Have the right environment
Establish a quiet place, free of distractions, where you do nothing else but study. Ensure your place is tidy and clean. Where possible, make it look like a study place.You mind will condition itself to associate such environment with studying, so that entering the room or area will be your trigger to begin learning.
Have a learning schedule
Schedule your study time. Divide the content to be studied into chunks of manageable sizes that can be covered in a unit of time . Instead of studying for many hours continously, try study sessions of 1 hour or 2 hour each. With intermittent break along the way.
Set realistic goals in studying
Have a task to complete per given time. Have set specific goals for yourself each day and every week and for individual study sessions. Your goals should be challenging but not overwhelming. If the task for an individual study session is manageable, it will be easier to sit down and face it. Completing the task you have set for yourself will give you a sense of accomplishment.
be an active learner
The more active a role you play in the learning process the more you will remember. One effective method is to use index cards as flash cards. Write a key term or study question on the front of each card. On the back, list pertinent information from the text and class lectures.
Imagine yourself an examiner and trying to set questions from what you have studied. revise a related topic if it is needed in the current part of study if you have not grasped the concept.
make notes and summarize in diagrams where possible
Avoid over learning
Overlearning means studying beyond the point at which you can just barely recite the information you are trying to memorize. Review the information again and again until it is firmly locked in memory. If you are subject to test anxiety, overlearning will help.
keep refreshing your mind
Forgetting takes place most rapidly within the first 24 hours after you study. No matter how much you have studied for a test, always review shortly before you take it. Refreshing your memory will raise your grade.
take a nap
Sleeping immediately after you study will help you retain more of what you have learned. If you can’t study before you go to sleep, at least review what you studied earlier in the day. This is also a good time to go through your index cards.