Can you remember what you had for lunch last week Tuesday? Probably not. Our brains are masters at forgetting information we don’t repeat regularly. But what can we do about it? I, like many others, had to painstakingly learn the art of learning as I went through college. Here are some of my tips for successful learning.
Whether you prefer to study during the day or in the evening varies from individual to individual. However, the tip from your grandparents to put the book under your pillow should be taken seriously. What is meant by this? We can remember something better if we learn it shortly before going to bed. During sleep, the brain processes the events of the day and important information is transferred to long-term memory via the hippocampus during REM sleep. This is why it works so well to learn before sleep. Emotional content is preferred in this process. This means that if we watch an exciting thriller after learning, the learning effect is reduced again.