If you want to be successful, you must have knowledge. Because knowledge is what gives you opportunities and helps you make decisions. Making the right decisions will bring you closer to your life goals.
But to be able to make the right decision, you need a lot of knowledge. And to have knowledge, you have to learn. The ironic truth is that we can’t remember much of what we’ve learned.
Research shows that if you load new information without using it, within the first hour, it will drop by half. After 24 hours, the amount of information loss will increase to 70%. The number after 1 week is 90%, which means most of the information you learn is gone from memory.
To improve knowledge acquisition and retention, new information needs to be consolidated and stored securely in your long-term memory.
It is an ironic fact that we cannot remember most of what we have learned.
Dr. Elizabeth Bjork is a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Together with Piotr Wozniak, a Polish researcher best known for his work on SuperMemo (a learning system based on repetition), Dr. Bjork worked on a theory known as forgetting theory .
Accordingly, our long-term memory is built from two characteristics: intensity of retrieval and intensity of information storage. Dr Bjork also coined concepts such as: Recall power is a measure of how likely you are to recall something immediately, i.e. the information is near or far from the surface of the mind. Friend. Storage power measures the depth to which information is remembered.
According to Dr. Bjork’s theory, if we want to learn and retain knowledge effectively, we can’t just aim to read one book a week or passively listen to an audiobook or podcast.
Instead, reread the chapters you didn’t understand the first time, write down or practice what you learned last week, before continuing to read a new chapter or listen to the next lesson. Or you can also take notes while studying or after studying, if that works for you.
If you’re struggling to remember something, reread it often . By forcing yourself to remember past information, you are already reinforcing new knowledge in your mind.
Research shows that when a memory is first recorded in the brain, especially in the hippocampus, it is still very fragile and easily forgotten.
Our brains are constantly recording information temporarily to separate important information from the clutter. The clutter is the conversations you hear on your way to work, the things you see, the clothes the person in front of you is wearing, the discussions at work, etc.
To make room for new information, your brain has to clear out any old information that hasn’t been repeated by you. If you want to remember or use new information in the future, you must actively store it in your long-term memory.
This process is called encoding or printing information to the brain . If you don’t create a proper encryption process, you won’t be able to store the information and any future attempts to retrieve it will fail.
In the late 19th century, the psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus became the first to systematically tackle the analysis of memory. The forgetting curve described by Ebbinghaus explained the decline in memory retention over time. Curves that record how the brain stores information have played a big part in the field of memory research.
Ebbinghaus once said: “Any significant number of repetitions produces a consistent distribution of information over a period of time, and it is far more beneficial than generating a whole mass of information at the same time. at the time”.
Forgetting Curve: Most of the information we learn is forgotten over time.
In a University of Waterloo report looking at how we forget things, the authors also argued that: When you intentionally remember something you learned or saw not too long ago, you sends a strong signal to the brain to make it retain that information.
“ When something is repeated over and over again, your brain says, ‘Oh – it’s repeated again, I should keep it. When you are exposed to information that has been repeated over and over again, it takes less time to ‘activate’ that information in your long-term memory, and retrieving that information when needed becomes easier. should be easier ,” the scientists wrote.
We often say that learning is a lifelong affair. But out of school, most of what we learn just comes from reading and listening. So, by using a variety of techniques to put new knowledge in memory, you will also consolidate new information faster and more deeply:
As the name implies, this method simply requires you to reload new information that you want to store deep into your brain after a certain period of time.
For example, when you finish reading a book and really enjoy it. Instead of stowing the book on the bottom floor of a bookshelf, keep it in a visible place to read it again after 1 month, then again after 3 months, once after 6 months, and once after 1 year.
Repeating information over a period of time takes advantage of the spacing effect, an effect that shows our brains learn better when we disaggregate information over time. That’s because repetitions help strengthen new neural connections over and over again.
The 50/50 rule is a very good method for learning, processing, retaining and remembering information.
Spend 50% of your time learning anything new, and the other 50% sharing or explaining what you’ve learned to others.
Research shows that when you explain a concept to others, that’s the best way for you to learn it. The 50/50 rule is a very good method for learning, processing, retaining and remembering information.
For example, instead of reading a book from beginning to end, try reading only half of it, then recall, share, or write down the main ideas you’ve read before reading the other half.
You can even apply the 50/50 rule to individual chapters instead of the entire book. This learning method works really well if you aim to retain most of what you’re learning.
The ultimate test of your knowledge is your ability to pass it on to others.
“The best way to learn something is to teach it to others – explaining something new not only helps you understand it, but helps you remember it better,” says Adam Grant.
A presentation allows you to see how things work.
Another very useful method is to make the most of the presentations you have to thoroughly understand a topic inside and out. Not simply reading, listening or explaining to others, a presentation allows you to see how things work, helps you visualize all concepts.
A sleep before learning new knowledge allows your brain to become more lucid.
Finally, use sleep as a powerful aid between study sessions. Scientists say that while we sleep, we consolidate what we have learned during the day into long-term memory. Meanwhile, a sleep before learning new knowledge allows your brain to become more lucid.
Evidence shows that even long naps (more than 60 minutes) help reinforce what you’ve learned.