Learn what you don't know

Learn what you DON"T know - most people study what they know - which is not learning.  Get your old tests, exam papers and assignments out and learn what you got wrong. 

Quickly read through the entire exam paper

Quickly read through the entire exam paper, go back, do the easy questions first, then the hard ones.
The first thing I recommend you do when you are allowed to start, is to quickly read through the entire exam paper. Scan it quickly, looking at the questions to see what will be required to pass this exam. Once you have an overview of what you are dealing with, start with the easy questions first. This will help calm you and give you some confidence. Allow your subconscious to work on the harder questions while you are doing the easier ones. By the time you get to the harder questions your subconscious mind will have come up with some ideas and answers.
Plus some of the easy questions and answers may have triggered info for the harder questions.

Draw pictures and diagrams

Pictures are located in the same part of the brain as the long term memory. When you're studying, turn your key concepts into pictures. The first picture you draw or think of is usually the most memorable. The sillier the picture, the better it is for remembering as it stands out.
Colourful pictures are often easier to remember. Your visuals can be imagined, drawn or made. If you can't draw a picture such as with dates or words in a foreign language, write them large and in colour. Your brain will process this as a picture not a word.
Remember to put key information up high so your fast visual recall memory processes it.

Create real life examples

Association is putting things together that naturally go together such as cat and dog or chair and table. True learning actually happens when you associate what you are learning with what you already know. It is not being able to pass a test or repeat new data. Learning is when you can use or apply the information in real life.
Finding a reason to learn something makes it easier to remember. Have you ever sat in class thinking "Why am I learning this?" This is not such a useful question to be asking.
Create meaning by asking your teacher, "Why am I learning this? How will this be useful?" "What jobs could I go into if I was good at this subject?" If your teacher isn't sure find out for yourself. Everything you are learning has a real life application. The more real life examples you can find, the easier the information will be to remember.

Learn only three or four things at a time

The short term memory can remember between five and nine pieces of information in one chunk. When the brain is given too many pieces of information to remember it installs amnesia.
This is what happens when you study too much information at once. This is exactly why cramming for an exam, the night before, is not effective. Have you ever done this? Shoved all the information in the night before a test or exam only to discover when you sit in the test or exam room, you can remember studying the information, what side of the page it was written on, what you had for dinner, what you were wearing - everything except the information you need. This is because you are studying too many pieces of information at once and your brain chucks out.
As a rule of thumb, your short term memory can only cope with 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information at a time. That's anywhere from five to nine pieces of information.
When remembering a telephone number, we often break it into smaller chunks. The smaller more manageable the chunks, the faster you will pick up the information. Break your study content into small pieces so you find it easy to recall.
Learn three or four pieces of data at a time, then revise it, check you can still recall the facts. then learn three or four more pieces of information, revise these and the last chunk'. f you still know this, continue this way, always pausing to revisit the previous chunks.

Go over your notes...

Go over notes one day after learning them, then one week later, one month later, then every six months
Review is not just repetition. Actively reviewing your notes can a least double your recall. By reading over your mindmaps, grabbing your notes and go through them or talking about and discussing your notes, your recall will stay at 90%. However, if you do not review your notes for three days, your recall will drop to 30%. You will forget 70% of what you have learned in three days. without active reviewing. Most information is forgotten because it wasn't moved from your short term memory to your Long term memory. Reviewing ensures new information is installed' into your long term memory. Make it a priority to revise you notes the very next day to keep them at 90% recall.
If you wish to keep your recall at 90% then you will need to review your notes within 24 hours, then one week, one month and every 6 months.
An important reminder when reviewing... each subject should only take 3-4 minutes for review. Only go over your notes and mindmaps, not the original book. Only refer to the original source of information if you need clarification of facts, details and information.

Study for 20 minutes and take a 5 minute break.

This tip is especially useful if you're finding your study difficult. If it's going well and you're in a good flow and you're remembering what you are learning, you don't need to take a break.
However, if it's hard and beginning to feel like a chore you should take a five minute break, every 20 minutes.
During your break, always leave your study area. You could have some brain food, drink some water, go to the bathroom.
During a break from studying, ensure you stretch, like before exercising, as this allows more oxygen into your lungs and therefore more blood and oxygen to your brain - enhancing learning.

Revise your most important information last

Your brain remembers the last thing that occurs or most recent times. Which part of a movie do you usually remember? Which part of a novel? Usually the ending. Both the first and lasts are important for your memory.
Here are some interesting statistics. If you read a traditional accelerating learning book it will tell you, quite correctly, that there is a period of time you can be learning for, in a lecture type situation, and then your brain will get full and information recall will get harder. This happens approximately every fifty minutes. These books suggest to study or learn for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break.
However, if you do this, you study for 50 minutes and take a 10 minute break, in an hour time frame how many firsts and lasts do you have? Two. One at the beginning of the session and another at the end. There are two opportunities for what you are studying to be very, very memorable.
If you just study a little bit smarter, and studied for twenty minutes, then took a five minute break, three times over a one hour period, how many firsts and lasts have you got now? Six. That means that six times over an hour, it's easier to remember your information.

Learn your most important information first

Do you remember your first day of school?
Do you remember what you were wearing and who you talked to on that day?
Do you remember the first time you drove a car?
Do you remember your seventh day of school? Or your tenth?
Probably not as these aren't as memorable as the first. Generally, anything that happens first in your life will be more memorable than subsequent times.
When you sit down to study, go over your most important information first, it will be more memorable for you. Revising your notes from yesterday is a great first at the beginning of your study time.

