This becomes even worse as exams approach. Suddenly students are faced with what may be "Do or Die" situations. Failing the exams could mean more years in college, or even flunking out.
The ideal situation would be a full year of intensive study, well-prepared notes, and the knowledge needed all ready neatly stored in the memory banks. However, if this is not the case, then it could well be time for cramming.
Books come out, TVs go off, dates are cancelled. It's time to make up for months of slacking. Don't get me wrong. Many of these students may not have been slackers at all, but they're afraid they haven't studied hard enough and may have missed those one or two crucial bits of knowledge that might mane the difference between passing and failing.
But is cramming really going to help? Sure. You stay up all night going over and over every note, page after page in the text, and by the time you're done, it's all -- or at least a large part of -- the year's studies are crammed into your brain.
And now it's morning. Time to grab a quick cup of coffee and stagger off to the class room. Time to face the professor and that dreaded test paper.
You sit down and look at the paper. The questions look familiar. You remember reading about this the night before. The answers are all there in your head. Unfortunately, you're too tired to concentrate, too weary and drained to dig that answer out and get it down on paper.
A few hours later, you stagger up to the professor's desk, and, with bleary eyes, drop the test paper and stumble home to collapse in bed.
This is not a formula for success. In fact, there's a good chance that, rather than ace that test, you may have failed. The sad part is that you probably already knew the answers to most of those questions, but the night of cramming and sleep deprivation made those answers inaccessible.
So what's a better plan? Well, as mentioned earlier in this article, being sure you're already prepared by a solid year of being faithful to your studies is the best plan. But it may be too late for that. So, instead, spend some time going over those things that have proved most difficult for you. Do a quick review of the rest and then --- sleep on it. That will help your brain digest what you have just studied and place it neatly into your long-term memory where it's available when you need it.
This article was aimed mainly at college students, but could be just as valuable to high school students and to businessmen who might spend the night worrying over the next day's big presentation or a job interview or an important speech. The same advice applies. Know your material, give it a quick review and then sleep on it. The results may surprise you.
