.
But, remember - it must be aerobic.
Other types of exercises, such as resistance training, muscle toning, and balance, didn’t
yield the same result.
There are several reasons why exercise helps with learning.
Regular aerobic activity reduces inflammation and insulin resistance, and it assists with
releasing the chemicals in the brain that impact brain cell health, new blood vessel
growth, and the survival and amount of new brain cells.
Plus, exercise helps with one’s mood, improves sleep, and reduces anxiety and stress, which
are essential factors in the learning process.
You might be asking, “How much exercise is required?”
During the University of British Columbia study, the participants spent two hours per
week briskly walking.
Most recommendations are two and a half hours per week of moderate physical activity.
No matter what level you begin at, the most important part is that you start getting active!
4.
Speak Your Mind
When you do this hack for the first time, you’re probably going to feel a little foolish.
I mean, you are talking to yourself after all.
But, believe it or not, saying what you want to learn out loud is extremely helpful when
you’re trying to learn something new.
A study done at the University of Waterloo suggested that saying things aloud assists
with getting information into one’s long-term memory, which is known as the “production
effect.”
The results of the study indicated that simultaneously speaking and hearing oneself has the most
significant impact on a person’s memory.
Ultimately, this means that adding an element of “active involvement” is one of the
best ways to learn anything faster.
Other active studying techniques are beneficial as well, including doing puzzles and crosswords.
3.
Change the Subject
For our entire lives, we’ve been told to study one subject or item at a time until
we understand it before moving on to something else.
This method of learning is known as “blocking.”
It is the primary way schools are organized, as well as our schedules, study sessions,
etcetera.
But, research in this area suggests that doing the opposite is much more beneficial when
learning new things.
“Interleaving” is a technique where related topics or skills are studied or practiced
together.
This forms a pattern of connected subjects being learned in succession.
For example, an artist alternates between line work, shading, and color instead of mastering
one skill at a time.
According to Scientific American, recent research indicates that there are long-term advantages
of using interleaving in schools, especially in math.
There are two significant explanations for the benefits of interleaving.
The first is that it enhances the brain’s ability to differentiate between concepts.
The second is that it heightens memory associations.
2.
Study & Step Away
Something almost all of us are guilty of is waiting until the last minute to get our studying
in.
This could be before an exam, a presentation, or a new task at work.
Whatever the case, procrastinating until the night before is never a good idea, and will
lessen your ability to retain the information.
“Distributed practice” is a much more efficient way to learn new things.
This technique is also called “spaced practice” or “spaced repetition” and is when practice
or study is broken up into several shorter sessions over an extended period.
So, it’s a good idea to start days or weeks in advance to get the most out of your sessions.
Then, you’ll want to study or practice the material for a little while before stepping
away from it for a few hours to a day.
You can repeat this process as long as it takes to learn the new information.
But, it shouldn’t take that long!
This is because doing so forces you to retrieve the information from memory.
The “study-phase retrieval theory” states that every time retrieving a memory is more
successful, it is much more difficult to forget.
1.
Change It Up
Our number one memory hack includes all of the techniques we discussed above.
Changing how you study or practice something helps you retain more information.
We’re so accustomed to doing things the old-fashioned way - sitting in a quiet room,
staring at our notes for hours, and hoping to store enough data to pass the test.
But, mixing things up is more effective than the repetition we’re used to, according
to a 2016 John Hopkins article.
You can use all of the advice we discussed here to pass your exams or give your presentations
with ease.
So, go over your notes one time, wait until the next day to study again, practice at a
quicker pace, practice at a slower pace, study things out of order, and even change where
you’re studying.
Doing these things will help you learn much more quickly, and keep your brain engaged!
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on the Fact Queen channel.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!