by Brad Zupp
6Every time you’re reluctant to study or do the work, think of your money supporting the horrible cause. You’ll be amazed by how much you are motivated.
7Follow through no matter what: Either do the work or make sure the money is mailed.
ENVISION
This strategy is a gentle approach and doesn’t work as well for tough cases.
1Set an alarm for five minutes. Use your imagination to picture how good it will feel to pass the test, get the grade you want, etc. Picture yourself getting high fives from friends, doing a happy dance, or pleasing your family. Feel the pride and the relief of doing well. Add as many details and positive emotions as possible, even if you don’t care that much.
2Re-create that mental scene when you’re procrastinating or avoiding your work. This will motivate you to get started.
ADVANTAGES
This strategy works better than Envision if you’re more logical than emotional.
1List the advantages of learning the material. Write down everything that comes to mind, no matter how small.
2List the disadvantages of not learning the material. How would not learning it be painful, inconvenient, or troublesome?
3Review the lists any time you need motivation—recognize that it makes sense to just do the work even if you don’t feel like it.
REWARDS
The reward must occur as close to the learning action as possible. Don’t pick a reward that is days, weeks, or months away.
1Select a small candy or other food treat that you love like M&Ms, almonds, or potato chips. (A jar full of quarters or a bell can be also be effective.) Put them just out of reach.
2Pick a small part of the work to complete, like doing an assigned reading or answering a homework question. Receive one treat for every small step taken. Get out the book you have to read, eat an M&M. Read the first page, eat another M&M. Read the second page, have another one. (Or move quarters from the full jar to an empty one or ring the bell as your reward.)
3You will quickly associate taking a learning action with your instant reward and start to desire the action so you can have your treat. Do not reward yourself if you don’t do the work.
Believe it or not, you have an amazing memory. Think of all the things you remember on a daily basis. By using one or more of these strategies in the SPEAR technique, you will inspire yourself to do the work. Your natural memory will be much better once you’re motivated to learn.
[ 27 ] Maximize Your Memory with Excellent Study Strategies
GOOD STUDY HABITS help your natural memory ability. Do you study consistently instead of trying to cram the material into your mind at the last minute? Do you know your goals for each subject or exam? Are you keeping your mind and body in the best possible shape for learning?
In this memory hack, you’ll learn a few study habits to make sure you’re motivated, focused, and working smarter to allow your memory to work at its maximum potential.
THE TECHNIQUE Fine-Tune Your Learning Habits
The study strategies to maximize your memory are: 1) Motivate, 2) Focus, 3) Fuel, 4) Decrease Stress, and 5) Sleep. Ask yourself:
1What’s my motivation for learning this?
2What is my attention span for this subject or study session? Knowing how long you can focus—which varies by topic—is important for successful studying.
3Have I taken care of myself with healthy foods that support my brain? Eating a heavy meal before studying, not eating enough, or consuming unhealthy foods can lead to a poor study session.
4How stressed am I right now? What can you quickly do to lower your stress level?
5What is my sleep plan? The mind needs sleep to consolidate memory.
HOW TO DO IT
1Find your motivation. It may vary depending on the subject and your level of interest. Use the SPEAR Technique to inspire yourself to learn.
2Work according to your attention span. I recommend 20-minute sprints followed by 5-minute breaks. I like the adage “Work expands to fill the time allotted it.” When we study too long, we often pace ourselves to fill the time and work slower than if we had less time. How much can you learn in 20 minutes? Focus hard knowing you can relax for 5 minutes at the end of the sprint. Avoid multitasking. No TV, radio, music, texts, or other distractions during study sessions. It’s less fun, yes, but it makes for better memory!
3Plan your meals to make sure you have fueled your body with nutritious low-carbohydrate food and given yourself adequate time to digest before studying.
4Stress is a huge hindrance to learning. Make sure you’re exercising (in ways that are appropriate for your body and health) by doing yoga, meditating, or choosing other healthy ways to avoid stress.
5Sleep acts as the glue that holds information in our minds. A short nap following learning helps in later recall. Getting enough sleep at night is essential to consolidate memory. If you aren’t getting seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night (depending on your individual needs), experiment with going to sleep 30 minutes earlier than you have been. Do this for one week and see if there is an improvement in your natural ability to recall information.
Commit to studying with intention. Use these steps to help your mind learn the information successfully so you can recall it easily when it matters most.
[ 28 ] Retain More of What You Read
READING AND NOT being able to recall the material later is very frustrating. Why is it so hard to remember what we read? Part of the problem is focus. How often do we sit completely upright in a quiet location, with plenty of time and nothing else on our schedule than reading the book in front of us? With this hack you’ll remember more of what you read, whether it’s an exciting novel or a boring textbook.
