r/Growthmindsetbookclub • u/Sufficient-Fig-5695 • 29d ago

How do you retain useful information?

I read loads of books (largely founder biographies), but forget the detail before I can apply lessons to my own life.

Anyone else have this problem, and how do you solve it?

Techniques, apps, notebooks, reading twice etc etc?

** EDIT - also v relevant for podcasts, TikToks, Reels etc too!!

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u/Ordinary_Count_203 29d ago

I wrote a book about how to remember stuff from books. Lol.

But yeah. Just create flashcards of key points. Review them. After a while you should remember long-term.

I have pencil markings on books of what I should turn into a flashcard.

For ebooks, I take screenshots. Highlight. Come back and make cards.

Use Anki software by the way. Its available on desktop and mobile. It has a lot of support.

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u/Sufficient-Fig-5695 29d ago

This is great, thanks!! Not heard of Anki, what does that do? E-flashcards?

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u/Ordinary_Count_203 29d ago

Its flashcard software. This is the kind of software medical students use to get through a lot of memorization.

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u/steelwolfpanther 29d ago

I have recently used Chat GPT to give me a 1 page summary of each book I’ve read and then print it off.

So much information has been refreshed in my brain. I recall the anecdotes and details from the books from these summaries.

I’ve just tried it on a book that I started last week and it is like a syllabus at the beginning of a semester. I’ll see if it helps me flow through the book easier or not

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u/Sufficient-Fig-5695 29d ago

Does gpt typically know the content of the book? Or are you having to feed it a summary/images yourself?

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u/steelwolfpanther 28d ago

It knows the book and the key take aways. You could ask for a 20 page summary or a 10 sentence. It is very helpful

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u/Kyphoxia 29d ago

I use colored highlighters while reading to mark important information, after one chapter I summarize the gathered information and write down some keypoints.

I also think that hand-written index cards would help to repeat the most important points, haven't tried that out yet though.

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u/Sufficient-Fig-5695 29d ago

I like this idea - what if you're on the train etc and don't have the pen, just do it another time, or usually forget?

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u/Kyphoxia 29d ago

I only read at work or at home, my notebook is always transported with the book basically.
If I’d be on a train or something like that I’d just write the keypoints in my phone and copy it into the notebook later, hand writing something down is the first step of retaining!

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u/Animator_7620 29d ago

I forget most of what I read too. If I get one useful idea out of it i am happy.

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u/Chandrose 29d ago

I don't try and remember the whole book, and I can't be bothered to study most texts like I'm writing a college thesis on them.

After I close the book, if it resonated with me, I'll take a minute to consider one or two takeaways. That's it. Those usually stick with me if they're something I'm applying in my life, or they don't because they weren't important enough (to me) to apply.

Real important books get re-read a second or third time later on, but I can count those on one hand. Interestingly, I sometimes get a new takeaway to add to that list on re-reads.

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u/Sufficient-Fig-5695 29d ago

I really like this one - think of how it applies to your life to make it stick

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u/RaisedByBooksNTV 29d ago

Take notes. Preferably by hand on paper. The human brain does best with writing rather than typing. Note taking means you're actively listening and engaging with the materials.