Stay up late studying or sleep and get well-rested?

Get some sleep.

The big issue is that most people aren’t actually studying when they are preparing for a test. They’re learning the material for the first time. Studying is just refreshing ideas you’ve already grappled with and internalized. Learning is the grappling and internalizing process. You can’t do that the day before a test, no matter how much you wish you could. That’s why semesters are 14 weeks long.

Do yourself a favor: learn as you go, and you’ll never need to stay up late cramming <3

My problem is that I feel like I’m constantly relearning…

I know that feeling… I have a terrible memory. The trick is to focus on the mindset. I don’t memorize engineering equations, I perfect my process of solving ANY system. I use the same 3 steps. Every. Time.

My sister is an artist (glass). She does the same thing. She spent years honing the process.

The problem that we face is that when we encounter a new concept, it’s hard to separate the forest from the trees.

What’s your field of study? History? Stop trying to memorize names and dates and start trying to think like an historian. Mathematics? Stop trying to memorize tricks and identities and start trying to think like a mathematician. Psychology? Stop trying to memorize cases and start trying to think like a psychologist.

You can do this in time for exams: focus your initial study efforts on looking for high level patterns in your material. Categorize things. Write down a process that worked on one assignment and see if it maps to another.

In the end, an amazing thing happens: you’ll actually start remembering the nuanced details. Why? Because you’ve figured out how to frame them in your mind.