The art of keeping knowledge forever

Do you sometimes have the feeling that you forget a lot of things or can't remember what you just read the day before?

The funny thing is, the more your brain forgets, the better it actually works! Imagine being able to remember all sounds, smells, noises etc. equally well. Then you would no longer be able to distinguish the important from the unimportant. And that's what your brain does. All you have to do now is to re-calibrate your brain.

At the beginning of my law studies, I first had to learn how to study properly and how to remember facts and rules of law. In law school you have to remember so many things that it becomes a problem if you keep forgetting them.

Here's my approach to memorizing things. Hopefully it will help you too.

When it comes to important information, I always proceed in 5 steps: Preparation – Reading – Reflection – Reward – Repetition.

1. Preparation is key

If you're honest with yourself, you'll read a newspaper article or listen to a podcast without preparing for it. What I mean by that is: ask yourself, why you are reading this. Is that relevant for your business or job? Do you want to remember that for a presentation? What do you already know about the topic? What could the topic include? Why is that interesting to you?

Tip: You can remember things best when you have certain emotions about the topic. I bet you would agree that sometimes, you can memorize song lyrics or remember certain moments of a vacation for years. It might be a bit difficult with facts and figures but give it a try!

2. Reading/Listening – focus!

If you're reading an article or listening to a podcast and you want to remember something, you have to focus. Avoid multitasking, distractions, etc. Focus entirely on one thing!

Maybe you want to take notes? That helps tremendously to increase your focus.

Btw: That is actually a good test to see, if you are really interested in a topic. If you don’t want to take notes and be 100% focused, then why bother reading?

3. Reflection

When you're done reading, don't just jump to the next article.

Step back for a moment. Ask yourself: What did you learn? What did you like about the article? What was surprising? What do you find convincing? Do you agree with all the arguments? Did you read something similar already?

Also ask yourself: what do you want to memorize? Is there a fact, an argument or an idea that you want to remember?

4. Reward yourself!

It has been scientifically proven that we remember things best when we are rewarded.

It doesn't have to be a vacation. Small rewards are much better: a piece of chocolate or a short walk can help you process what you just read.

Many don’t know this, but the affect of that step is equally important as the reading itself! Think about that for a second.

5. Repetition

Unfortunately, your brain forgets very quickly (as already mentioned). Therefore, you have to repeat what you have learned.

To avoid the curve that leads to forgetting the information, you have to repeat in the evening, the next day, at the weekend, six months later and a year later. At a certain point it becomes part of your general knowledge, and you will never forget it again.

That is my strategy.

What is yours??