Whether it'southward Facebook content, Bill Gates' favorite book, or the latest critical business concern report, most of usa enjoy reading or have to practise quite a flake of information technology through the day. But in the blitz to do everything in less time, you might be missing a crazily elementary way to commit more content to retention:

Just go back and give yourself a little time to reflect on what you just read.

Now, when I say "reverberate," I don't mean sit at that place pondering for an hour. I mean sitting just long enough to

  • Mentally identify the main points or concepts
  • Jot downward some notes (yous can't write everything, so this forces your brain to choose what's most important)
  • Consider the ramifications or implications of the content
  • Think virtually how the content connects to your personal preferences, personality, and experiences

Why it works.


As Allison Preston, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, explains in this 2022 research study release,

We think replaying memories during residual makes those before memories stronger, non only impacting the original content, simply impacting the memories to come. [...] Nothing happens in isolation. When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that information. In doing so, you lot embed the new information into your existing knowledge.

With this in heed, when you give yourself a few minutes to rest and call back near what yous merely ingested from the folio, y'all're assuasive your brain to improve connect the new information to what you've already washed or understand. And because the brain is wired to reply to emotions rapidly and efficiently, connecting them to memory formation and the interpretation of facts and rational idea, if you can permit yourself to really acknowledge and respond to what yous feel during your reading reflections, y'all stand a better run a risk of the new memories being more powerful and easier to call back.

The myth of lost time.


I can hear you protesting from here.

"I barely accept time to use the restroom! How am I supposed to take time to reverberate on what I read?"

I get it. But when you lot can remember information from your content better, y'all actually can end up saving fourth dimension. You lot don't take to become back and look up as many facts or ideas, and whether information technology's rubbing elbows with some big shots at a conference or explaining your rationale for a new process to your team, you lot tin apply the information on the wing better. From this standpoint, reading reflection is an efficiency booster and worth the few cursory minutes it takes.

More than ways to level up.


To really get the most out of your reading and reading reflection, at that place are a few other add-on tricks you can try. You lot might want to

  • Read some of the content aloud or describe images for the master ideas. The brain doesn't procedure the different types of sensory data in isolation from each other, so honing in on auditory or visual information might help you process the content.
  • Read when you are more rested. Fatigue can negatively influence your ability to focus, then option a reading fourth dimension where you feel energized.
  • Eliminate distractions. While turning off phone alerts or shutting your door are obvious distraction points, don't forget about other factors, such every bit room temperature, hunger, and your position in your chair.
  • Be articulate most your goal. Knowing the purpose behind what you're reading can make information technology easier to experience motivated and engaged with the content.
  • Go for a hard copy. Researchers from the University of Oregon institute that online content is harder to retrieve. One theory is that the disappear-reappear nature of online content is distracting, just the loss of tactile information, such as the feeling of the page, might contribute, likewise.

No matter how long your reflection time might happen to last, just read. Read anything. It's by far one of the easiest things you can do to boost your intelligence and stay on top of your game.