We have previously advised you to put a textbook under your pillow before bed. You can then absorb the substance “automatically” while you sleep, so that you can do the test in the morning well. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple either. But if you want to get smart while you sleep, these tricks will help you.
Neurologist and sleep researcher Matthew Walker explains in his book ‘Sleep’ that it is extremely important for your brain to sleep well. New scientific insights into sleep and dreaming.
Your sleep means a lot more than your “lack of wakefulness”. It is, as it were, a complete reset of your body and mind. Because while you sleep, your body (including your mind) gets a chance to recover.
You can also make smart use of this knowledge when it comes to learning and studying. For an exam, an exam, an exciting presentation, or if you want to learn a language or whatever. Putting a book under your pillow isn’t enough, but you can use your sleep to make sure what you’re learning gets into your mind as quickly as possible (instead of forgetting it all day after…).
Three do’s and don’ts to learn as efficiently as possible
1. Learn in the morning, when I just woke up
The hippocampus is your brain’s “inbox”, the area where you enter information and which ensures you learn new things. In the morning, after a good night’s sleep, this hippocampus is fresh and tidy. You absorb new information well. So it’s time to learn! So don’t go to Facebook after you wake up, because you will fill up your inbox with all kinds of information that you don’t really need to remember. Sin!
2. Learn right before going to bed
When you learn, you first store the new information in your short-term memory. While you sleep, your brain relays the contents of your short-term memory into your long-term memory, so that you have “free space” for new information when you wake up. If you learn right before you go to bed, you get the most out of it. You fill your short-term memory with useful information, and while you sleep, your brain can quietly store everything, making you remember better the next day. (Here again: just before going to bed, a stroll around the Marktplaats is less convenient. Unless you want to remember all those exact bags and crockery within a week).
3. Not smart: it lasts all night
Do you study overnight before taking the test? Many students and pupils do it, but it is not smart. Not only are you ingesting less and less, but the next morning you will also have more trouble remembering things. In an experiment conducted by Matthew Walker, students who studied during the night had lower grades than students who simply slept. The group that skipped the night remembered 40% less facts gained than the group that slept well. This is the difference between a good grade and a bad grade!
Even without knowing
Of course, this is not only suitable for students and schoolchildren. After a good night’s sleep, you will not only pick up the test material better, but you will also get the information for the theory exam, the words you learn for the Spanish course, stories from the books you read and much more. Learning new things is fun. And making sure you remember those new things better while you sleep is even more fun. Sleep well!
Photo: Photography by Peggy Jansen, styling by Jose Spanz, makeup by Carmen Gonzalez
know more?
- read sleeping Van Matthew Walker
Want to read more about sleep?
I read here Why sleep is so important (Even more important than exercise!).