Do you struggle with getting the information from your textbooks to stay in your brain? You are not the only one!

The error that most students make when studying is having this misconception that highlighting a text or rereading a chapter over and over is the proper way to study. So how do you study in the most productive way?

First off you should have the basics down which is organization, having a good sleep schedule, and good time management. These three concepts can help you reduce stress which is the main blockage of productive studying as well as being able to make time for required studying.

How do I keep important information in my brain?

Well we all have most likely practiced this form of memorization and it is effective when you want to store something that you can recall from your brain. I bet you know the order of Cardinal directions because of some funky saying like ‘Never Eat Soggy Waffles’ this helps remember the order which is North, East, South, and West. These funky sayings help us keep important information in because our brains recognize how bizarre, funny, etc causing it to root a memory that can be recalled when needed. So when you need to remember the sleeping stages for that psychology quiz, make a fun saying out of it and ace that quiz.

Using your imagination can also help you study in a productive way or in other words a visual representation of the information. If you tend to learn better through educational movies or videos this trick to studying in an effective way is perfect for you. Dr. Haig Kouyoumdijian, explains that through extensive research it is clear that visual cues help retrieve memories better since our sensory cortex has a big focus on visuals. So when you study for the psychology quiz on sleeping stages, imagining the graphs on each stage could help you recall that information during your test.

Explaining the information to a peer or having a conversation about what is being studied helps you to be able to recall this information. Having a conversation about a concept that you are not sure of can help you learn and recall that information since you are forming an auditory form of memory as well as emotional since you are connecting with another person. Explaining an idea to a peer causes the information to be strongly intact due to the confidence you feel when explaining and people tend to simplify things they teach which also helps you since you cut out unnecessary information and keep the important stuff in.

Remember that releasing stress is important for efficient studying as well as good time managing. Memorable sayings, visualizing, and auditory help you study in a manner that is most productive since recalling information will come easier to the student for the time of that important test.