Is it common for you to forget what you studied? If you always forget what you have studied, you need to implement strategies to retain the information. Our brain is a powerful machine that can memorize a lot of information.
However, to memorize, it is necessary to implement some strategies. Let’s talk about five ways to boost your brain to memorize any information.
I have listed the best strategies, which are also very simple and have proven results. That way you will never forget what you studied.
Who is this guide for?
The tips are for everyone, from those who are studying for a public exam, entrance exam, college, post or simply want to have a better memory. Memorization is something that benefits everyone and must be improved.
As researcher Facundo Manes wrote in his book “Using the brain” :
“For there to be an effective learning process, memory must be able to fulfill its key role, which is to maintain this knowledge so that information is conserved and retrieved later, when it is needed”
Every day we need to remember facts that happened in the past, be it a distant past or a near past. In addition, we must keep numbers, names, dates and a series of other information, whether personal or professional.
If you are a student preparing for an exam, then good memorization is more than necessary. In this case, forgetting what you have studied is not an option.
Often the content is extensive and the time to study everything is usually short. Such situations require a lot of memory capacity.
The following tips are useful for anyone who wants to upgrade memory capacity and especially for those who focus on passing a test or exam.
It is worth improving your memory and stimulating your brain so that it can produce much more.
What harms your memory?
Before the tips for not forgetting what you studied, let’s talk about two factors that impair our memorization. So, before you even start testing the tips below, it’s worth paying attention to these details:
1 – Your life routine interferes with your studies
We are often unable to memorize content due to routine. Did you know that your daily activities can reduce your ability to store and recall information?
Before you start applying the tips below, it is important that you organize your routine.
The less stress and more peace of mind on a daily basis, the better your performance will be. This is the second step of Method 5, organizing the routine to improve learning.
With an organized routine your mind will be much more prepared to retain information.
Take the test: try to memorize something after a tiring and stressful day. Notice how difficult it will be and many details will be lost.
We human beings need to have a peaceful mind in order to perform well, especially when studying. In addition to being good for your memorization, the organization will help you to be more productive.
2 – The incorrect use of memory
Did you know that we don’t always use our memory correctly? For example, it is not enough to just write the content on paper to memorize. Copying, by itself, is not efficient for generating results.
Most people who claim they do not have a good memory and always forget what they have studied are actually misusing this resource.
It is not possible to memorize well when we do not know how to use all our skills and potential. The tips below are to make your brain much more efficient.
They will unlock your learning and memorizing power to generate incredible results.
Memorization Tip # 01 – Speak out loud so you don’t forget what you studied
Speaking out loud is an important strategy for memorizing and not forgetting what you have studied. A research done at the University of Waterloo proved that reading aloud helps in long-term memory.
This is one of the simplest tips, but also one of the most efficient, but the speech must be done correctly, for example, avoid repeating what you are reading out loud.
Do as follows: after reading the content, try to speak out loud what you remember about what was read.
That way, you will be forcing your brain to memorize and synthesize information. Listening to our thoughts is very good for the memory.
If possible, at this point, speak in a stronger tone, as if you are mastering the matter completely.
Memorization Tip # 02 – Synthesize the contents
Do not copy all content, prefer to summarize. Reduce paragraphs and even entire pages in a few words.
An experiment carried out by researchers Spirgel and Delaney found that items included in the summary were more memorized than those omitted in the abstracts.
Prefer to write in your own words, without transcribing excerpts from the text. You will not be losing information, but exercising your memory, as the content will be synthesized.
This is a powerful tip especially for those working in the humanities. We often need to deal with huge texts, which can be easily summarized in a few sentences or pages when we capture the central idea.
In addition to being a strategy to improve your memory, the synthesis of contents also contributes to interpretation and understanding. Thus, it is possible to understand great works and explain in a didactic way, without forgetting what he studied.
Memorization Tip # 03 – Draw and learn more
Even if you are not a professional draftsman, this tip is worth exploring to force your memorization.
The human brain is very visual and imaginative, so the image has incredible strength in our memory. Several studies have proven that drawing can help a lot in memorizing studies.
Use simple drawings that are representative of the idea being studied. Your design does not need to have technical qualities, that is not the purpose of the exercise.
The goal is not to improve your drawing skills, but to provide elements that help your brain to memorize more easily. Thus, when facing your test, for example, the drawing will contribute to make the memory work.
And if you are afraid of wasting study time due to drawing, here is an extra tip. The time we spend improving our ability to memorize is no waste.
On the contrary, it is much better to spend more time memorizing something than to study all the content without memorizing anything, do you agree? Take your coloring pencil and practice the tip in practice!
Memorization Tip # 04 – Use the mind map in studies
The mind map is a technique that allows you to connect ideas. You will be able to remember specific ideas and complex ideas. So it is one of the most interesting tips for memorizing large volumes of information.
Through the mind map it is possible to memorize even an entire book! Create links in the brain relating ideas in a well-organized way.
The great advantage of this strategy is that it dialogues with several others. For example, the mind map can be made on the basis of drawings, through connections and connections in a scheme.
Create a complete map, drawing connections between the main ideas. In this creation, you will also be using the synthesis, by reducing large volumes of information in sentences and short paragraphs.
Memorization Tip # 05 – Teach someone and learn more
Another highly effective memorization strategy is to teach someone. After studying, try to pass on the information you have learned to someone else.
This is a very powerful technique, which will help you to memorize better.
And you don’t even have to teach a real person. Many people are ashamed or do not have someone around to teach. Then you can pretend to be teaching a class.
Do it yourself. Record what you’re talking about or just do everything in front of the mirror, for example.
When we are teaching – or imagining that we are teaching – we are led to remembering the content that was studied. This is a powerful technique of active learning.
This is the best time to train and to identify what you really know. If you can’t remember everything, at least you’ll know where to improve your studies.
Extra memorization tip
Keep in mind that each strategy depends on a learning curve. This means that the tips can work gradually, depending on their development.
In other words, if you use one of the tips above for just one day, it is very unlikely that you will be able to assess whether it really works for you. It is essential to give time so that you can see the results.
This is what we call the learning curve, which can vary from person to person, from tool to tool. If after a while you realize that the tip is being effective, keep practicing.
Now, if for some reason you feel that the memorization tip is not being productive, it is worth trying other strategies. After all, there is no shortage of ways to enhance your ability to memorize.
Conclusion
In this guide we talk about memorization and how to not forget what you have studied, indicating five powerful strategies to be able to memorize any information.
We have seen that it is effective to speak out loud, summarize the content, draw, create a mind map and teach someone else. All of these are strategies that work and assist in the memorization process.
They are useful for those who are studying, who need to improve their ability to retain information and also for you who want more efficiency and performance on a daily basis.