Ever had the experience of delving into a gripping book such as Peter Attia’s Outlive or James Clear’s Atomic Habits, and then drawing a blank when you attempt to discuss it? It’s a common frustration.
Surely it’s discouraging, isn’t it? You devote an entire month to reading a book, believing you’re enriching your knowledge, only to realize that it was purely for enjoyment. It feels as though you simply squandered all that reading time.
The worst part?
This ordeal repeats itself.
You might start to wonder if your memory is defective. However, I’ll pause you right there. The fault isn’t your memory – it’s your reading method.
Why am I so certain? I’ve been there; I’d soak up a book, proclaim it as one of my favourites, then instantly forget the content. It was disheartening.
But once I understood the workings of memory, my whole perspective shifted.
Today…
- I can absorb a book and effortlessly recall 80% of the content.
- I can break down complex notions into simple discussions.
- I can dredge up intriguing ideas and weave them into my writing.
Now, reading truly feels like a worthwhile investment in expanding my knowledge.
And if I can make this transformation, so can you.
Therefore, if you want to break the cycle of forgetting what you read, here are 7 straightforward strategies to help you remember at least 80% of your reading material:
1) Cease Permitting Distractions to Draw You Away
Are you familiar with the notable Nelson Dellis?
Ever familiar with the name Nelson Dellis? This man is a true titan in the sphere of memory sports.
In a span of just five minutes, he’s managed to memorize an astonishing 339 digits.
In fifteen minutes, he’s committed 217 names to memory.
He’s memorized an entire deck of cards in under 30 seconds.
And if those feats aren’t impressive enough, he’s also been crowned the USA Memory Champion multiple times, and holds a high global ranking.
So, how did he accomplish all of this? Nelson says it all begins with something quite fundamental: Attention!
It’s an intuitive concept, really. Of course, you cannot recall something you’ve read if you were never attentive to it in the first place.
That’s correct, you can’t. Thus, I’ll emphasize this point again in case it was missed the first time around: To enhance your memory of what you read, you must heighten your focus.
Sadly, maintaining focus is a challenge for many of us.
However, fortunately, there are a couple of tips you can employ to prime your mind to be more attentive during reading:
- Eliminate all distractions when you read. Tuck your smartphone away, shut your laptop, and listen to music without lyrics. Avoid giving your attention in a half-hearted manner. This implies not crooning to music while reading and not glancing at your phone every few minutes. Commit to being attentive to your reading material. It’s not as difficult as it may seem.
- As you read, perpetually pose the question to yourself: “How can I apply this in my life?” By posing this question, you help maintain focus on seeking out key points in a book that will linger in your memory for the long haul.
More often than not, you’ll discover these two tactics effectively improve your attention span.
2) Visualize Like You’re in a Film
Ever experienced the disappointment of forgetting the content of a fantastic book you just read?
To prevent this from recurring, follow this strategy when you’re engrossed in your next book:
Firstly, stay focused! Remember the importance of this?
Secondly, as you navigate through the pages, try to imagine that you’re watching a film. Essentially, strive to create a mental image of what’s unfolding in the book. Admittedly, you can’t conjure up images for everything you read, but it’s feasible to conceptualize a broad overview.
Personally, during my reading sessions, I like to perceive the events in the book as though they’re unraveling on a large movie screen and I’m a spectator in the theatre, simply observing the proceedings.
What’s the logic behind this? Well, it appears our brains are more proficient at retaining certain kinds of data over others.
As research into human memory reveals, visual representations have a greater propensity to stick in our minds compared to abstract elements like scattered words. Hence, whatever you’re reading, attempt to visualize it as if it’s an actual memory.
Although this technique doesn’t guarantee retention of every minor detail, it significantly enhances the likelihood of recalling what you’ve read later.
3) Pen Your Thoughts (Don’t Just Key Them In) On Fascinating Concepts You’ve Engaged With
As a species, our capacity to retain data is quite limited. Almost everything we read eventually escapes our memory.
Yet, something remarkable happens when we jot things down – we seem to remember them much better.
This was a practice extensively used by Beethoven in his musical compositions. This is referenced in the book Managing Oneself, where Peter Drucker, the pioneer of contemporary business management, states,
“Despite Beethoven’s multitude of sketchbooks, he claimed he never actually referred to them while composing. When asked why he maintained them, his response was that if he didn’t document his thoughts immediately, he would forget them. However, once he noted it in a sketchbook, it remained in his memory and he never needed to go back to it.”
A number of studies suggest that handwriting notes significantly improves your memory retention.
What’s the reason? Rather than typing every single word you read, handwriting prompts you to record only the vital points. This acts as a filter to distinguish significant facts from less relevant ones, enabling you to process and absorb the information more effectively.
This is why I make it a point to note down any intriguing idea I come across. By writing it down, I can comprehend, assimilate, and recall it far more effectively.
Even if you never revisit your written notes, the mere act of jotting it down amplifies your ability to retain information.
Reading should be an engaged activity, rather than a dormant one. If you’re not actively engaging with the text you’re reading, it’s likely that you’ll miss out on a lot of details.
So how can you become an engaged reader? There are numerous techniques available, but the following four are highly effective:
Mark significant or striking sentences or sections by underlining or highlighting them.
Use markings like stars for significant sentences that resonate or question marks for parts you question or want to investigate more.
Jot down any reflections or queries you may have on the page edges.
Once you’ve finished reading the book, revisit crucial sentences or sections and mark them with sticky notes.
By doing these four steps, you can pick up the book at any given time and refresh your memory instantly by opening any page.
