How to Remember What You Read By Mridula Murugan

 How to Remember What You Read

By Mridula Murugan

It’s important to know that remembering what you read is not just about having a good memory. It revolves around having a purpose and actually doing something with those ideas afterward. In the article, James Clear explains that people should focus on books that are worthwhile, choose how to apply them to real life, and avoid treating it like a race. One strategy is to take notes in a way that you can actually return to them later, effectively understanding what you read. This means creating notes that are searchable, highlighting key passages, and writing important notes that are concise but independent of what you remember.

Always remember that you can always quit a book, especially if the quality of the ideas does not stick out to you. The article emphasizes that the opportunity cost is too high to be wasting your time on average books and average ideas. The books that you should pick are the ones that provide wisdom that are actually able to be used immediately. At the end of each book, write a short summary so you can maintain the main ideas and be able to review all your notes and ideas quickly. 

For me, I always notice that I remember reading better when I actually think about what I’m reading as I do. If I simply read a book for a certain time spent reading or to reach the end of the chapter, I won’t truly process what I’m reading. Instead, if I think about how that novel or article applies to something in my life, they continue to stand out to me long after I put it down. In the end, make sure to put in effort continuously to retain all the knowledge that you interact with. 

Works Cited

Clear, James. “Reading Comprehension: How to Retain More of Every Book You Read.” James Clear, 3 Sept. 2018, jamesclear.com/reading-comprehension-strategies.