If you had a perfect memory, then you’d probably get 100% on every exam. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible, as much as I want it to be. However, there are ways you can improve your memory and get better grades as a result!
- Try meditation + mindfulness
- Sleep, eat, and exercise enough
- Improve your diet
- Exercise your brain
- Use spaced repetition
- Don’t forget about active recall!
Try meditation + mindfulness
Not only is meditation very helpful for increasing your concentration and focus, but it can also improve your memory! This is because it increases the amount of grey matter in your brain. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend an app like Balance to help you get into meditation. If you want to include more mindfulness in your life, try concentrating on your breath, paying more attention to your surroundings, and noticing when your mind veers off-track.
Sleep, eat, and exercise enough
A healthy body is essential to a healthy brain. It’s been proven that insufficient sleep can lead to bad memory, so make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night! Also, even 15 minutes of exercise can boost your memory, as well as other brain functions. Finally, make sure you eat enough, since food is fuel for your brain – you use 320 calories every day just for thinking!
Improve your diet
There’s a couple of things you change in your diet in order to improve cognitive function (and memory!). One thing you can do is cut down on added sugar and refined carbohydrates. Both can cause your blood sugar to spike rapidly and worsen your memory. Moreover, you can try eating more fish (ew) or taking a fish oil supplement (also ew), since they contain important fatty acids. As well as this, dark chocolate contains many antioxidants that can improve memory!
Exercise your brain
One fun thing you can do to improve your memory is to play ‘brain games‘ like sudokus, crosswords, and word-recall games. If you want to exercise your brain in another way, you can try learning a new language or studying a new topic to get the same effect!
Use spaced repetition
It’s very important to revise what you’ve previously learnt in order to remember it better. Spaced repetition can help you do this – this is when you review a topic some time after you’ve learned it. Reviewing the information can help you strengthen the memory and combat the effect of the forgetting curve! You can use apps like anki to incorporate spaced repetition in your learning.
Don’t forget about active recall!
The best way to remember what you study is to include active recall in your learning. Active recall is when you actively interact with the information you’re learning, rather than passively consuming it. You can do this by taking active notes, doing practice questions, or by using flashcards!
