How do you retain knowledge gained from books?

[ShadeDream]

I don't know if everyone's like this but whenever I read something like an article or a book I can never really retain the information or the key points. I've been reading various books and one of them I paused for almost a month. I've recently tried to come back to it but I don't really remember what happened within, I've got a faint idea but that's about it.

So how do you guys retain information from reading? By making notes? If I was to make notes, I'd probably end up with my own book which isn't very helpful. lol

 

[SnakePliskin]

Read the book again after I am done.

 

[kinlee]

Take short notes, don't copy word for word. Come back to it the next day and write out the notes into sentences. Come back to the sentences you wrote a week later and read them. Come back to them again maybe a week or a month later and read it again. Also drawing doodles, using post its, writing in a different colour helps you remember it as well.

The more you play and interact with what you read and took down the easier it will be for you to remember it.

 

[Rokebono]

Few years back I had the same problem and I solved it by taking notes. I have a big notebook and every 2 or 3 files are dedicated to one book. In every paragraph I try to concentrate an idea I got or just some quotes that I consider worth remembering.

 

[Panther28]

masterbate onto the page you want to remember.

 

[Junkfood00]

Read the synopsis online, watch the movie tied to the book if there is any, re-read the pages you forgot...

 

[divok]

read just before you are going to sleep , and while you going to sleep think about what you read. See that did you remember it next morning.

another method .

Try to explain what you just read in a youtube video . If you can explain it you understood it.
I created a 100 video youtube channel , while I was learning python and obviously earn't some money too.

 

[Wilson Grant Fisk]

I outsource all my reading and thinking.

That way, my brain always has space for porn.

 

[Goal Line Technology]

masterbate onto the page you want to remember.

I dont think he was reading "those type of books, with photos"

@OP ......Repetition is the Mother of Retention (source ~ GLT October 2013 )

@kinlee.... Off topic ... but I dont like your new avatar, the old one was much better

 

[Duffers5000]

Everytime I read something new it pushes something old out of my brain.............Homer J Simpson.

 

[MaverickonRoids]

Video is the cure. I also struggle with words on a page, in terms of getting it to stick in my brain. Videos though.....wow, like glue. It's like my brains works in video, rather than text.

 

[kinlee]

@kinlee.... Off topic ... but I dont like your new avatar, the old one was much better

Is it scary? (I hope it's more creepier than W130SN avatar) lol It's almost Halloween, I wanted to use something a little more fitting for the month. I'll be back to my old one when I get all the candy out of my system

 

[LaLore]

I'm a visual learner and can recall quicker if I have a visual image of what I've read. Usually, I have to make some sort of diagram, mind map or doodle with the key points.

 

[Logician]

I'm working on learning another language right now, and I have found what helps me retain vocabulary the most is when I relate it to something. Before I struggled retaining 10 per day now 30 a day isn't a problem.. So i'm not sure if its because of the method, or if its because the brain is like a muscle and is just getting better at remember things because of consistency. Also for me personally, I have found I can't retain any of the vocabulary just hearing it.. I have to write it down at least once, and then it sticks in my brain.

 

[PurplelinkPL]

Personally I take notes on specifically what I want to remember for the book, then re read them before I start reading the book again later, assuming you're not reading it all at once. I try to never marathon books so I sit on the section I just read for a bit.

 

[WizGizmo]

One of the best ways to retain the knowledge is to APPLY the knowledge.

I remember listening to Eben Pagan who said that he once attended a convention
featuring the top salespeople in the world, and when they were asked what they
attributed their success to , most of them agreed that it was the fact that they
IMMEDIATELY IMPLEMENTED the new and useful ideas and methods they had
learned along the way.

 

[Chris22]

Get drunk the same day and then explain about what you read to random people you meet at the bar. 100% retention rate

 

[euros123dotcom]

Me: make a doodle or mind map (like LaLore).

What also helps is to create some kind of 3D-imagery in my mind. I try to convert the ideas into images and connect them into a bigger image that I can "move around" in my head, forcing myself to create this mental object usually helps to memorize things in one go. It takes time to practice but is a great time saver.

Similar to this idea (mine is easier): http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Memory-Palace

All will depend if your mind learns better with visual, auditory or kinesthetic methods. If you are a auditory learner/mind: hear MP3 of the book, if you are kinesthetic: put something into practical use and explain it to others, etc.

 

[john1444]

You need to format your system.

And get some rest.....

I'm very sure you are the busy to the teeth kind of person.
Such people tends to suffer more from such indigestion.

 

[avi619]

I have an eidetic memory