Remember the Curve of Forgetting | TutorNerds

Remember More and Forget Less

Forgetting is really frustrating. The everyday stuff, misplacing keys or leaving a pen somewhere, is part of being a human. However, when it happens on a test, it’s terrifying. Sitting there with a black hole in your mind is never fun. What can you do to better recall the stuff you know? It’s all about repetition.Read on to find out how to remember more and forget less.

Our brains are amazing things; holding tons and tons of information from things we learn in school to the names of the new neighbors. The problem isn’t “losing” this information, it’s retrieving it. If information is not utilized frequently, it’s left to gather dust in the corner. For things we use frequently, like names of friends, simple math and song lyrics, they stay fresh in our minds and available at a moment’s notice. Wouldn’t it be nice if the names of countries or the Pythagorean Theorem were that easy to recall? It could be, with a little repetition.

The chart above shows what basically happens when we learn something new. The long black line indicates new information gained, up to 100%. As the first day peaks into the second, without any additional review, our minds begin to consider that new information less and less important. By a week most of it is gone, only a small amount remaining. The gold line, on the other hand, shows what information could be saved by daily review. Within the first few days, spend a good amount of time studying notes and details. The information is still new and you may not fully comprehend it at this point. As a week approaches, you can drop your studying time in half. By now you should fully understand the information, and only need to be reminded of main ideas. Beyond a week, take a few moments to look over notes, focusing on the big ideas and possibly testing your knowledge from time to time.

With this consistent review approach, you should be able to maintain information to tackle any quiz, test, or essay a teacher throws at you. You won’t be spending hours in the library or weekends chained to your desk. A few minutes every day can help to keep all those acidic chemicals or Spanish verbs right up front where you need them.

Having a solid memory is terrific, but sometimes it takes more than just that. Let your private tutor from TutorNerds help you with all those flashcards.

Good luck on midterms, Los Angeles!