Write to remember - Note making for a good memory

“Say it a hundred times or write it once.” This is one of the most apt lines that I have ever come across. In this era of dependence over gadgets to remember our stuff, we are falling short on memorizing power. If we talk about someone who has to face the biggest consequences due to this, then a student tops the list. A student is supposed to take four actions – attend, understand, learn and deliver. The last two actions are bridged by retention. If one learns, he/she also needs to retain the knowledge in order to deliver. Retention is the biggest key that can give you the academic result you want.

Teaching over the years, I have noticed that a majority of students make it the third stage by hook or by crook but fail to deliver as expected. While a student’s delivery depends a lot on the difficulty level of the exam and the environment during it, his/her remembrance of the concepts is an important variable of the validity of what is transferred to the answer sheet. So as a student, if you wish to do well then you need to work on your retention. And for that, WRITE. The more you write the more it gets stuck to your memory. This is why note making is a crucial aspect of student life. But making your notes isn’t as straight a process as it seems. To get the best results, you need take care of certain things. Let’s find out.

1. Write your own sentences.

The best thing is to first read the concept from your textbook, or the notes provided by your teacher and understand it well, and then write what you understood in your own language without missing the bullet points that make up the concept. The logic behind writing in your own language is that it will be easier to remember since you formed it for yourself. Obviously, since the language in the textbook has nothing to do with you, it will always be difficult to remember. Moreover, writing your own stuff will make you avoid mindless learning.

2. Keep it short and simple.

Do not write complete sentences while making your notes. So, avoid the words you can do without because it is always easier to remember short points rather than long sentences. For example, “Silver is the best conductor of electricity” can be written as “Silver – best electrical conductor.” Also, avoiding heavy vocabulary will make things better for you.

3. Review, revise and rewrite.

It is very important to review what you have written in order to avoid missing anything or making mistakes. It is recommended that you thoroughly go through what you have written after you are done with two pages of writing and then write it again in your rough notebook till it gets into your mind. You’ll be able to figure out how much you are able to retain and what is needed to be revised again. Keep repeating this for every two pages you write. You’ll find your retention is gradually growing since your mind is on exercise mode. This might sound a long process to you but if you think about it, you are preparing a study material for yourself while revising it at the same time. So this will actually save you a lot of time.

4. Use A-4 sheets instead of a register (optional).

This one is up to you whether you wish to do it or not. Why I suggest using A-4 sheets is because you can have chapter wise notes, all separated from each other making it easier to refer which you will definitely require during exams. This also helps you keep your material in an organized manner. Moreover, if you lose your register by any chance, you’ll lose a large amount of stuff that you worked hard on, which is much worse than losing the material of just one chapter.

If you follow the above with conviction, you’ll find that your memorizing power is improving steadily, and you are able to retain your knowledge during examination. However, it will take 3 – 5 short tests for you to see the results, so you need to be patient and keep working. But once you are set on this track, you’ll find some fresh confidence in yourself which will drive you towards your goal. Do let me know what you think about this through your comments below this post. Hope this helps you. Good luck.