Keep blood flowing. Get up and move around, change sitting position or even jiggle your leg. Moving increases blood flow, which helps your ability to concentrate and remember.
Eat regularly. Your body needs food to stay focused. Protein, especially for breakfast, helps fuel brain functions.
Sleep. Regular sleep reduces stress, keeps the mind sharp and helps the brain process information.
Visceralize information to help form a lasting connection. To visceralize, connect the word or concept with a feeling or sensation. Say you're learning French words for different colors. For black, or noir, associate noir with a moonless night or the feeling of emptiness.
Break down concepts into easier explanations, as if explaining them to a ten-year-old. This is a good way to take complicated concepts and make them more understandable.
Group information to help learn large chunks of data. For example, when learning an extensive vocabulary list, break it into similar words. Group your French vocabulary list by groups of colors, foods, places and everyday objects, then learn the words in chunks.
Use mnemonic devices, which help students remember complicated lists or concepts by putting part of the information, like the first letter of each word, into a phrase or word. Remember the colors of the rainbow in order -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet -- with the name Roy G. Biv.
Create a visual aid. Draw what you need to learn -- express it in chart or graph form, or make an organized list of data.
Join a study group. Talking out concepts with others can help dedicate information to memory. Others may have a better grasp of concepts you struggle with, and vice versa.
Get a tutor. For concepts that truly elude you, a tutor can guide you to understanding.
Recruit parents, friends and significant others to help your learning process. Have them act out concepts with you, read with you or allow you to explain concepts to them. Having a friend along can help make a learning process more fun, which makes learning easier.