posted 12 hours ago
Spaced repetition is key! There is a Slavic proverb that "repetition is the mother of learning."
If my memory serves me correctly ;) there is something called the "forgetting curve" where we forget more than half of what we learn in the first 24 hours. Hence the '2' in your video standing for reviewing info 2 hours after learning, as opposed to two days later.
Reviewing (2 hours, not two days) drastically helps memory shift bits and bobs into longer term storage. Of course, this necessitates having something to review in the first place...good notes, audio/video recording, textbooks, etc.
Other quick tips for memory improvement:
Multiple senses - Seeing, hearing, touching, *doing*, smelling or tasting even. The more you experience, the deeper the memory. Hence why students with handwritten notes recall better than typed notes.
Encoding - Taking knowledge tidbits and converting them into a different medium. Like drawing a picture, or making up a dance. Symbolism and forced connections, even weird or wacky metaphors, can help.
Chunking - breaking big stuff (e.g. lists) into smaller manageable bits. Like how US phone numbers are +1 (###)-###-####.
Memory palace - Our sense of location is pretty deep. You can probably envision lots of details about your home if you close your eyes or if the lights went out. Or if you commute, you don't have to think much about various turns, it's near automatic due to knowing specific key points. A memory palace encodes items or concepts to be recalled into locational "pegs", and then you can "walk" through the locations in order to retrieve the memory set. (I used this method many years ago to encode Holmgren's 12 permaculture principles into my old college campus.)
Relevance - If something to be learned can be made super relevant - like it is super useful, or vital to survival or emotionally significant, there is greater motivation to retain it.
Acronyms & Acrostics - Self explanatory. The initial letters lead into the things to be remembered. Like ROYGBIV "Roy Gee Biv" standing for the colors of the rainbow in order.
Teaching & explaining. If you teach something, it really helps solidify it while also helping someone else :D
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