The One Hack to Remembering Everything You Read

I often find myself reading an incredibly compelling book, finding myself immersed in the content of some self-help, management, physics, business, or a history book. The thing is, I cherish books and have an extensive collection of diverse ones, and find myself reading through at least two a month. Yet, I would be lying if I said I remember all the information I try to retain.

However, I found a tiny, applicable hack to learning all the information I want to recall. It isn’t foolproof, but this simplistic scheme has helped me remember almost all the vital knowledge I tried to extract. I managed to achieve that in a few steps.

Use a Highlighter or a Pencil

Markings are a matter of controversy in the reading community. Some argue that using a pencil or a marker to highlight the sentences and phrases that appeal to you is preposterous; why would one ruin any book with unnecessary signings?

Trust me; I understand that. I used to be like that when I was younger, thinking it was utterly absurd to write on a book but let’s be honest, we end up reading the book once and throwing it back on the bookshelf. Even if I do end up reading a book a couple of times, which is a rare event, it often feels like I am reading it for the first time. But when I decided to highlight key phrases, things shifted. I would find myself going back to the book to skim through it. The sentences I go over are the ones I have marked; that is the easiest method to find some information that previously caught your attention.

If someone lends me a book of theirs and I find scribbles, notes, highlighted sentences, or remarks, it makes me ecstatic. It feels like someone left you personal messages, and that makes the experience more enjoyable.

Take Time to Reflect

After finishing a novel or any book, I would put it aside for around a week. Letting those words simmer and reflecting on what I remember is necessary. A story would inadvertently change my perspective on things I perceive around me. That’s why reading is such a beautiful process since whatever you retain slowly manifests as parts of your life.

Create Flashcards

After a few days, I would find myself going back to the book, sifting through the different words to find the one sentence I have been struggling to remember. Instead of repeatedly reading the same book, I would go through it and create flashcards on small paper pieces. On one side, I would list the book’s name and a few tags about the quote itself. On the other side, I would write the quotation, whether it’s advice, an excerpt from a novel, scientific explanations, or an event of history.

This way, I end up with a collection of flashcards from numerous books that I can access whenever I want to.

Go Through Them Before You Sleep

Sure, if you have read over ten books and created flashcards for all of them, it might be near impossible to go through all of them in the 10-minute window you have before collapsing on your bed. That’s why I don’t necessarily go through all of them. I love to keep them all stacked over each other and read a few of them right before I sleep. That way, they’re always arranged in a specific order, and all I have to do the next day would be to read the next bunch.

The technique has helped me with multiple pieces of information I tried to remember and helped during examinations and assessments.

Going the extra mile

Going one step further would be going through a few of them when I am fresh out of bed and have the mental capacity to retain the knowledge on those papers.

Reading is a beautiful hobby and one that I never plan on quitting. I honestly recommend any book fanatic to try this simple method, as it changed my perspective on learning.

“Work smart, not hard” is one of my favorite sayings. Instead of reading the entire book regularly, manage this one simple trick to memorize what you need and take in the information you want from anything you read.