I find that writing basically embeds the info much better than reading, at least for me. Makes me also more motivated and less distracted because you can see tangible evidence of work done, which motivates me to keep on working.

A few tricks I use.

I would build rewards into the studying. So, if you look over materials for finals for say 2 hours, you get to have yourself some sort of fun for 30 minutes or so and then head back.

The other thing I did was use vick's vapor rub. So while you study, slather a bit of that menthol scented junk on one of your arms (I use my non-writing hand). Then, before you show up to take your exam, put a bit more of the vapor rub on your arm - hopefully your brain has built of a significant association between the vapor rub and the information you were studying the night before. Sometimes I could even remember exactly what was written on my pre-exam sheets that I'd write out.

wtf LOL

The days I need to study or do a lot of work I just turn off internet and my computer and study on my room without any distractions

it's the same as listening to music while studying, if you were to take an exam while listening to music you'd retain your info much better. Thats a really out there idea though marxist i'm gonna try it out this week

I've heard a similar method but people would use chewing gum as an alternative to the vick's that Marxist was suggesting

practice questions/past test questions and looking at answer keys after them. Whatever you get wrong you go back and study the content and then drill yourself on those topics.

you can really do anything you want as long as it links shit together

chewing gum, weird scents, tactile shit like picking yr nails can all work and it probably works best if you do multiple things

I actually don't study much at all. I tend to just absorb all the information from the lectures I have, where I just listen and take detailed notes. The only times I ever study are when I miss days and need to catch up on missed information, in which case I just ask my peers to let me review their notes.

To be fair most of my history course's exams (the classes I cared about) were graded quite harshly and they accounted for 40% of your total grade (of which there were only 2 exams - mid-term and final). The last 20% was a term paper - so if you fucked up an exam you failed the class basically so it was imperative to do as well as possible.

For my present graduate work I have to do pretty lengthy oral exams + papers. So far nobody has noticed that if they put me against a wall I rub my nose with my left hand to help me remember stuff lol.

My finals are mid january as well and uni started september 5th or something

Personally when it comes to revision I ask a couple friends to come and study with me, we find an empty room with a blackboard in the uni and challenge eachother to solve problems from past years' exams or current year's exercices.

It gets usually fun as people tend to roleplay and joke around, while still helping if someone didn't understand a subject.
The issue with this is that you can't make the best out of your time but if you plan in advance It's okay. That's really helping me since I really can't motivate myself to study alone.