You have an important exam ahead of you and have to study pages and pages. This is not only very dry, but also very time-consuming. A lot of the information you take in while cramming is actually superfluous.

There is a simple way that makes learning easier and more meaningful, where important information is retained and unimportant information is pushed aside.

This technique can be used for exams throughout school and university. Studying for an exam doesn't have to be stressful or difficult if you follow these simple rules.

1. Think about what will happen in the exam. You probably think ANYTHING can possibly happen, but that's just not true. If you're not sure yourself what the exam will be about, clarify your questions with your teacher, a classmate or your parents. Your teacher will at least narrow it down. Only learn what you know will be asked in this exam.

2. Look for the relevant chapters in your textbook or collect your information material. For example, the exam topic consists of chapters 1, 2 and 3, so limit and concentrate only on these.

3. Write down questions that might appear in the exam. Not only can you specifically look for the answers to these likely questions, you are already starting to think about them in your head just by writing them down. Maybe you've already had the experience of writing cheat sheets that you don't even need to use in the exam itself because you've made a mental note while writing them down.

Write them on separate index cards so that you can make notes as you read.

4. Read the chapters quickly. By that I mean really quickly. This will give you an initial idea of the topic. For each question that is already answered, make a tick in the appropriate place in the book (in pencil if necessary).

5. Read the chapters again and definitely exclude the paragraphs that did not answer any of your questions. You can ignore these as you continue to study and concentrate on the now significantly reduced number. If you find more of your questions answered, tick the appropriate box again.

6. If you find places while reading that you already know and can easily remember, mark them. You can then use a highlighter to emphasise the passages that you do NOT know (or mark them with a post-it note (which can be removed afterwards) if you are not allowed to mark the book yourself.

7. Answer all your questions and write down the answers in keywords on your index card.

8. Reread the passages in your book that are marked as unknown and relevant. There should be far fewer of them now.

9. Read your answers out loud or tell them to a family member. It's important to say them out loud so you can hear them yourself. Don't be shy. Use your notes and tick them off or make a cross, depending on whether you knew them or not.

10. Then deliberately don't study the next day, but just go over what you have learnt again in your head. You will be surprised at how much you have already remembered.

Many people think they have to know every word in the book by heart. But if you look at the words, there are a lot of filler words (the, the, that, he, she, of, to, etc.). You just want to pick out what you don't know.

So don't waste your time rewriting everything. Only write down keywords or graphics that you can use to create a "link" in your memory. You can then add the small filler words during the exam. It's not about learning as much as possible, but as well as possible. By eliminating the filler words and irrelevant text, you make the whole learning experience better. Don't study too much, just study smarter.