Tricks To Help You Remember What You Learn
Do you forget what you study? Is it difficult for you to memorise the subject matter? If yes, then here are five helpful tricks by which you not only can remember but also understand what you study. It’s just a normal human tendency to forget what we study, so there's nothing to worry about. Trust me, these are the most asked queries and these questions are mostly answered in an affirmative by thousands of people around the world.
Before getting into the details, I want to shift your focus on an interesting aspect. If you have ever read a novel, storybook or comic, then you will be easily able to understand and relate to this. Let’s imagine that you’re asked to narrate a synopsis of your favourite novel; in that case, I’m pretty sure that you’ll be able to explain it well. Have you ever wondered, why is it so hard to remember what we study but easy to remember the stories and plots of the movie? The reason is that we don’t focus on memorising the plot. Instead, we engage ourselves in visualising and understanding the plot.
Read to understand and not to memorise
Firstly, you need to understand what you’re trying to read. Understanding is the shortcut to memorising. To simplify it, if you try to memorise without understanding it, you may or may not succeed in memorising but the time taken to do the same will be triple. In that case, you’ll have to read the same concept repeatedly over and over. Only after multiple efforts invested in re-reading, you’ll be able to memorise it. Instead, if you choose to understand what you’re studying you’ll be able to memorise it faster than ever. When you study, invest your time smartly.
● There are thousands of courses that you can learn, but ‘understanding’ what you learn is the foundation for all.
● There’s no shortcut to memorise a chapter without reading it. So, don’t read it for the sake of reading it. Instead, read to understand.
● Start from the synopsis or summary. It will boost up the pace.
● The efforts that you invest in understanding what you read shall not only provide a good warm-up to your brain but also will help you memorise the same faster.
Visualise
The second step towards memorising is visualising. Use your power of imagination and creativity to picturise and visualise the subject matter. Awaken the artist in you. Try assuming the events happening around you. If you can make yourself one of the characters in it, go for it. Give wings to your imagination and build a story with the concept that you understood so far.
● For now, if you're introduced to this trick for the very first time then it may sound silly to you. But it will be a quite effective and helpful tool in the long run.
● There are thousands of tricks that you can find online, but I suggest that you should consider trying the most effective ones. Visualising shall make your learning process less boring and more interesting as it adds the element of fun to it.
Frame questions
When I said ‘frame a question’, I intended to bring your notice to the third most important trick that shall help you in memorising the subject matter. If you’ve noticed, we are surrounded by infinite thoughts and we tend to seek answers for the questions that our imaginary thoughts create. Have you ever wondered about the things that you don’t seek an answer for? In my opinion, it shall be so only in the rarest of rare cases. In simplified words, you often think about those thoughts to which you seek an answer for. It shall filter your thoughts. In that case, you will be able to easily restore the facts if you frame questions. Prepare the when, why, where & how questions. It will help you break the chapter into multiple segments.
● We may find it difficult to remember a concept as a whole. But, if you can make multiple segments, it shall make your path easier.
● The more the questions you frame, the easier it will be for you to remember the same.
The 5-minute break
Taking quick breaks are very much essential whenever you sit to study. There’s a trick that most people follow, the 5-minute quick break after every 30 minutes or 60 minutes of your study session. It’s very important to relax for a while as you study. More or less it is a favour that you can offer to yourself.
● The breaks here shall help you relax your brain and shall reduce the level of stress.
● After each break you take, you shall be able to ascertain and understand the rest of it more enthusiastically.
● An additional tip, don’t forget to drink a good amount of water as you study.
Record/ Teach
Recording yourself as you narrate an answer is one of the most effective ways to remember what you study. If you ask me, how? Let me tell you a secret which is no longer a secret. Why is it easy to remember the lyrics of a song but hard to remember an answer comprising 500 words? It is because you listen to a song over and over. In reality, your brain is capable enough to feed and store what you hear quite faster than what you read.
● The trick here is to record yourself as you answer a question.
● Once you’ve succeeded in understanding a chapter followed by visualising the same as you frame questions, you’re now all set to record yourself or teach someone.
● It shall be 10 times more interesting if you try to teach someone. We use technology in our daily basis. I’ll be surprised if you’ve not taught your friend or if you’ve not been taught by your friend so far. All that you need to do is send recordings of what you’ve learnt so far to your friends, family or you can choose to keep it for yourself.
● Make sure to listen to it multiple times. Try to derive detailed concepts in segments as you listen to it each time.
Lastly, I want to introduce you to the most important trick that can help you remember all that you study. Follow a healthy lifestyle. You need to consume healthy food daily. A good amount of sleep is an essential part of an organised and healthy lifestyle. If you’re wondering how is that relevant here, then you need to hear this: The more organised you stay, the more you will be able to remember. Your brain will naturally adapt to a more organised environment. If you’ve seen YouTube videos on ‘study with me’ the first thing to notice is their scheduled and organised lifestyle.
In a short period, you’ll be successful in training your brain to memorise what you study by adapting and following the tricks mentioned above. However, do not forget the proverbs ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’ and ‘practice makes a man perfect’. All your efforts and hard work will pay off soon. So, study well and do well. I hope for your brighter future.