80% of What You Read Can Be Remembered Using These 7 Techniques
80% of what you read can be remembered with these 7 techniques.
To be honest, each technique alone will help you retain at least 60% of what you read.
Photo de Sebastien LE DEROUT sur Unsplash
It occurs constantly.
You devoured a fantastic book like Outlive by Peter Attia or Atomic Habits by James Clear. However, you seem to lose all recollection of the book when you attempt to discuss it with someone.
Isn't that annoying?
It is, of course! After reading this book for a whole month, you discovered that it was only enjoyment and not an investment in education. You seem to have wasted all of your reading time.
What's the worst?
It keeps happening over and over again.
You begin to believe that you might simply have a poor memory. However, I'll stop you there because, when it comes to memory, forgetting the majority of what you've read isn't a sign of weakness. Rather, the problem lies in the way you read literature.
How can I tell? I can attest to this because I was once in a similar state. After reading a book and declaring it to be among the best I've ever read, I quickly forget what it was about. It was awful.
But everything changed for me when I realized how memory functions.
Right now...
I have no trouble remembering 80% of what I read in a book.
I am able to clarify difficult ideas in casual discussions.
I am able to remember intriguing concepts and incorporate them into my work.
Last but not least, I consider reading to be a genuine investment in my education.
Additionally, you can succeed if I can.
In order to prevent forgetting what you've read, try these 7 easy techniques that will help you retain at least 80% of what you've read:
1) Quit Letting yourself be dragged away.
Are you familiar with Nelson Dellis? This is a photo of him:
Source: 
account of Nelson Dellis
Nelson Dellis is a memory competitor legend, in case you haven't heard of him.
In five minutes, he has committed 339 numbers to memory.
In fifteen minutes, he had committed 217 names to memory.
It took him less than 30 seconds to remember a whole deck of cards.
He even holds a high ranking in the world and has won the USA Memory Championship several times.
How did he accomplish it, then? Nelson says the first step is straightforward: Listen!
It makes sense. If you weren't even paying attention to what you were reading, how else are you supposed to remember it?
You're not, that's correct. Just in case you didn't pay attention the first time, let me reiterate: You need to pay closer attention if you want to retain more of what you read.
Unfortunately, a lot of us have trouble paying attention.
Fortunately, there are two techniques you may do to prepare yourself so that you are more likely to focus when reading:
1) Put an end to any outside distractions while reading. Shut down your laptop, put your phone in your pocket, and tune in to music without lyrics. Don't make a half-hearted attempt to pay attention. This entails not checking your phone every two minutes and refraining from singing along to music while reading. Make a commitment to focus on whatever you're reading. It's not that difficult.
2) As you read, ask yourself, "How can I use this in my life?" repeatedly. This question can help you stay focused on finding the key passages in a book that will stay with you for a long time.
These two tips will work for you nine times out of ten.
2) Pretend You’re Watching a Movie
Have you ever read a great book, only to forget most of it afterward?
If that’s happened to you, here’s a technique to prevent it next time:
First, stay focused—remember the previous tip?
Then, as you read, imagine you’re watching a movie. Try to visualize the events in your mind. You won’t visualize every detail, but aim to capture the essence of what’s happening.
Personally, when I read, I picture the scenes unfolding on a big screen, with me sitting in the audience, watching it all play out.
Why does this help? Our brains are much better at remembering certain types of information, especially when we make it visual.
In agreement with memory research, visual images tend to stick in our minds more easily than abstract concepts like random words. So, as you read, try to imagine the content as if it were a personal memory.
While this technique won’t ensure you remember every detail, it greatly increases your chances of recalling what you read later.
3) Write by Hand (Avoid Typing) Thought-Provoking Concepts You Have Read
Humans are not very good at remembering things. Almost everything we read about is forgotten.
But we have a much higher chance of remembering things when we put them in writing.
Beethoven used to compose music in precisely this manner. In the book Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker, the inventor of contemporary business management, states that
“Beethoven left behind an enormous number of sketchbooks, yet he said he never actually looked at them when he composed. Asked why he kept them, he is reported to have replied, “If I don’t write it down immediately, I forget it right away. If I put it into a sketchbook, I never forget it, and I never have to look it up again.”
According to multiple studies, when you handwrite your notes, you retain more information.
Why? Because you won't write down every word you read when you take handwritten notes. Rather, you will only put down the words that are required. This aids in distinguishing between vital and irrelevant things. This facilitates improved information synthesis.
For this reason, as soon as I come across an intriguing concept, I write it down. I put it in writing to help me comprehend, absorb, and recall it more effectively.