Study at your best thinking time

Are you a morning, afternoon or evening person? Study when you are most alert. If you are a morning person, get up an hour earlier than normal and study then. If you prefer to stay up late at night, study during this time. Make sure you study in a place where you're not going to be disturbed. You may prefer to study at a desk or a table, but you might lie on the floor or on your bed when you study. If you do this, here's a word of warning. Don't lie in the same position as you do when you're sleeping. If you do, you are likely to fall asleep.
You might like to study outside. Take your notes with you to the nearest park, riverside or beach. Others might like to study in the shower. Write your notes out, laminate them or put them in a plastic bag and stick them high up in the shower. Read them while you're shampooing.
Use plenty of colour in your notes. You'll not only be able to see them more clearly through the water, but the colour will help you remember more.
The worst time to study is one hour straight after school. remember to take time after school to refresh and relax for an hour and then complete homework, assignments and study.

Practice old exam papers

Rehearsal is one of the most important aspects of studying. Practice and practice old exam & test papers. It may take three or four weeks to complete them.
Make sure you get someone to check the answers for you so that you can learn from the questions you got wrong.

Wear comfortable clothes

Wear comfortable clothes during exams
It sounds so obvious and simple however, many people don't do this. If you wear your school uniform, make sure you have a jersey or a jacket with you as the room may get cold. Remember, you're in an exam for up to three hours and the weather can change quickly.
If your clothing is tight or uncomfortable you can very quickly lose focus. You will be thinking about how uncomfortable you are and you'll lose your concentration. Wear comfortable, loose clothing when you're studying and also during your exams.
A great tip a student once gave me was to use your jacket or jersey to sit on during an exam. It makes those hard chairs a bit more comfortable

Music

Play Baroque music quietly in the background while studying
An interesting study on music and silence was done at Stanford University where they set up three identical rooms full of plants. In the first room, there was complete silence for three months. The second room was filled with loud rock music for the three months and the third room had baroque music pumped in. At the end of the three months, the plants that were in complete silence were still just normal healthy plants. The plants with the rock music were shrivelled and dying. And the plants with the baroque music were flourishing and growing more than anyone had thought possible.
What was even more amazing about this room was that every single plant in the room was growing towards the speakers. Now, your brain isn't a plant, but if this kind of music enhances plant growth, maybe it also enhances brain function. You don't have to listen to this kind of music all the time but it can be very, very useful when studying.
If you're studying maths or learning a new language, listening to Mozart's music can be very helpful. Gordon Shaw from the Californian University in Irvine has scientifically proven that listening to Mozart for ten minutes will increase your ability to learn maths and a new language for approximately thirty minutes.

Study with low lighting

Lighting shouldn't be too bright in your study area. Bright light reflecting off a white page can stress your eyes and make learning harder. Research shows that for 70% of students, studying with low lighting is best. Did you ever read under the bed covers when you were very young? Your parents probably told you you'd ruin your eyesight, but this isn't true. For most children and teenagers, low lighting is the most effective.
In fact, as we get older, into our mid 20s, our eye muscles start to weaken and we need brighter light and sometimes glasses. If possible, avoid fluorescent lights as these flicker at a different rate than your brain and interrupt brain processing. They can cause tiredness, lack of motivation and even headaches.

Eat brain food

When studying eat brain food at least once an hour...
What is brain food?
To begin with, the best food for your brain is protein. The best sources of protein are unsalted nuts, chicken and fish. Fish, for many years, has been called brain food. Fish contains essential oils and amino acids that your brain directly uses. We're not talking about the processed "fish and chips" fish, or takeaway chicken, but fresh fish and chicken.
Another food group that is good for your brain is fruit and vegetables. Essentially, what your brain needs from fruit and vegetables is vitamin B and vitamin C. If you're not getting enough vitamins B or C, you may find it a little harder to remember things. In fact, research shows that when elderly people supplemented their diets with vitamins B and C, their memory recall went up 100%. If you're not getting the vitamin B and the vitamin C that you need, your memory may not be working to its full capacity.
There is one other food that is absolutely fantastic for the brain, and you can eat as much of this as you like popcorn. Popcorn is a complex carbohydrate. It is best eaten plain and unsalted. Popcorn one of the best foods you can eat while studying.

Frame important information

Research at the International Accelerated Learning Conference in 1998 showed framing work can increase test scores. Simply by putting a frame around information, your brain focuses within the frame. If there is no frame, your focus is anywhere.
Frame all important information. If you are a doodler, I suggest you doodle frames around your pages in class to help you concentrate and raise your understanding of what's in the frame.

Talk about your information as much as possible.

When you say information out loud it is reinforced in your brain. Have you ever asked someone to remind you to do something? Do they usually need to remind you? Not usually. When you say information out loud, it comes out of your mouth and back in through your ears going into your long-term memory.

Talk about your study notes and what you are learning with a friend or even to yourself out loud. You'll be amazed at how the information sticks. Teaching someone about your subject is also a useful strategy. You could even try teaching your younger brother or sister, or your parents, your work. Finding a study buddy, someone you can discuss your study notes with, is also useful.

Drink at least 8 glasses of water

Approximately 70% of our bodies are made up of water and over 80% of our brains are water. Not enough water can lead to dehydration, which causes headaches, lack of concentration and focus and tiredness.
Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day is important for health and success. Keep a water bottle beside you when you study and take water into the exam with you if you are allowed.

Use lots of colour

Using colour in note taking and study will increase your ability to remember and recall information. It makes your notes more exciting to reread and learn.
Use felt pens of different thicknesses, coloured pencils and crayons. Use your favourite colours, highlight key information and make note taking fun.