Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0276: Reprise: How do you retain what you read or listen to?

Episode Date: March 30, 2015

Today, Timothy revisits the question on how to retain what you’ve read or listened to, with some extra comments on how he would change his answer today. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Hey everyone, welcome to episode 276 of Master of Memory. Today we're doing another reprise episode. When we release this episode, it's going to be during my sabbatical for some extended overseas travel. So basically, we're representing an old Master of Memory episode that I think is worth a refresher, but also with some new commentary from me based on my more experienced perspective. Today we're representing episode 39 about remembering what's being read or listened to. So if you listen to a lot of podcasts and if you read a lot of books, this is a good episode for deciding what is it that you're actually trying to get out of them and how do you remember that. One thing that I

would add to this particular episode is that if you're actually studying a topic, then I would recommend using the mind map that you're putting together from the book that you're reading. You'd actually use that mind map to lay out how it is that you're putting together from the book that you're reading, you'd actually use that mind map to lay out how it is that you're going to integrate it into a memory palace that you already have for the topic or how you're going to create a new memory palace for the topic. Mind maps are cool because you can sketch out exactly. It forces you to think about how the information is organized and how you can integrate that into your web of knowledge in your own mind. You could even apply this to Master of Memory, to listening to Master of Memory episodes. If you have a memory

palace of the different techniques that you can use in accelerated learning, you can just add each episode, the idea from each episode, into that web of knowledge. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever. Leanne asked in an email about reading and listening comprehension. Leanne enjoys reading and listening to podcasts, but finds that she tends to retain only a few facts here and there and would rather be able to summarize the information and share it with others who may be interested. So Leanne, this is a great question. I think a lot of us are learners. A lot of my

listeners really like to learn and to keep their minds running by always learning new things. But what's the use of that information if you can't remember it later, if you can't repeat it to someone else or put it into practice? How much of the 600 page book that you read last year are you going to remember next year? You may as well not have read it, right? Well yes and no. Personally I really take two approaches to consuming material. First I actually do consume a lot

of material just for reading and listening pleasure and to keep the gears in my mind turning without actually having a plan to retain that stuff. Unless I find something particular that I really want to remember, in which case I may make a note and perhaps even decide to put it into some system for me to memorize. But then I also do consume things for serious study, and I'd kind of like to focus on that second one. For reading, I've really made it a priority. If I'm going to read a book from cover to cover, I've made it a priority to create one page summaries of the books that I read. What I do is I create a rough mind map of the book shortly after I've started. So I just kind of sketch out how I think the ideas in the book are organized. And I do that shortly after I've

started the book. And then later, I'll just add things to the diagram as I go along. And sometimes I have to reorganize it as I go through the book based on the way the author is writing differently than I originally thought. But that, you know, meanwhile, I keep reviewing that thing and that just keeps me really thinking actively about the book as a whole instead of just these little facts here and there. I tend to read books cover to cover, but I make it a priority to retain only the essential stuff that I think is going to be really important for that mind map structure, for the basic ideas, you know, the overall thoughts. So by the end, I have a nice mind map of the book's contents. If I value that information enough, I might then take that and create a Quizlet set or something, maybe even a retention schedule, just to make sure that I can

quiz on it and memorize it and remember it long term. But also, I just keep that mind map, actually, I keep it in the book's cover, you know, so that the book's sitting on my shelf, if it's a physical book, I can just pick it up off the shelf, look at the mind map, and then if there's something particular I want to look up in the book, it'll fall into place. So I have a rough idea of what the book is about, even a long time later. I just have to review that mind map. For listening, podcasts and audiobooks and things like that, I tend to go more the entertainment stimulation route rather than trying to remember everything, though I did write a while back on my other site, Ace Productivity, which was a blog and is now a podcast, about the idea of trying

to put something into action for every single podcast episode that you listen to or every single book that you read. Because again, what's the use of listening to it or reading it if you're not going to apply it in any way? But then again, of course, you could go, well, there are 50 things that I could do after listening to that podcast episode. Yes, but thinking about 50 things is different from actually doing one thing. So even if there are 50 different things that you could do when you read the four-hour workweek, you could change your whole life. Just do one thing. Just apply the 80-20 rule to your free time or something like that. And you've actually gotten value out of that book, even if it seems small.

Plus, you'll have the added benefit of remembering other things in the book just because you're actually practicing one thing. So remembering everything about a book isn't really that important. What's important is remembering overall ideas and essentials, and then anything you think is really important can be put into longer-term memory. But also, taking action is something that really differentiates high performers in life from those who simply consume content for entertainment purposes. So I hope that helps answer your question, Leanne, and I'd be happy to help, you know, brainstorm with you on some ideas for retaining anything in particular or for systems for remembering books. All right, I hope you've enjoyed this reprise episode. For anyone who has any questions about learning or memorizing anything faster than ever, feel free still to

leave a message at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll be able to respond quickly to your message from wherever I am. I just won't be able to record an episode on that topic until I'm back in the States in May. Meanwhile, if you want to support the show, please check out our Spanish course at masterofmemory.com slash Spanish. Or if you want to follow my adventures in Argentina or wherever else I might happen to be, you can do that at timothymoser.com.. .