How to revise effectively: Effective revision techniques

Here are useful tips on how to revise effectively so that your brain doesn’t easy forget what it has learnt.

Most students do the mistake of learning a new thing once and then revising it just before the exam. However, this technique doesn’t work; no wonder, so many students are unable to remember things during exam, and get panicky.

With board exams round the corner, millions of students all over India are slogging to get good marks in the exams.

Of these, there may be some who probably didn’t make good use of their time at the start of the year and have loads to cover up.

Then there are some who would be wondering why they don’t remember most of the things that they had studied long time back. And it has got nothing to do with your bran’s memory power. The reason you probably don’t remember much is because you did not revise effectively.

So what is the most effective revision technique?

• Experts suggest that you should do the first revision in 24 hours time. Because after 24 hours, the first cycle of forgetting starts, as the brain is fed with newer information.
• Similarly, the second revision should be done in a week’s time. Because after week the second cycle of forgetting starts.

This is what most experts suggest:

On an average, the brain remembers things for the first 24 hours, post which the brain starts forgetting what was learnt. So the first revision should happen within the next 24 hours. And when you do that the brain’s retention capacity increases, it can now remember those things for almost the 7 days. After 7 days, the second forgetting cycle starts. So the next revision should be done within the next 7 days. After that subsequent revision should be done monthly. If you find certain topics difficult/challenging, you may revise those once every 15 months also.

In case you’re wondering how will you get time for anything else, if you keep on revising so much. After all there are so many subject, so many chapters to be learnt.

First of all you need to understand is that revision usually takes much less time, compared to when you first learn it. Research says that revision usually takes 1/10th of the time that it takes to learn something for the first time. If a chapter takes you 2 hours (120 min) to learn, when you revise, you should be able to do it in around 12 minutes.

As you can see, its not really going to take a lot of extra time to revise. But yes, you will have to plan what all you’re going to revise, and on which days/time.

So something that has taken you 2 hours, you will have to put additional 30 minutes efforts revising it — after 24 hours, 1 day and 1 month (assuming your exams is 1.5 to months away). However, if you leave the revision for the last month, that 2 hours work will most likely take you almost equal time or may be 1.5 hours to do.

It will make you panicky, because you will feel you’re forgetting things. You will also start getting negative thoughts. And you will encounter all such self-defeating thoughts simply because you assumed the brain remembers everything that it learnt the first time.

So to avoid all these thoughts, its important to revise effectively.

Here are a few more things that you should remember, before the exams:

1. Avoid panicking, you have to make the best of the situation.
2. Have a plan in place. Even if you don’t have lot of time on hand, have a plan. What are you going to revise first, what next.
3. Make sure, you have all the books, notes, everything you need nearby so that you don’t waste time searching for things.
4. In general, you should always start with the most difficult/hardest topics, and focus on areas that require the most attention.
5. While you have to slog it out in the last few days, weeks, make sure you get sleep; don’t study the whole night and go for the exam
6. Avoid eating out in the last few days; the last thing you want is to fall sick just before the exam

Here’s a nice video by BK Aditi Singhal (Guinness world record in Maths and also holds records in Limca book for Memory and fastest calculations) where she shares the perfect revision plan. It’s in hindi but she offers some great insights on how to revise effectively.

How to study one day before an exam?

Find useful tips on how to study one day before an exam, or the night before an important test?

Before discussing how and what to do let us first assume the facts given below:

1. CASE 1: You have prepared summary notes during your study time previously in a well presented manner (great situation to be in)
2. CASE 2: You have not prepared summary notes, but have studied previously (good situation to be in).
3. CASE 3: You have neither made summary notes nor studied well earlier (very bad situation to be in).

Here’s what you could do.

Plan for CASE 1

As you have summary notes available, you can go through that and revise the entire book very fast.

But mere revising will not be enough to get very good marks. You have to practise few questions by hand to get confidence.

Try to solve most important questions first by hand. This will also help you to manage time well before exam.

Go through the sample papers if any to know the pattern of the question paper.

If not able to plan then follow this:

• 5 AM to 9AM – Revise entire summary note according to weightage in the exam.
• 9AM to 10.30AM – Freshen up and take breakfast.
• 10.31AM to 12.30PM – Go through the vvi (very important) marked questions.
• 12.45 pm to 1.45 – Go through sample papers.
• 2.30 pm to 5pm – Go through the questions in the book provided by Institution.
• 6pm to 9 pm – After this refer to the weightage chart and find A chapters and cover them very well first.(6pm to 7.30 pm)
  Then choose B chapters and finish them.(7.31 pm to 8.20pm)
  Them choose C chapters and complete them till 9 pm.
  By now, you would have covered the whole syllabus at least twice. Now coming to 3rd revision.
• From 10pm to 11.30 pm revise summary notes once again.
• Go to sleep (very important).
• Wake up at 5 am and freshen up till 6 am.
• 6am to 8 am Go through past years questions.

Following this approach will allow you to revise entire syllabus 3 times and this should fetch you excellent marks.

Plan for CASE 2

As you have not made summary notes but only studied, you have no material to revise fast your syllabus, so follow the below mentioned points to prepare well for exam:

• Go through the weightage chart of different chapters and categorise them into A,B and C category.
• Go through A portion very well from every material you have.(you should be able to get at least 80 % marks from this category)
• Then, go through B portion and study from the material you studied during study period.(you should be able to get at least 60 % marks from this section)
• Then go through C portion and go through chapters quickly by reading highlighted points only.(you should get at least 40% marks from this section)
• After doing these start practising from sample papers and past exam questions.
• Solve few selected question by hand as well.

If you’re unable to plan, follow below the mentioned timetable.

• 6 am to 9 am – A portion.
• 10.30 am to 12.30 pm – B portion
• 1.30 pm to 2.30 pm – C portion
• 3pm to 5 pm revise all A,B & C portion again.
• 6.30pm to 9.30 pm – Solve sample papers and write few questions by hand.
• 10.30 to 11.30 – Overview past exam questions.

Following these you can get very good marks.

Plan for CASE 3

As you have neither made summary notes nor have studied chapters well earlier, it is very difficult to get good marks in such a situation. One can only hope to pass and that too with much difficulty and lots of luck.

• Analyse the sample paper, past exam questions to know the most scoring area of the subject.
• Try to cover those most important chapters well.(covering 30 to 50% in exam)
• After this cover all the exercise questions from textbook.
• Go through the remaining chapters quickly as per time.

Following this steps should help you do better in the exams, especially if you covered the topics before.

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