Fighting Forgetting

You need water and grab a bucket. As soon as you’ve filled it, almost all the water leaks out. 90% of it! So you just keep refilling….and refilling….and refilling, right?

Yeahno.

And yet, that's pretty much how most people try to learn. The thing is, it's a lot work transferring new knowledge from working memory into long-term memory. And our brains would rather not, thankyouverymuch.

So how to we fix learning leaks? Here are the options, ordered from useless to effective.

1. Watch a video or attend a lecture. Retention rate: 5%

2. Read about it. Retention rate: 10%

3. Watch a video that contains some audio instructions. Retention rate: 20%

4. View a demonstration. Retention rate: 30%

5. Talk about it with others in a group discussion. Retention rate: 50%

6. Practice what you just learned. Retention rate: 75%

7. Teach someone else what you just learned and/or put the new knowledge to use right away. Retention rate: 90%

The tl;dr: when you want to hold onto stuff you learn, you have go in armed. Know that your brain is secretly scheming against you. Be proactive so your fancy schmancy new knowledge doesn't simply leak out.

To keep your anti-leak on fleek, when you learn something new:

• teach it to someone

• make a quick sketch to help yourself remember

• summarize it

• record a quick voice memo

• review it - often

• take action

"A simple concept is never just learned. It needs to be discussed, talked, written, felt etc. When you are learning something new, do something with it." - Ferris State University

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