You might be reluctant to write or mark in a book. However, do not worry. Even if I had a book worth $1,000, I wouldn’t hesitate to do this.
Why is that? It’s because the value lies not in the book itself but in the ideas conveyed in the book. Neglecting to extract everything you can from a book would be a disservice to the reading process.
4) Master the Art of Engaging Fully with Your Read Material
Engaging proactively with what you’re reading, instead of being a passive reader, can dramatically enhance your retainment of the material.
If you’re not completely immersed in your reading, it’s highly likely that you’ll forget bulk of the content.
So, how can you become a proactive reader? There are numerous methods, but four techniques are highly encouraged:
Highlight or underline significant or noteworthy points or sections.
Use symbols like stars to signify meaningful phrases or question marks for parts that spark doubt or need further investigation.
Record your musings or queries on the book’s margins.
After completing the book, revisit and use sticky notes on most prominent points or sections.
By applying these four measures, you can easily recall the book’s content whenever you wish by simply flipping to any page.
Writing in a book may seem daunting at first. It’s important to remember, however, even if it were a $1,000 book, I’d still encourage it.
Why you might ask? It’s because the book’s value is not its physical essence but the ideas it holds. Hence, not fully exploiting a book’s potential could be considered a literary offence.
5) Put Knowledge into Practice
It may be a shock to you, but the efficiency of retaining information isn’t significantly improved by highlighting and note taking – they are fundamentally unproductive.
You might be confused now, questioning, “Wait, didn’t you just discuss the relevance of highlighting and note taking in the prior section?”
Absolutely, but let me illuminate this…
The value of highlighting doesn’t truly lie in its ability to enhance memory retention. The primary purpose of highlighting is to draw your attention to essential parts when you revisit your reading material.
The reality about human recollection is that we are more likely to remember concepts that we practically use.
For instance, if you immerse yourself in a health book, the effective method to retain the information is by altering your health habits.
If you study a book related to health, highlight various segments, but fail to alter your dietary habits, exercise regimen, or sleep pattern, your recall of the material will be minimal.
Consequently, if you don’t incorporate the knowledge you acquire from your readings into practical usage in your life, remembering them becomes an uphill task.
This lack of practical application will lead you to constantly feel as if, despite reading numerous books, their contents remain a mystery.
Simply put, you didn’t take any follow-up action!
6) Demonstrate Your Knowledge to Others
Visualize having a container, wherein each time you attempt to fill it with water, 90% of it seeps away.
In such a situation, would you continue to fill the container or address the leakage?
You would probably opt to address the leakage.
Regrettably, in the context of acquiring knowledge, individuals continuously fill their container without ever contemplating the seepage.
As a result, nearly everyone squanders 90% of their learning due to a lack of understanding of a concept referred to as “The Learning Pyramid.”
At the heart of it, the Learning Pyramid suggests that by choosing to impart knowledge about what you’ve read to another person, you can remember up to 90% of the information.
How does this happen? Well, when you write down notes about what you find fascinating, or when you make an attempt to instruct someone else about a subject you’ve studied, you won’t be reciting the author’s words word for word. Rather, you’ll be articulating it in your own language. This compels your mind to comprehend the information more effectively.
Hence, the next time you come across a captivating notion, make a conscious endeavor to discuss it with someone else. Simply engage a relative or a pal by saying, “Can I take a moment to share an intriguing idea from this book I’m currently reading?” Delve into the topic for a few minutes, detailing what you just learned.
Keep in mind, we do not solely gain understanding by reading. The retention rate for reading is merely 10%, which is quite disappointing. This underscores the necessity for conversations around concepts, as this is how they become truly ingrained.
7) Emphasizing the Importance: Revisit, Recap, Repeat.
There exists a small group of people who can read a book once and remember every iota of information contained within it. However, this is certainly not the case for the vast majority of us. In fact, most of the information we absorb from a book tends to escape our memory quite easily.
This phenomenon, commonly referred to as “The Forgetting Curve,” dictates that practically every new piece of knowledge we gain is likely to be forgotten within the first 24 hours.
The exact amount one may forget in the first 24 hours varies from person to person.
But here’s the staple…
Unless you revisit, recap, and repeat the information you’ve just acquired, a significant part of it will fade from your mind just after the first day. The memory loss continues over the subsequent days leaving you with just a tiny portion of what you initially learned.
It’s fascinating to note that while we’re engrossed in a book, we tend to feel like we’re absorbing everything we’re reading. Information seems to be downloading into our brains effortlessly, we seem to follow it, and it seems to all fit together. However, without revisiting what we’ve read, these pieces of information don’t really stick in our mind.
Regrettably, there’s no bypassing this. Revision is crucial. But the question is, what kind of revision should you indulge in?
Enter the world of spaced repetition revision!
In essence, it means revisiting what you’ve learned at consistent intervals following the initial learning phase.
There’s an array of tactics to implement this, but the one I highly suggest is known as ‘The Rule of 5.’
The Rule of 5 advocates that upon learning something you desire to recall in the future, you should ideally revisit that bit of information at the ensuing durations:
Five times on the very first day.
Once daily for the subsequent five days.
Then once a week for the next five weeks.
Upon completion of this, you’re all set!
Remember, consistent revision is the only way to cement information into your long-term memory. If you don’t make reviewing what you’ve learned a habit, then there’s a significant possibility of it slipping away all too quickly.
Nonetheless, with ‘The Rule of 5’ at your disposal, you’re well-equipped to remember any information you pick up from a book for perpetuity
