How to remember what you read

To remember what you read, read actively instead of passively. Memory coach Jim Kwik suggests previewing the material first, scanning headlines, bolded text, and summaries, so your brain has a framework to hang the details on, and keeping a few questions running as you read, such as why the information matters, how you can use it, and how you could teach it, which keeps you engaged and makes the material easier to recall 1.

Instead of relying on heavy highlighting or underlining, Barbara Oakley recommends simple recall: read a section, look away, and try to remember the key elements before checking what you missed 2. Cal Newport adds that you do not have to review everything the moment you finish, stepping away for a short walk or a few quiet minutes before you go back over the material gives your mind time to let it settle, so you hold on to more 3.

It also helps to encode information with emotion, imagination, and association, using methods like the Pine Method (Place, Imagine, Entwine), and to teach what you have learned to someone else, the explanation effect, which lets you learn the material twice.