Forgetting 80% of what you read after a week is normal and does not mean that you have a bad memory. But there are 7 magic tricks that will help you remember what you read more reliably.
1. Read less to memorize what you read.
People today consume more information than they can keep in their heads. Researchers in the United States estimate that in 2009 the average American was exposed to 100,000 words a day (which is unlikely to be reduced today). Basically, the stream of words flows to us through the phone and computer. One hundred thousand words is the volume of two decent books.
Last year, researchers at the University of Melbourne found that those who watched weekly TV shows forgotten them much faster than those who watched one TV show a week. Viewers answered questions about the show immediately after watching, and then again after 140 days. Those who watch TV often, after more than four months, could hardly remember what the program was about. Unlike those who watch TV once a week, they answered the quiz questions much more accurately. It's the same with reading.
Takeaway: To better remember what you read, read less. Try to choose your books more carefully and reduce the amount of reading by using social media and websites.
2. Retell the text
German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the “forgetting curve”. It drops steeply in the first 24 hours after we learned something new. You will forget 80% of new information without special efforts tomorrow.
Conclusion: Retell everything important and interesting on the very first day, and the knowledge will be deposited in your head.
3. Apply what you learn immediately
"Useful" reading will become even more effective if you apply the knowledge gained immediately. It is better not to swallow such books whole, but to read the chapters and immediately introduce new ideas into life.
Takeaway: Try it now: share this article with someone today.
4. Read in portions and under different circumstances
Favorite armchair and soft blanket are the fetish of most book lovers. However, if you read in the same environment all the time, your memorization will be worse. Information received under different circumstances and in different places does not get mixed up in the head and is better absorbed.
You will be surprised, but for better memorization it is important to read not "voraciously" for several hours in a row, but in portions of half an hour or an hour. Pauses will help you better understand what you read.
Conclusion: Read in a different setting.
5. Don't store books
When we are sure that at any moment we can return to the book, the brain thinks that it no longer needs to remember what it has read - the main thing is that it remembers "where it lies." Scientists at the University of Melbourne call this the "external memory effect" and associate poor memory with the development of the Internet. That is, if we remove information from permanent access, we will remember it better.
Conclusion: Do not store books. Give out yours and read other borrowed ones. If you promise a friend to give a book to read before you start reading (even if with a return), the brain will understand that this book will not always be at hand, so that the most valuable thing is better to remember immediately and for a long time. Likewise, the books that you took to read and are obliged to return are better remembered.
6. Make notes in the fields, diagrams and mind maps
Yes, at school we were taught that it is forbidden to “scribble in the fields”. However, psychologists assure that notes, underlining, questions in the margins are very helpful in remembering what you read.
Conclusion: Schemes, mind maps and sketches are also what you need.
7. Define the purpose of the reading ahead of time.
And the most important advice given by Peter Kamp, author of the book "Speed Reading": when opening the book, determine in advance why, in fact, you are reading it. What is really important and valuable for you? What exactly do you want to remember and for how long?
Conclusion: Answer as specific as possible. With such a hint, the brain will better understand which storage departments to send the incoming information to.
