Just 11 Really Helpful Study Tips From A Memory Expert

"The more deeply you process information, the more likely you are to remember it," Amanda Barnier, professor of cognitive science at Macquarie University, told BuzzFeed. "Passive reading and highlighting isn't the way to remember information."

Again, this action creates a deeper understanding of the work, which will make it stick in your mind.

"Often people can type a lot faster than they can write, so writing things by hand gives you more time to process the information," said Barnier.

"We know from a lot of psychology studies that the best way to check and see whether or not you'll remember something in the future is to test yourself on it. Study, then take a practice exam, study some more, then test yourself again. This way, you'll be able to identify the gaps in your memory and spend your next study session trying to fill them," said Barnier.

"Say you want to spend six hours studying. You'd be better planning those hours out over the course of one or two weeks – for say, 45 minutes a day – rather than cramming over one six-hour session," said Barnier. "If you try and fit all your study into one day, you won't have the opportunity to study and test."

Just like a phone that keeps vibrating or someone in the house that won't stop interrupting you, music prevents you from focusing your full attention on the task at hand.

By linking together different pieces of information, you will understand it more. "Seeing everything make sense to you, connected together, will make it so much easier to remember," said Barnier.

"Talking to someone about what you've been studying is a great way to see exactly how much you really know about it," said Barnier.

"Sleep is important for consolidating information, so it's really good to study before bed," said Barnier. "Just make sure you're going to bed early enough to have a good night of sleep, as mental processes really don't work well when you're exhausted."

This technique can work when remembering character names that are the same as someone you know, or numbers that correlate to an important date in your world. If you need to remember a certain scene, try drawing a picture of it.

"Because our memory starts to decline over a day or so, this will allow you to take a practice test and see what you've remembered and what you need to revise more before the exam," said Barnier.