Oh also - I have colours for each subject too. English has been light blue for the past couple of years, Religion yellow, Art purple, D-Tech orange and Ancient History light green. If I use any dividers in my folders, I keep them the subject colour.
I find that for visual learners, if you associate each subject with a certain colour, and use that colour when highlighting info on that subject, keeping the highlighter and it's colour on show when you're studying, taking it into an exam.... it helps you recall things, and stay organised. If English is ALWAYS blue, and there's blue around when you're in class, when you're studying, and when you go into an exam - it helps your mind more to order things, stay focused and realise - "Yes, this is English. I know this”
If that's all just too much for you, it's still good to get at least one colour with you. Colours can have a great effect on your mood.... if you find that you're always bored in class, not concentrating - maybe you should have something with you in class that keeps you alert. Cadmium yellow is a great colour for waking you up and lifting your mood. It keeps you alert. It promotes positive thinking, warmth and wisdom. Large amounts of the colour have also been proven to sharpen memory.
Colours like violet can also give a nice soothing effect. Violet generally signifies sleep and peace. Being surrounded my large amounts of it actually lowers blood pressure, and slows down your breathing. If you find that you’re incredibly stressed out in a certain subject – maybe you need some violet with you. It could be as simple as getting a little bit of purple fabric from Spotlight, and keeping a 5cm square of it in your pencil case. Or just keeping a piece of purple paper in there. And if violet is not your thing, darker blues can also have the same effect.
Green is another great colour, as it symbolises growth, development, rejuvenation. Green is the colour of nature, the colour of growth and peace. It also promotes balance. It is also the easiest colour to look at, as it is the complete opposite of the strongest colour in the visible spectrum – red.
It’s a very good idea to avoid red. Red folders, red pencil cases, red books…. Large amounts of red are not a good thing to have with you in class really. Red is a hot colour, and a very strong colour. It doesn’t promote calmness, concentration, and positive thinking. It actually promotes anger, aggression, strength. Large amounts of it raise the blood pressure, increase respiratory rate, and promote strength and a wanting to move. It’s basically just too intense to promote a stable and concentrated mental state.
If you’re only into black and white – go for white. White is basically pure light, and promotes an uncluttered, straight forward kind of feel. Black on the other hand, is the colour of night and the colour our body recognises as sleep. Small doses can make one feel sophisticated, mysterious and enigmatic…. But large doses pretty much make the body want sleep, and feel fatigued.
Anyway…. I know most of you probably think Colour Theory/Symbolism/Psychology etc is a load of rubbish, but I just felt like sharing because I know that it works for me, and it generally has a strong bearing on ‘visual’ type people and ‘visual’ learners. There’s been a lot of research and study in the area over the past century, and some of it is actually quite interesting…. And very true. The stuff about certain colours for certain subjects generally relates to things like memory and recall. It has been proven that certain sights, sounds and smells can trigger off memories, and help people to recall things. And it is possible to use this to your advantage…. Whether it be with colour, or studying with a certain perfume/body spray on, then wearing it in the exam. Smell is the strongest sense, and ‘odour memory’ is the least likely to be forgotten. But visual learners may be able to organise their thoughts better with colours.
After all, memories are made by what is perceived through our senses. Scenes from your childhood…. Like say, going to the beach with your family – can be entirely recalled just by walking past someone stinking of sunscreen. Suddenly you remember exactly where you were, how you felt, even things like the general temperature…. Or if there was a slight breeze.
All our memories are tagged with certain sensory qualities…. And those memories can be evoked (recalled) by re-living that sensory experience.
Why not take advantage of that?