THE TECHNIQUE The FIT Method
There are three parts to the FIT Method:
1Focus
2Instruct
3Time Management
First, you’ll take steps to focus your attention. Your natural memory is ready to remember what you read, but you need to help it by eliminating distractions. Next, you’ll practice instructing someone else on what you’ve read. This helps your mind retrace the path of what it has just learned, making the information “stickier.” Finally, you’ll be managing your time wisely so you can review what you’ve learned, telling your mind that the material is important.
HOW TO DO IT
1FOCUS. Turn off all media—unless playing instrumental music is helpful to block out distracting sounds. Don’t multitask. Set an alarm so you can commit to the reading without worrying about the time. Think of at least two reasons why reading is the most important thing to do right now.
2INSTRUCT. Read with the intention that you will teach someone else the material. Highlight important passages or make notes (written or mental) to use when you teach. Stop at the end of each page or chapter (depending on the amount of detail). Look at a nearby chair, pet, or find a friend and pretend you’re the instructor. Teach them the material. Yes, out loud—it will help your memory. Refer to your notes as little as possible. If you do have to look, read them to yourself, pause, then look at the “student” and instruct them from your memory, not by reading the notes. You’re making your mind work at recall, which is the important part. Simply reading your notes or the highlighted sections of the book isn’t as effective.
3TIME MANAGEMENT. Don’t spend your whole session reading—or even reading and then teaching. Allow time to mentally review the important points from each page or chapter. Look at your notes or the pages briefly, then close your eyes and think about each detail. This mental review should be at least the third time your mind focuses on the words and concepts. It will prioritize the retention of important information, and the way we communicate importance to our natural memory is by reviewing.
[ 29 ] Remember Entire Books
IMAGINE BEING ABLE to recall an entire textbook or any other book. Impossible? Not at all. You can remember entire movies—why not books? What’s different between the
two? Movies are interesting and visual, but most textbooks aren’t. We’ll change that by making textbooks so fascinating and easy to picture that you’ll be able to close your eyes and see any major or minor point you choose. Does this take time and effort? Definitely. But the approach is much different from studying—it’s creative and fun. And, in my experience, it takes less time than traditional note-taking. Plus, it yields better short- and long-term memory results.
THE TECHNIQUE Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping is a technique many have heard of, but few have tried. It turns words, concepts, and facts into pictures. The mind loves images and finds them incredibly easy to recall. By converting the important parts of each chapter into a large drawing, the mind can visualize the layout of the information. And according to a study by researchers from the University of Waterloo, the act of drawing aids the memory better than writing out information.
Are you a horrible artist? Don’t worry. Mind Mapping relies less on artistic ability and more on using colors, shapes, and connecting lines to make information memorable.
HOW TO DO IT
1Start with the book you want to remember (or just one chapter of a book for practice). Write the title in the center of a large piece of paper held horizontally (longer side to side). Don’t use a digital mind mapping app or program. This technique works best by putting pen to paper. The act of drawing shapes and adding lines, boxes, and circles is important to remembering.
2The main ideas (often chapters) are linked to the title using different colors, thicknesses of lines, and a variety of shapes. Convert any ideas you can into sketches, even if they are crude stick figures. Continue with each important point that you want to remember later. If the book is filled with details to remember, consider creating a mind map for each chapter.
3When you’re finished, review your mind map(s). Study the connections, the shapes, and the lines while you review the information. Test yourself. Close your eyes and see where the data is on the page, what color it is, what shape surrounds it, or how it’s connected to the rest of the information.
4To learn more about Mind Mapping, see the Further Reading section for the titles of two great books on this powerful tool, or search online for examples of memorable mind maps.
[ 30 ] Prepare Your Mind for Tests
YOU MAY REMEMBER the three essential memory steps (FAR) from earlier in this book: 1) Focus on the information, 2) Arrange the material in the mind, and 3) Retrieve it when you need it. If you don’t remember, see here.
Many people struggle most with the third step (retrieving the information) when taking tests because they get stressed. They haven’t forgotten the material; after the test, the memories often come flooding back. Remembering too late, however, doesn’t help you pass tests!
Using the techniques in this book to focus and arrange the material will go a long way toward solving the problem. But there are other techniques for keeping your cool and recalling what you’ve already learned. The goal is to be able to access the information when it can most benefit us, not long after we need it.
THE TECHNIQUE Ring Your BELL
It can be natural to feel stress when taking tests because they are important. We want to do well; we’re being tested! We need to calm down so that our minds can recall what we’ve worked hard to learn. Like the SPEAR Technique, these stress hacks will prepare your mind for tests at school, work, or life. To relieve stress, just ring your BELL:
1Breathe
2Envision
3Laugh
4Later
HOW TO DO IT
Do some or all of the following BELL steps as needed early in the day, and then do them again just before test-taking time. Your stress levels will decrease and your mind will sharpen, enabling you to better recall everything you worked so hard to learn.
BREATHE
Practice one to five minutes of diaphragm breathing.
