Many students face a lot of problems when they need to remember a lot of new information at one moment. Most are complaining about the lack of time and the enormous number of subjects. Usually, students spend sleepless nights before their exams and credits. However, memorizing is the biggest and the most widespread problem among students. They cram a vast massive of information, pass their exam and forget all they have learned in a few days. It happens because few of young people realize the proper ways of how to get and remember new information fast. Therefore, this article aims to provide you with the latest and the most useful tips on how to learn, remember, and what is even more important - efficiently use different types of information.
Cramming: Pros and Cons
We have mentioned above that cramming is one of the most popular ways to learn new information. Of course, we cannot say that cramming is an utterly ineffective variant since it still brings desirable results. However, you should realize that cramming is a useful tool if you have an unexpected situation and need to prepare in a hurry. When we use this tool again and again, it will not work correctly. Such students and employees suffer from emotional and mental exhaustion. They become unproductive and useless. Besides, they cannot develop and improve their professional skills since they do not know how to use new information. Such students and employees do not have a future! Therefore, you should realize that cramming is a possible way to get new knowledge but only in the short-term. Cramming is just for urgent and unexpected situations. On the other hand, if you want to use your unique experience in the long-term for your work, further studying or even for the whole life, forget about cramming. Cramming is not about understanding, it is about playback.
Brain Peculiarities
First of all, you should realize that a human brain is a small bio-machine that works appropriately only under appropriate conditions. It means that you should have enough energy to learn something new. At the end of the nineteenth century, Herman Ebbinghaus discovered how the brain memorizes information. Generally, it takes a piece of information and then stops remembering. It needs a couple of minutes to process the data. In this case, the universal rule is that our brain needs some time to prepare the new information, and it is easier to remember a small portion of it.
Furthermore, do not try to learn something new at once. Remember, that even if it seems that you gain nothing new, your brain still works; it processes the information even if you are relaxing. It means that after a couple of minutes of such a process you can be sure that you will use this sort of the information in the long term. Therefore, it is so crucial not to be in a hurry and not to learn all the things in one night. You should remember 1) do not be in a hurry, 2) divide new material into small portions, 3) make small 5-10 minutes breaks.
The Rule of 20\80
Nowadays, there is a widespread rule of 20\80, which means do less, get more. Scientists argue that the same happens with our brain. If you want to remember a short historical text, it will be better to read one time than three-four times. Of course, a lot depends on your skills. Remember that you should be very attentive during your reading not to miss any small details. Thus, the basic rule says that it is enough to read a text one time to remember all the necessary things for your brain. However, sometimes a lot depends on the complexity of the information. It means you should read it more than one time until you feel like "Yes, it is enough now."
Time-Management
Time plays a crucial role in our life, especially in learning and memorizing something new. Our success often depends on our ability to manage our time correctly. The same happens during our study. Do you remember how exhaustive it was to sit at the 2- or 4-hour lecture or conference without breaks? Thus, you should always schedule your studying. It is still better to spend 30-60 minutes per day, than 4-5 hours on the last night. Such a model allows you to remember the information better and be sure that you can efficiently use it when you need it. In this case, the complexity or theme do not matter. This rule is universal and everyone may use for different purposes - for studying, working, etc.
To sum up, you see some of the basic principles of how our brain learns and memorizes, what kinds of memory techniques exist, and which of them are the most useful. Forget about cramming, explore your brain peculiarities, follow the rule of 20\80 and manage your time correctly.