The act of writing something down will improve your memory, even if you never read it again.
4) Get to Know the Book Completely
Instead of being a passive activity, reading is meant to be an active one.
As a result, you will inherently forget the majority of the information in a book if you are not actively engaging with it.
How can one become an engaged reader, then? There are numerous ways to accomplish this, but I strongly suggest the following four strategies:
Emphasize or draw attention to significant or noteworthy quotes or paragraphs.
Include symbols like question marks to indicate lines you're dubious about or items you wish to learn more about, or stars for important sentences that have an impact on you.
In the page margins, jot down any ideas or queries you may have.
Once you've finished reading the book, go back and make sticky notes on the most significant quotes or sections.
By following these four steps, you will be able to remove the book from the shelf whenever you want and review it by turning to any page.
Now, you might be afraid to write in a book, which makes you reluctant to do this. But don't be. I would still do this even if I had a $1,000 book.
Why? Because the concepts presented in the book are more significant than the book itself. Additionally, not getting the most out of a book would be a sin of reading.
5) Put What You've Read to Use
I hate to say it, but taking notes and underlining text are essentially useless for helping you recall what you've read.
You're probably asking yourself, "What? Didn't you just discuss in the last part how important it is to highlight and take notes?
Yes, but allow me to clarify.
In actuality, highlighting material by itself does not aid in memory retention. Highlighting has the sole advantage of letting you know what to focus on when you go back and read it again.
Because of the nature of human memory, we have a tendency to recall things that we utilize.
Therefore, altering your approach to your health is the best method to retain what you learn in a health book.
You won't remember anything if you read a health book and underline a lot of the paragraphs but don't alter your diet, exercise routine, or sleep schedule.
Therefore, you will not remember the concepts you read if you do not find a method to incorporate them into your life.
Because of this, you will always be thinking, "Wow, I read all these books, and I have no idea what's in them."
Indeed, because you did nothing useful afterward!
6) Share What You've Read With Others
Suppose you had a bucket, and 90% of the water poured out each time you tried to fill it.
Would you continue to fill the bucket, or would you patch the leaks if this were happening to you?
The leaks would probably be fixed by you.
Regretfully, many simply keep filling their buckets without considering the leaks when it comes to learning.
As a result, nearly everyone wastes 90% of their education just because they don't comprehend "The Learning Pyramid."
Photo de John Muresianu sur Medium
The learning pyramid basically states that if you just choose to teach someone else what you have read, you will retain 90% of it.
For what reason? Because, just like when you write notes you find intriguing, you won't be utilizing the author's exact words when you try to teach what you've read. You will be using your own words instead. This compels your brain to process the information more effectively.
Therefore, the next time you come across an intriguing concept, try to share it with someone else. Just say to a friend or family member, "Hey, quick, can I share an interesting idea from this book I'm reading?" Plus, spend two to three minutes discussing what you just read.
Remember that reading is never the only way to learn something. The retention rate for reading is only 10%. That's awful. For this reason, ideas must be discussed in order for people to truly remember them.
7) This Is Too Much to Say: Review, Review, Review
Some people have the ability to read a book once and retain all of the knowledge it contains. However, the vast bulk of the knowledge we read in books will be quickly forgotten by 99 percent of us.
This is what's referred to as "The Forgetting Curve," which says that during the first 24 hours after learning something new, we tend to forget it.
Each person has a varied amount of forgetting over the first 24 hours.
Here's the thing, though...
You will only retain a small portion of what you initially learned if you don't go over what you just learned again. A lot of it will leave your memory after the first day, and more will in the days that follow.
photo de Philipp Stelzel - Digital Creator sur Medium
We feel as though we are remembering what we are reading when we read a book, which makes this intriguing. Even though the information is coming in, we are comprehending it, and it is all coming together, it does not truly stick in our minds until we go back and evaluate what we have read.
Unfortunately, this cannot be avoided. Reviewing is necessary. What kind of review, though, ought you to be doing?
Spaced repetition review is the term for it!
After learning something, you basically go over what you've learned on a frequent basis.
To do this, you can employ a variety of tactics, but I suggest using the one known as "The Rule of 5."
According to the Rule of Five, after you have acquired knowledge that you wish to remember long-term, you should ideally review the piece of information you’re trying to memorize at the following intervals:
5 times the first day.
Once a day for 5 days.
Once a week for 5 weeks.
Following that, you're ready to go!
Recall that the only way to solidify information in your long-term memory is to review it. Therefore, you run the risk of quickly forgetting what you've learned if you don't review it on a frequent basis.
However, you may easily remember whatever you read in a book for the rest of your life if you follow the Rule of 5.
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