How to Retain Knowledge
Use spaced repetition., Quiz yourself., Take notes long-hand., Explain your knowledge to someone else., Take breaks when studying.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use spaced repetition.
If you want to remember something, don’t repeat it over and over to yourself – this is known as massed repetition.Instead, let some time elapse before you repeat it.
Ideally, you want to try to retrieve the information exactly at the moment when you were about to forget it.The difficulty of retrieving the information correlates to how strongly you will remember it.
If you’ve just met someone and want to remember their name, repeat it to yourself every five or ten seconds while talking to them.
When studying, don’t go over the same flashcards over and over again.
Let a few hours or even a day go by, then go through them again.
You can stop studying the ones that are easy to remember.
Focus on repeated the ones that are difficult, but always allowing some time to elapse in between sessions. -
Step 2: Quiz yourself.
Taking a short test helps to keep information you’ve just learned in your mind.
The process of retrieving the information from your brain seems to strengthen your mental connection to it, making it easier to remember that information over the long termWhen reading, stop every so often – perhaps after every chapter or section, or more often it’s very difficult reading.
Put down the reading and ask yourself: can I summarize what I have just read in one or two sentences? After a lecture, class, or important meeting, jot down the main take-away points in your own words.
Don’t look back at your notes: see what you can remember. , Even if you only use your laptop for note-taking, and stay away from distractions like e-mail or social media, typing is still less effective than hand writing your notes.Writing by hand is slower and forces you to put the teacher’s words into your own words.
This is the first step toward understanding and retaining knowledge, rather than merely recording it. , Teaching the knowledge you need to retain to a friend, roommate, or family member forces you to translate the information into clear, understandable language.
This is an important activity in “active learning,” which has been shown to improve retention and understanding of knowledge.Spend two minutes explaining a concept to your roommate.
Then, swap roles, and let your roommate explain a concept to you for two minutes.
Grab a whiteboard and teach a five-minute lesson to a friend.
Then, ask your friend to explain what you’ve just taught them.
Pay attention to what confused them: the areas that you explain least clearly are probably the things you understand least well.
Write a letter to a parent or other relative.
Explain the concept in clear, simple terms. , You need to allow time for mental recovery and for the information you’re learning to be absorbed.
Even while you’re on your break, your mind will be turning over the new information, and you might find yourself better able to understand a problem when you return to it. -
Step 3: Take notes long-hand.
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Step 4: Explain your knowledge to someone else.
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Step 5: Take breaks when studying.
Detailed Guide
If you want to remember something, don’t repeat it over and over to yourself – this is known as massed repetition.Instead, let some time elapse before you repeat it.
Ideally, you want to try to retrieve the information exactly at the moment when you were about to forget it.The difficulty of retrieving the information correlates to how strongly you will remember it.
If you’ve just met someone and want to remember their name, repeat it to yourself every five or ten seconds while talking to them.
When studying, don’t go over the same flashcards over and over again.
Let a few hours or even a day go by, then go through them again.
You can stop studying the ones that are easy to remember.
Focus on repeated the ones that are difficult, but always allowing some time to elapse in between sessions.
Taking a short test helps to keep information you’ve just learned in your mind.
The process of retrieving the information from your brain seems to strengthen your mental connection to it, making it easier to remember that information over the long termWhen reading, stop every so often – perhaps after every chapter or section, or more often it’s very difficult reading.
Put down the reading and ask yourself: can I summarize what I have just read in one or two sentences? After a lecture, class, or important meeting, jot down the main take-away points in your own words.
Don’t look back at your notes: see what you can remember. , Even if you only use your laptop for note-taking, and stay away from distractions like e-mail or social media, typing is still less effective than hand writing your notes.Writing by hand is slower and forces you to put the teacher’s words into your own words.
This is the first step toward understanding and retaining knowledge, rather than merely recording it. , Teaching the knowledge you need to retain to a friend, roommate, or family member forces you to translate the information into clear, understandable language.
This is an important activity in “active learning,” which has been shown to improve retention and understanding of knowledge.Spend two minutes explaining a concept to your roommate.
Then, swap roles, and let your roommate explain a concept to you for two minutes.
Grab a whiteboard and teach a five-minute lesson to a friend.
Then, ask your friend to explain what you’ve just taught them.
Pay attention to what confused them: the areas that you explain least clearly are probably the things you understand least well.
Write a letter to a parent or other relative.
Explain the concept in clear, simple terms. , You need to allow time for mental recovery and for the information you’re learning to be absorbed.
Even while you’re on your break, your mind will be turning over the new information, and you might find yourself better able to understand a problem when you return to it.
About the Author
Michael Ryan
Committed to making home improvement accessible and understandable for everyone.
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