Remember What You Read

Project Managers and other professionals must cope with a torrent of reading material 

At work, you have articles, meeting minutes, and reports to read. Developing your career means reading books, magazines, and blogs. And, if you're studying, your reading reaches a crescendo.

But reading is the easy part

It would be simple if you could just read something, and it would stick. If only the ideas and essence would stay in your memory.

But they don't.

And your rush-rush, busy-busy life is largely to blame

Dashing from one thing to another is a recipe for... what was the word?

If you want to remember more of what you read, try this...

First, do more of your reading when you are fresh, so your mind is primed and ready to store the new information. And, if you can do so without distractions, you'll be able to focus 100 percent.

But the magic in crafting memory comes after you've read

Process the information through 'active reflection'. 

• Make notes about the key points. 
• Better still, transform them into a diagram, a mnemonic, or even a list. 
• Think about how what you've read fits with what you already know...
• And how will it affect what you need to know or do in future?

And my top tip is to use that information as son as you can. Tell someone about it, bring up its implications in a meeting, or write about it.

If you are studying, make a new habit

Here's something for hen you've finished learning a new section. It could be reading, videos, or exercises. 

1. draw a map of the ideas you've covered
2. show connections to other ideas
3. describe, out loud, the essential points, as if explaining to someone else

This way, you process that information through your mind in different ways. You draw it, say, it, and hear it.

Good luck to those of you studying:

• PRINCE2
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Agile Project Management

Those links, by the way, are to new pages on our site. They are for people studying, or thinking about studying, each of those topics. If that's you, please do check them out. 

And drop me a line to tell me what I can do to make them more helpful.