And most importantly — all future ones!

How would you feel if you:

Aced your next exam?
Aced any future exam?
Learned new skills more easily and retain information much better?

That last question is by far the most important one of the three. While acing an exam once is nice, good sets of practices for acing any exams are far superior.

The practices in this article come from my observations and applications as a repeat skill learner, as well as lessons learned from my wife always acing her exams since she was a kid.

Below are 10 different time-tested practices that will make you ace any test and learn better:

1. Don’t study for grades

This is a counter-intuitive one, but getting good grades shouldn’t be your goal. Your goal should be the end result of having good grades. This is a very important mindset shift. Trust me, once you’re on the job market, grades don’t matter at all.

I’m not a good test-taker, but I’m a perfectly adequate software engineer, writer, and photographer. Always study for the knowledge and its current and future applications, not for grades.

Further reading: If You Don’t Fail Enough, You’ll Become Irrelevant Fast

2. Always have the end goal in mind

Why are you studying in the first place? Is it to get a (better) job? Is it to make (more) money? Is it something else?

Always have your end goal in your mind. Remember, you’re not studying for an “A”, you’re studying for the knowledge and its applications. The more vivid your image of what you’ll be able to accomplish once you’ve proven yourself capable, the more motivated you’ll be studying your material.

Focus on your true end goal and the “A”s will come.

Further reading: The One Thing All Successful Learners Do to Fight Procrastination

3. Take smart notes and review them

My wife fills notebooks after notebooks with information she’s learning from her study material. She writes down concepts she has not yet assimilated and organizes it by topics she’s studying. She’s regrouping concepts she learns from all sources and puts it all around the same location in her notebook. Then, she uses a colored sticky label to know how to easily get back to a topic she wants to revisit.

Studies show that the mechanical act of writing notes down with pen and paper reinforce the retention of what you write, so it’s always preferred to take notes by hand. One thing she doesn’t do that I’d recommend you do is, in addition to the sticky labels, keep an index/table of contents at the beginning of your notebooks for even easier retrieval.

After a study session where you took a lot of notes, it’s VERY important that you revisit what you’ve learned as quickly as possible. Ideally, recall without even looking at your notes. Once you’re done, then you can re-read your notes.

Further reading: How to Kickstart Your Skill Learning Journey Like a Pro

4. Participate in group learning

According to the inverted pyramid of learning, you retain up to 50% of what you learned by exchanging ideas in group discussions. In contrast, you only retain 5% for following lectures, and 10% for reading. So 50% is massive!

The more you can participate in group discussions the better. Ideally, don’t be a passive participant. You retain about 90% of what you teach, so the more you study to explain to others, the more you’ll retain.

If you can’t physically participate, most schools nowadays offer forums you can participate in. Follow threads and see what questions others have. Understand the answers and give some of your own.

Further reading: The Only 3 Things You Need To Provide Quality Education

5. Work one-on-one with someone better than you

It’s proven that students who are tutored by someone better than them greatly accelerate their learning and retention. It’s no surprise then that in the past 5 years, the coaching industry has been booming.

As much as possible, always try to find yourself a tutor/mentor. It could be your teacher, a tutor, another student, or even someone you find online.

A good mentor is someone who guides you in your reflection, not effortlessly gives you all the answers. Keep that in mind when choosing.

Further reading: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Guarantee Success in Learning New Skills

6. Make study a habit

In school, I’d study one or two nights before, cram all the info I could get into my head, and hoped for the best. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. One thing’s for sure, I remember nothing.

Your brain will not retain information that way. Retention takes time. The act of moving a concept from short-term memory to long-term memory is not instantaneous. Make sure you understand this.

A better practice is to block study time in your calendar and make it consistent. Block 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. Or something else that works for your schedule. The important thing is that it’s something regular you do every day so you don’t have to think about it.

Further reading: How to Build a Strong Morning Routine: The Essential Guide

7. Vary your environment

Did you know that your brain associates what you learn with its study environment?

That’s why sometimes you have a hard time recalling concepts when you’re in the exam room. Your brain records your study setting for easier retrieval, but the problem is if the environment is different, it’s much harder to retrieve.

To prevent that from happening, vary your environment as much as possible. Studying in different rooms. Study in different locations. Change the room temperature. Study with music and without music. Study with people and study alone.

The more you vary, the easier it will be for you to recall information you’re looking for in any situation.

Further reading: It’s Near-Impossible to Thrive in the Wrong Environment — Don’t Stay There

8. Pre-test yourself before you study

If you have access to pretests before the official test, do it BEFORE you even start to study the material! This will guide your brain as to what you should pay attention to during your study time. You’ll obviously fail the pretest, but when you start studying, everything will be clearer much faster.

This is a greatly overlooked technique that brings much-needed clarity in your study. It’s the equivalent of watching a professional do their job. If you watch Lebron James play basketball, you get an idea of what it means to play at a professional level. You won’t be able to replicate his abilities, but at least it gives you the map.

Further reading: Why Do You Need a Pre-testing of a Questionnaire Survey?

9. Read for retention

I’m always amazed at the fascination people have with speed reading. Here’s what’s better: retention reading. Like, slow reading so you can retain what you learn. Once you’re very good at retention, now’s the time to increase the speed, but most people (including myself) don’t reach the point where they should do that.

Read, highlight, take notes, review. When you read a concept you want to remember, instead of copying the text, write down a question about the concept you want to remember. The act of answering that question later will facilitate moving the knowledge from the short-term memory to the long-term memory.

Further reading: A Quick & Simple Technique to Retain What You Read

10. Use spaced repetition

This is a very important concept. Are you familiar with the forgetting curve? Just to scare you, here’s an approximation formula:

Ultimately, what this means is that if you don’t recall what you learn, you’ll forget it. But you know that already. Here’s a staggering truth: if you don’t recall what you learned 20 minutes ago, you’ll forget about 40% of what you learned. If you don’t recall after one day, you only retain about 30%.

The good news is that you can offset it so you retain better. The even better news is that it’s not even hard. To keep things extremely simple, you should recall what you learned right after your study period, 24 hours later, 7 days later, 30 days later, and once every few months from now on. The concepts will then stick to your brain.

Further reading: Learn New Skills in 15 Hours: The Essential Guide

Summary

Don’t study for exams
Always have the end goal in mind
Take smart notes and review them
Participate in group learning
Work one-on-one with someone better than you
Make study a habit
Vary your environment
Pre-test yourself before you study
Read for retention
Use spaced repetition

Follow these 10 time-tested practices to not only ace your next exam but also all your future exams. More importantly, use these practices to learn the skills you need in life.

You can do this!