STUDY TIP

The 24 Hour Rule, or how to make the most of study time:

Say you spend an hour learning something -- reading, listening to a lecture, or participating in an activity. At the end of the learning experience, you know 100% of what you know, however well you know it.

In 24 hours, if you have done nothing with the information you learned, didn't think about it again, read it again, etc., you will have lost 50% - 80% of what you learned. By Day 7, you remember even less, and by Day 30, you retain only about 2% - 3% of the original information.

If on the other hand, within 24 hours of getting the information you spend just 10 minutes reviewing you will raise your retention to 100% again. A week later (Day 7), it only takes 5 minutes to "reactivate" the same material, and again raise the curve. By Day 30, your brain will only need 2-4 minutes to give you the feedback you need to ACE that test.

The take home message is this:

THE BEST WAY TO REMEMBER NEW INFORMATION IS TO REVIEW IT THE SAME DAY YOU LEARNED IT!