Use the '2357' Method to Remember What You Study

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news.

Many established study methods grew out of old research and stuffy pedagogical theories, so when a new one crops up on social media it’s worth checking out—if only to gauge whether a modernized approach can pay dividends. Sometimes, the most tried-and-true, old-school methods are best, but that doesn't mean fresh updates on traditional ideas can't be great, too. One study technique that frequently makes the rounds on social media is dubbed the “2, 3, 5, 7” method (or usually just "2357").

What’s interesting about this method is that while it is new in a sense, it is a modification of one of those older, time-tested techniques. More on that below, as well as what you need to know to use 2357 for your next study session.

What is the 2357 study method?

When using the 2357 technique, you revise your notes and study materials over and over again, following a set schedule:

• Day 1: Revise your initial notes

• Day 2: Revise and review them

• Day 3: Revise and review again

• Day 5: Revise and review again

• Day 7: Revise and review again

Each time you revise, you should identify and expand upon key facts that you need to remember. If you usually take notes by hand, digitizing them can serve as your first revision. Conversely, you can play around with note types. On Day 2, you can redo your notes using the Cornell method, for instance, then make a mind map on Day 3. Taking a slightly different approach each time will force you to reconsider the material, identify elements you can expand on or you're not quite grasping, and think a little differently about how it all fits together.

By the time you have completed that final revision on day seven, the content should be easy to retrieve from your memory with minimal effort. Days 5 and 7 should also focus a little more on reviewing, not just revising. One of those days can be dedicated to blurting, for instance, which is a technique that asks you to write down everything you can remember about a topic before checking against your notes and other resources for anything you missed. Try blurting a new note outline entirely.

Why the 2357 method works

This study method is effective because it combines elements of a few tried-and-true techniques, including spaced repetition, an established way to combat the so-called “forgetting curve” by increasing the amount of time between your study sessions until the information enters your long-term memory. This TikTok-beloved hack also employs elements of distributed practice, which operates on a similar theory.

Studying via 2357 will work best if you slowly start weaning yourself off your notes and materials as you go, which forces you to practice active recall as you progress through the latter days of the cycle. Like I said, those final days of the cycle should be more about reviewing than revising. If you're running across information you're not quite grasping, mix in other techniques, like the Leitner flashcard method, which also relies on distributed practice to help you entrench material in your memory.

Doing this all sounds easy, but it isn't quite. It might be harder than you think to remember to stick to this very specific schedule. If you find yourself struggling, call for backup. A school-focused planning app, like My Study Life, can help you create a schedule and carve out time for all these little studying tricks.

View the full article