Did you know that if you study before and after you sleep your retention of information (memory) increases? This does not mean that you should be studying in your bed, your more likely to fall asleep if you are lying down, and your brain will begin to turn off because it knows that is where you sleep. But, if you study just before sleep, studies have shown that your retention of this information increases, especially if you are looking for long term recall.[1]

I should make it clear that I am not promoting cramming your study in the night before or staying up late! Sleep is very important for mental function and a lack of sleep will negatively impact your exam results. In fact, a lack of sleep is possibly the biggest reason why people struggle to learn. Your brain needs to be working optimally! Your study should always be regular, in short intervals (20 min then a 30-second break for about 1.5 hrs at a time), focused and repetitive in order for the best results.

Study around sleep is beneficial for your retention and recall of information because when you sleep your brain structures and organises information and events from the day before. What you do just before sleep can become the focus of what your brain does as you sleep. So, study around sleep makes the information you want to learn one of the main focus areas of what your brain does that night. Doing this on a regular basis continues to enhance the benefits.

You should revise information and test yourself, at a desk or somewhere else that prepares your brain for study (not your bed) just before you go to sleep and soon after you wake up. If you do this after your shower, and brushing your teeth, then your retention of information can increase. I know when I was studying I used to put mind-maps up in the bathroom and around my bedroom. I would then read over them as I got ready for bed, and when I woke up. Each day I revised this content, and would sometimes test myself as I did it. Try to recall the mind-map before reading it.

So, give it a go, and study before and after you get a FULL nights sleep. You can even study just after waking up, this will help you recall information, especially if you are testing yourself on the content you studied the night before.

References

[1] Jessica D. PayneMatthew A. TuckerJeffrey M. EllenbogenErin J. WamsleyMatthew P. WalkerDaniel L. Schacter, and  Robert Stickgold(2012)Memory for Semantically Related and Unrelated Declarative Information: The Benefit of Sleep, the Cost of Wake” PLoS One, 7 (3): e33079.

Gordon B. Feld, and  Susanne Diekelmann. (2015) “Sleep smart—optimizing sleep for declarative learning and memory.” Front Psychol.  6: 622.

Monika Schönauer, Annedore PawlizkiCorinna Köck, and  Steffen Gais, (2014) “Exploring the Effect of Sleep and Reduced Interference on Different Forms of Declarative Memory” Sleep 37 (12): 1995–2007.