How To Train Your Brain To Remember Almost Anything PDF

To make Medium work, we log user data.
By using Medium, you agree to our Privacy Policy,

including cookie policy.
Personal Growth
Sharing our ideas
and experiences.
Follow
10K
Image from rawpixel.com
How to Train Your Brain to Remember

Almost Anything
How to better prepare yourself for acquiring — and retaining — new
knowledge
Thomas Oppong Follow
Oct 16 · 5 min read
Success is largely based on what you know — everything you know informs
the choices you make. And those choices are either getting you closer to
what you want or increasing the distance between you and your ultimate
goal in life.
Many people want to learn better, faster, retain more information, and
apply that knowledge at the right time.
But the reality is that we forget a lot of what we learn. Human forgetting
follows a pattern. In fact, research shows that within just one hour, if
nothing is done with new information, most people will have forgotten
about 50% of what they learned. After 24 hours, this will be 70%, and if a
week passes without that information being used, up to 90% of it could be
lost.
To improve your acquisition of knowledge — and retention, new knowledge

must be consolidated and securely stored in long-term memory. You have to Top highlight
actively do something with new information to make it worth your while.
According to Elizabeth Bjork, who worked on a theory of forgetting along

with Piotr Wozniak, long-term memory can be characterized by two
components — retrieval strength and storage strength. Retrieval strength
measures how likely you are to recall something right now, how close it is to
the surface of your mind. Storage strength measures how deeply the
memory is rooted.
If we want our learning to stick, we have to be doing more than just aim to
read a book every week, or passively listen to an audiobook or podcast.
Research indicates that when memory is first recorded in the brain

(specifically in the hippocampus) it’s still “fragile” and easily forgotten.
How you process information determines how much you’ll

remember later
Our brains are constantly recording information on a temporary basis —
scraps of conversations you hear on your way to work, things you see, and
what the person in front of you was wearing, etc. It’s the only way to
separate the relevant knowledge from the clutter.
The brain dumps everything that doesn’t come up again in the recent future
as soon as possible to make way for new information — if you want to use it
again, you have to deliberately work on storing it in your long-term
memory.
This process is called encoding — imprinting information into the brain.

Without proper encoding, there is nothing to store and attempting to
retrieve the memory later will fail. Reprocessing things you read and learn
daily send a big signal to your brain to hold onto that knowledge.
In the late 19th century, Herman Ebbinghaus (a psychologist) was the first
to systematically tackle the analysis of memory.
His Forgetting Curve which hypothesises the decline of memory retention in

time was influential to the field of memory science back then when he was
studying how the brain stores information.
He once said, “With any considerable number of repetitions, a suitable

distribution of them over a space of time is decidedly more advantageous
than the massing of them at a single time.”
In a University of Waterloo report, the author of the Curve of Forgetting

explains, “When the same thing is repeated, your brain says, “Oh — there it
is again, I better keep that.” When you are exposed to the same information
repeatedly, it takes less and less time to “activate” the information in your
long term memory and it becomes easier for you to retrieve the information
when you need it.”
Most life-long learning will inevitably involve some reading and listening,
but by using a variety of techniques to commit new knowledge to memory,
you will cement new information quicker and better.
Leverage spaced repetition — repeating what you are trying to retain over a
period of time. Example, when you read a book and really enjoy it, instead
of putting it away, re-read it again after a month, then again after three
months, then again after six months, and then again after a year.
Spaced repetition leverages spacing effect, a memory phenomenon that

shows how our brains learn.
Use the 50/50 rule. Research shows that explaining a concept to someone
else is the best way to learn it yourself. The 50/50 rule is a better way to
learn, process, retain and remember information is to learn half the time
and share half the time.
Learn for 50% of the time and explain what you learn for 50% of the time.
Example, instead of completing a book, aim to read 50 percent and try
recalling, sharing, or writing down the key ideas you have learned before
proceeding. Or better still share that new knowledge with your audience.
You could even apply it to the chapters instead of the whole book. The
50/50 learning method works really well if you aim to retain most of what
are learning. The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to
transfer it to another person.
“The best way to learn something truly is to teach it — not just because
explaining it helps you understand it, but also because retrieving it helps
you remember it,” says Adam Grant.
Make the most of topic demonstrations to understand the topic inside out.
Unlike simply reading or listening to an explanation, demonstrations show
you how something works and help you visualise the concept. In some
applicable situations like learning photography, design, public speaking,
negotiation, a useful new technology, etc., using instructional videos that
demonstrate what you’re trying to learn can improve your retention rate.
Finally, use sleep as a powerful aid in-between learning sessions. Not only is
sleep after learning a critical part of the memory creation process but sleep
before learning is important as well.
Short naps can help recover energy. There are now dozens of evidence that
supports naps. Longer naps (60+ minutes) — where memory consolidation
happens, is even better.
The more the mind is used, the more robust memory can become. Taking
control of information storage will not only help you add on new bits of
information but will reinforce and refine the knowledge you already have.
Here’s a quote by Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia to ponder as you train your
brain to learn and remember better — “If you wish to forget anything on the
spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.”
Learning Self Personal Development Education Self Improvement
10K claps
WRITTEN BY
Thomas Oppong Follow
Founder at AllTopStartups | Author | Creator of Thinking in

Models and Kaizen Habits | Featured at Inc. Magazine, Business
Insider, Forbes, Entrepreneur, etc.
Personal Growth Follow
Sharing our ideas and experiences.
See responses (25)
More From Medium
More from Personal Growth More from Personal Growth More from Personal Growth
How to Escape Your Family to 5 Daily Habits of Emotionally The Purpose of Life Used to Be
Save Yourself Fit People Presence. Today, It’s Novelty.
John P. Weiss in Person… Nick Wignall in Persona… Zat Rana in Personal…
2.2K 8.1K 3.2K
Nov 1 · 8 min read Oct 20 · 7 min read Oct 25 · 8 min read
Discover Medium Make Medium yours Become a member

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium
Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center deliver the best stories for you to your homepage — and support writers while you’re at it. Just
stage - with no ads in sight. Watch and inbox. Explore $5/month. Upgrade
About Help Legal

How To Train Your Brain To Remember Almost Anything PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How To Train Your Brain To Remember Almost Anything PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

How To Train Your Brain To Remember Almost Anything PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

To make Medium work, we log user data.

By using Medium, you agree to our Privacy Policy,

Image from rawpixel.com

How to Train Your Brain to Remember

To improve your acquisition of knowledge — and retention, new knowledge

actively do something with new information to make it worth your while.

According to Elizabeth Bjork, who worked on a theory of forgetting along

Research indicates that when memory is first recorded in the brain

How you process information determines how much you’ll

This process is called encoding — imprinting information into the brain.

His Forgetting Curve which hypothesises the decline of memory retention in

He once said, “With any considerable number of repetitions, a suitable

In a University of Waterloo report, the author of the Curve of Forgetting

Spaced repetition leverages spacing effect, a memory phenomenon that

Learning Self Personal Development Education Self Improvement

Thomas Oppong Follow

Founder at AllTopStartups | Author | Creator of Thinking in

Personal Growth Follow

Sharing our ideas and experiences.

See responses (25)

More From Medium

Discover Medium Make Medium yours Become a member

About Help Legal

You might also like