We’re coming upon that time of the year: final exams. Everyone wants to know the shortcut for how to memorize faster and easier for exams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they say, there are no shortcuts in life. But there is a lot of scientific research on what’s most effective. I’ll leave links at the end, but I’m not going to try to convince you of the science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a free how-to guide on how to memorize faster and easier for exams. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take it or leave it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n There’s this idea that everyone learns differently. Sure, there might be some outliers, but for the most part, everyone learns the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human brains are remarkably similar. We’re super good at learning things, but we’re also super good at forgetting things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I’m going to describe below is how to gain the longest term memory with the least amount of effort and time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean a short time span. It means the least amount of time actually spent studying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to the first principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way you build things into memory is to struggle to recall something you’ve forgotten or are just about to forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can’t stress this enough. One of the best things you can do when studying is to struggle and make a guess, even if it’s wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s strong evidence that when you look up the right answer\/formula\/translation, you’ll remember it better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This should make intuitive sense. I used to do this all the time. When something would come up on a test, I’d remember my wrong guess, know it was wrong, then work my way toward the right thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The wrong guess helps build a neural pathway to the right answer. Don’t just give up and look up the answer without guessing first!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why cramming is so bad. Cramming means you learn everything all at once then try to recall it on the exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do this, you won’t have forgotten it once and then recalled it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s also why doing flashcards 20 times in a row is an ineffective waste of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what should you be doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a method called SRS or spaced repetition. Your brain is always forgetting things. In theory, you’d forget your own name if you never heard anyone use it in the next 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spaced repetition has been scientifically studied since the ’30s, but it didn’t really gain a lot of popularity until the ’70s. The most effective language learning programs like Pimsleur use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the overview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do your flashcards 20 times in a row, the last 18 times do pretty much nothing and waste time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s far better to go through them once then wait a day. Now you’ve had time to forget. Do them once again. It should be easier, and the recall puts them into longer-term memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now do them again in a few more day’s time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice, you’ve only done the flashcards 3 times, but because you’ve spaced the repetitions out with enough time to start to forget, they are insanely more effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ve spent 1\/10 the time and have gotten 100 times more benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know what you’re thinking: do I just make up these spaces?<\/em> Like, how often am I supposed to review?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like everything in this article, this has all been studied in depth. Different “systems” use different algorithms, but they are about the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most famous right now that you can use for free is Anki. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s not the most UI friendly thing, but once you get over the initial 10-20 minute hump, you’ll be saving so much time and getting such good grades, you’ll thank me in the comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anki’s algorithm works great if you just check for “reviews” once a day. It’s not as scary as it sounds. Sometimes you’ll have several days in a row with no reviews (if you’re not constantly adding new cards). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, it will only make you review a card if you’re right at the scientifically-studied point of forgetting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, it wants<\/em><\/strong> you to take days or even weeks away from them, even if you’re checking in every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anki is popular, so you can find a bunch of pre-made material. Do NOT use these. Making your own cards is a relevant and useful part of the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\nForgetting is the First Step to Remembering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Memorize Faster with Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Anki<\/h3>\n\n\n\n