#21 BE READY FOR EXAMS WITH THESE MEMORY IMPROVEMENT TIPS

   If you’re a student, you’re probably faced with exams at least every other week. Before starting to study for your next test, you may want to look over these helpful memory techniques.

   Pay close attention to the material being studied. This might seem obvious, but one of the often-overlooked key components of memory is focused attention. Studying in a quiet, well lighted place will help you concentrate. While studying, avoid distractions such as music, television and other diversions.

   Establish a regular study session. Make a schedule for a study session each day. Plan your study material for each session. This will give you ample to effectively process the information. This will also help you to remember each topic easier.

   Organize your study materials. Study related subjects or materials in each study session. Try to make notes while studying and outline them in such a way that related concepts are grouped together.

   Review your material after each and every session. Mentally review the principal ideas so that the information is retained in your mind. After studying a subject, think about how to explain the subject matter in your own words. You may want to mentally review the things you have learned on your last study session while you are on your way to school or moments before your next study session.

   Relate new information to those things that you already know. When you are studying a subject that is not familiar to you, take time to think how the information relates to the things that you already know. When you are able to establish the relationship between your existing memories with the new ideas, you are most likely to increase your ability to recall the newly learned information.

   Visualize the information. If you can link the concepts to visual images, it will help you retain and recall the information. Some textbooks contain graphs, charts and photographs as visual aids. Paying attention to such visual aids will help you retain the information and recall it later. If visual aids are not available, try creating your own by drawing your own charts and figures. Highlighting key points and related ideas will also make your learning process easier.

   Share newly learned information with others. Take an opportunity to review what you have studied by sharing the information with someone else. Try to repeat not only the key facts but also the reasoning that goes with them. Doing this will benefit you, by helping to fix important things in your memory; it will also benefit others who will be interested in learning new things.

   Invest in memory-improvement software. Computer software like Ultimate Memory, which provides a variety of memory improvement training techniques, will help you train your memory and your brain, and help you develop patterns of study and learning which will improve your ability to study. The benefits of this training will last throughout your time and school and will continue on through your professional career.