1Close your eyes and sit up straight.
2Exhale completely through your nose, focusing on getting all the air out of your lungs and your diaphragm (stomach) area.
3Inhale through your nose, filling your diaphragm first, then your lower lung area, and finally your upper lung area. Aim to do this with a slow count of four.
4Exhale completely from the top of your lungs to your lower lungs and finally your diaphragm, aiming for a count of eight (or double the length of your inhalation).
5Relax your shoulders and the rest of your body as you breathe. Release any stress in your body and mind along with your breath.
ENVISION
Spend one minute envisioning success on your test.
1Picture the room or location where you will be taking the test.
2In your mind’s eye, place yourself in the room.
3See yourself being relaxed and happy, even if it seems impossible at first. Use your creativity to picture this.
4Imagine yourself confident, successfully turning in your paper and being satisfied with the results.
LAUGH
Think of a funny thing that happened recently or something you saw on TV that made you laugh. Make an effort to at least smile—or even laugh out loud.
LATER
Think of all the other tests you’ve taken. Whether you did well or not, there was always a “later.” Think of what you’ll do after this next test. Life will go on. You’ll go to the next class, to work, or otherwise continue living your life.
Thinking of “later” takes away much of the stress and fear. Often, our minds make the test the biggest thing in our lives, so this puts it in perspective.
[ 31 ] Remember How to Spell Any Word
THESE DAYS IT can seem that spelling isn’t important since we do most of our writing on devices. Autocorrect and spell check place red lines underneath misspelled words, and the correct spelling is a click away. But spelling well isn’t difficult. We usually know how to spell most of the word but struggle with one or two letters. Are there two c’s or one? One s or two? An a or an e?
All we need to do is remember these problem areas, which is very easy to do with the Link Method.
THE TECHNIQUE The Link Method
The Link Method uses your imagination to picture two images, one for the word and one for the commonly misspelled part. By combining the two images into a memorable, silly story and adding details, you’ll never again forget how to spell difficult words.
HOW TO DO IT
1Find the correct spelling of a word.
2Translate the word into a picture. Don’t picture how the letters look, picture the meaning of the word.
3Note which part of the word you misspell. Change that part into a picture.
4Link the two pictures together to form an amusing story filled with detail.
Here are three examples:
Broccoli
Picture broccoli, all green and delicious (right?). Supersize it. Make the head of the broccoli six feet tall. Most people wonder if it’s spelled with one c or two. Change the c into a picture: it could stand for cowboy, clown, cake, or cookie. Imagine two of them, since you need to remember there are two c’s . Link the two cowboys with the huge broccoli in an amusing story: Two cowboys out West sitting next to the fire, roasting a huge head of broccoli on a spit.
Appearance
Picture a magician making something appear. Many people forget that it’s ance, not ence. Translate a into a picture: ant, apple, aunt. Link the magician and the ant, apple, or aunt together. The magician you hired for the kids’ birthday party makes a mistake, and a red fire ant appears instead of a cute bunny. The ant escapes and . . .
Calendar
Picture a calendar with full color pictures of—whatever is coming next. It’s ar at the end, not er. Picture ar: How about a pirate? (You just said, “Arrrrrr” in your head, didn’t you?) Link the calendar and the pirate.
Spending five seconds using this method ensures you’ll never forget how to spell words that used to trouble you. Feel the pride that comes from becoming a person
who spells well all the time.
TIP | YOUR MEMORY DETECTIVE
We each have a “memory detective” working in our minds that wants to help “solve the case,” just like a detective on TV. What do the TV detectives have that your memory detective needs? More clues! Providing your memory detective with the clues it needs will make remembering everything easier. The clues are silly mental images created when we translate boring (forgettable) information into interesting (memorable) images.
[ 32 ] Keep Track of Commonly Mixed-Up Words
SPELL CHECK DOESN’T catch mix-ups like “you’re” and “your” and “their” and “there.” But confusing these words can make us look unintelligent. They’re easy mistakes to make, especially when we’re busy or in a hurry, like when we’re posting on the Internet. With a little focus and this technique, though, you’ll be a master of memes and a scion of social media.
THE TECHNIQUE Translate Words into Images
This technique is like the Link Method. You’ll find the differences in the words and then translate those differences into pictures to recall the correct word usage and spelling. I’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting in the following section by giving you the information and how to remember it. But using my examples, you’ll be able to do it yourself as needed.
HOW TO DO IT
1Make sure you understand the correct usage or definitions of the commonly confused words.
2Think of the first word and picture its meaning.
3Note what makes it different from the similar-sounding word. Often it’s the spelling or an apostrophe.
4Create an exaggerated picture or story that creatively combines the meaning and the difference in spelling using an Alphabet Image.
5Repeat the steps for the other word.
6Immediately quiz yourself and add details to the images, as needed, to cement them in your mind.