are you tired of studying hard only to forget everything as soon as the exam is over well you're not alone many students struggle with this problem but there are proven strategies you can use to study once and remember forever in this video I'm going to share with you the three Rs of remembering the science of forgetting and some of the most effective study techniques that will help you retain information for the long term the first step to studying once and remembering forever is understanding how our memory works there are three key processes involved in Remembering
information and they're often referred to as the three Rs recording retaining and retrieving recording is the process of taking in and registering new information this is what happens when you're studying or learning something new the more attention and focus you give to the material the better it will be encoded into your memory retaining is the process of keeping that information in your brain this is where a lot of students struggle as the brain is constantly bombarded with new information and older memories can get pushed out effective storage requires making connections and associations to help cement
the information in your mind retrieving is the process of accessing and recalling that stored information when you need need it this is crucial for exams and real world application of what you've learned the stronger the connections and the more you've practiced retrieving the information the easier it will be to recall it later on understanding these three Rs is the foundation for developing effective study habits that will help you remember what you learn now let's talk about the science of forgetting there's a psychological phenomenon called the forgetting curve which was discovered by German psychologist Hermon ebbinghouse
in the late 1800s the forgetting curve shows that we tend to forget information very quickly especially right after we've learned it within the first 24 hours we can forget up to 70% of what we've learned and if we don't review or practice that information we can forget up to 90% of it within a week this is why traditional cramming and memorization techniques often fail the information simply doesn't stick but there are ways to combat the forgetting curve and make sure the things you study stay in your memory for the long term understand don't memorize one
of the biggest mistakes students make is trying to Simply memorize information rather than truly understanding it memorization may work in the short term but it won't help you retain that knowledge for weeks months or years down the line instead you want to focus on understanding the underlying Concepts and principles ask yourself questions like how does this new information connect to what I already know what are the key takeaways or main ideas how can I apply this in real world situations when you take the time to genuinely understand the material you're creating strong neural Pathways in
your brain this makes it much easier to recall the information later on because you're not just trying to regurgitate random facts but actually connecting it to your existing knowledge study when you're most alert another important factor in effective studying is timing we all have natural fluctuations in our energy levels and attention spans throughout the day some people are morning people While others are more productive in the evenings pay attention to when you feel most most alert focused and able to absorb new information for many this tends to be in the morning or early afternoon try
to schedule your most important study sessions during these peak times when your brain is primed and ready to learn avoid trying to cram or study when you're feeling tired unfocused or mentally drained your ability to effectively encode store and retrieve information will be significantly diminished listen to your body and mind and structure your study schedule accordingly teach someone else one of the most powerful study techniques you can use is the act of teaching teaching someone else is the best way to remember information compared to any other study technique when you teach someone else what you've
learned it forces you to truly understand the material at a deeper level you have to be able to explain the concepts clearly use your own words and anticipate potential questions or misunderstandings the process of teaching activates different parts of your brain compared to passive studying or memorization you're engaging in active recall making connections and reinforcing the information in your own mind plus you get immediate feedback on how well you know the material based on how effectively you can teach it even if you don't have someone to physically teach you can still get the benefits of
this technique try recording yourself explaining the key ideas out loud as if you were teaching a class or write out detailed lesson plans or study guides that you can reference later on in addition to teaching there are several other evidence-based study techniques you can use to boost your retention active recall instead of just rereading your notes or the textbook try covering up the material and actively recalling as much as you can this retrieval practice is crucial for strengthening those neural Pathways spaced repetition don't try to cram everything in one long study session instead break up
your studying into shorter more frequent sessions over time spacing out your review helps cement the information in your memory interleaving when you're studying multiple topics or subjects try mixing them up instead of studying them one at a time this encourages your brain to make connections and identify patterns across the different areas elaboration as you're learning new information take the time to explain it to yourself in your own words connecting it to your prior knowledge and experiences will make it more meaningful and memorable mind mapping create visual representations of the key Concepts ideas and relationships this
engages your spatial awareness and Taps into the brain's natural tendency to remember images better than text by putting these strategies into practice you'll be well on your way to studying once and remembering forever no more cramming and forgetting just effective longlasting learning give these tips a try and let me know how it goes don't forget to subscribe for more study and productivity hacks