How to Remember Better for your Exams?

It’s exam time and that’s why you are searching for tips & tricks to help you learn and remember things better. No matter what the level of an exam is, it exerts extreme pressure. In order to give 100% of your potential it is required that you understand things better and remember those perfectly to write those in exams.

Everyone has been a student once in their life and thus everyone has their own theory of remembering things. I have summarized some of those which are most tested and trusted.

Table of Contents

Plan what you need to remember

This is the first step that you’d require. Decide on what you will be covering in the upcoming days. Plan those with a simple timetable. By a simple timetable I mean something that’s not too divided and has only four or five sections.

If you divide your reading plan into many sections, you might not even be able to remember the timetable itself.

After you are done planning, understand thoroughly what is to be remembered and memorized.

Now open your book and,

Memorize verbatim whatever you can

You can not memorize everything word by word, but there will surely be some sections that after a try you’d be able to remember as it is. You can use special symbols like *, +, !!! in your book or notebooks to mark useful parts that are important to memorized and not just understood.

Go over these material again and again at random times to see if you still remember those.

Build an interest

If you create an interest in a topic, you’ll be more interested in reading it. Decorate your book and notebook nicely and keep it neat & clean so that every time you open it you get a good vibe. This will keep you motivated and you’ll learn more than what you ever planned for.

Think about what you are trying to learn. Find an interest in the material if you wish to memorize it with ease.

Overlearn

Some topics require intense reading and understanding. So it is important that you work upon those topics several times. Repeating a topic several times will make certain that you don’t forget it in a while.

Prioritize

Analyze material and mark important topics that are going to certainly appear in exams. Study those items which you want to remember for the longest time.

Be creative

Create your own mind maps, examples and illustrations; and keep them colorful and tidy. You will be able to memorize your own creations very easily and there may not even be a need for revision. Use abbreviations to remember longer formulas, specially periodic tables — if you are a science student. Use pictorials and diagrams to represent ideas graphically.

Summarize

Textbooks have longer material and not everything is required for exams. You can rephrase textbook content in shorter formats and study only what’s necessary. Rephrasing requires expertise but after a little practice, you’d be able to do it easily.

Be sure

Quickly after you have read a paragraph, close your eyes and try to recreate the paragraph in your mind. If you are able to recite the paragraph even close to 80%, you are reading it right. Otherwise, improve your reading style.

Talk to your friends

If you are stuck at a question or topic, try consulting your friend. He or she may be able to help you around.

Practice questions

Solve old exam papers and evaluate yourself honestly. Once the evaluation is done — go through your notes and see what can be improved.

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