Red/Yellow/Green Method - Day 25 of 30 - Things That Make My Life Easier

Each day I talk about one thing that makes my life easier as a neurodivergent mother raising neurodivergent kids while going back to school full time in my 40s.

If you need a really quick way to visualize what information you need to study vs. what information you already know, let me introduce you to the Red/Yellow/Green Method I learned from the gals over at GEMs.

(Perhaps there's a different name for this technique, but it wouldn't matter. We'd still refer to it as the Red/Yellow/Green Method.)

Essentially, you mark the things you know in green, the things you need to review once or twice in yellow, and the stuff you need to spend time learning in red. Let me show you how it looks in practice.

Red/Yellow/Green Method

Imagine I need to memorize most of the details on the page below.

My page of information without mark ups

Now, imagine I've marked it up using the Red/Yellow/Green Method.

It's so much easier to see what I already understand and don't need to spend time rereading. I can focus, instead, on the red, then the yellow, then the red again until I understand everything on the page.

FAQ

Jaren, once you mark on the page, you can't really change the markings. What happens when the yellow information becomes green?

I thought you'd never ask!

I like to slide each paper into one of those plastic sleeves. This way I can use a dry or wet-erase marker on the plastic. Once I understand the yellow information, I can wipe away the line and add a green one, for example.

Anywhoozle. This method has been a real game changer for me and my kids. I used it when I was studying to be an LPN last year. I'm using it this year particularly for my french studies.

What are your favorite studying techniques?

-Jaren