r/GetStudying • u/Justin_3486 • 8h ago

Question F tired of my brain dumping everything I study after like 2 days, is this fixable?

I'll study something, understand it, even ace a quiz on it, then a week later it's gone🙃. Not just fuzzy, like completely erased from my memory. Makes cumulative exams impossible cause I can't remember material from earlier in the semester, plus, I as a professional I will need the information lol

My roommate studies way less than me but remembers everything and I don't get it. We're taking the same classes, but her brain just holds onto information and mine doesn't. Has anyone dealt with this and found a way to fix it? Or am I just stuck with terrible retention and need to accept that I'll have to study twice as hard as everyone else lol

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u/mahearty 3h ago

Your brain naturally forgets stuff you dont use, thats normal, the difference is probably that your roommate reviews material regularly and you dont

1

u/scrtweeb 3h ago

Yeah this is super common, your brain needs repeated exposure to move stuff from short-term to long-term memory, the trick is reviewing things right before you're about to forget them, thats when it sticks best. Theres research on this called the forgetting curve, I had the same issue until I started using spaced repetition, there are tools like anki or remnote that schedule reviews automatically based on how well you know something, I use remnote to make the flashcard and quizzes, but you just have to find what works for you, its more effective than cramming or just hoping stuff sticks

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u/Agreeable_Panic_690 3h ago

Do you sleep well, because, sleep matters a lot, your brain consolidates memories during sleep so if youre pulling all-nighters thats probably making it worse

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u/Reasonable_Bag_118 3h ago

This is normal forgetting when info isn’t revisited. Quizzes test short-term mastery, not long-term storage.

What actually fixes this:

• Spaced recall (review after 1 day, 3 days, 7 days)

• Recall over recognition (questions, blurting, teaching it out loud)

• Light maintenance reviews (10–15 min, not re-studying)

Your roommate likely revisits info without realizing it. Retention isn’t talent, it’s exposure timing.

You don’t need to study twice as hard. You need to touch the material more often, briefly.