How I Remember (Almost) Everything I Read

I spend about 20-30 minutes extra on every book I read to make sure I can pull out and use the most important lessons and ideas from it. Here's the simple system I use.

Books I mention in this video:

[ProseAndPetticoats]

Thank you for the reference to my channel, Joel. Someone told me you used footage of one of my videos, and it was lovely to see 🤭 Happy reading!

[iLikeMyOwnPosts]

Outline: Strategy for Remembering and Using Key Insights from Books
0:00 Introduction

Problem Statement: Many people struggle to remember what they read due to a lack of strategy.
Solution Overview: A three-part strategy combining various methods, scientific insights, and personal practices.
0:52 Part 1: Taking Better Notes

Common Mistake: Highlighting passages (e.g., on Kindle) can give a false sense of understanding.
Recommended Approach:
Use “literature notes”:
Combine direct quotes with personalized summaries.
Ensure notes are concise, properly cited, and written in the reader's own words.
Benefits: Improves comprehension and retention through active engagement.
2:22 Part 2: Organizing and Categorizing Notes

Purpose: Identify essential vs. non-essential information and facilitate connections.
Methodology:
Categorize notes into meaningful groups (e.g., "life advice, " "health, " "writing").
3:39 Part 3: Writing a Summary

Importance of spaced repetition and retrieval practice:
Write the first version of the summary without looking back at the book.
Review and refine the summary afterward to ensure key ideas are consolidated.
Aligns with cognitive science principles on strengthening neural connections.
5:00 Conclusion

Emphasis on the value of active engagement, spaced repetition, and connecting new information to existing knowledge.
Acknowledgement of time investment required, but highlights long-term benefits of deep understanding and retention.

[olivia.]

Brilliant video. I put index tabs in the back of every book i start because i always want them handy for flagging ideas, new words, passages, and things i have questions about

[one_red_daisy]

Perfect for what I want to do after reading and underlining ideas in “Getting Things Done” and how I want to move forward with retrieval.

[milaksel]

Besides recommendations cover music is perfect! Thank you for sharing.

[ThinKtakeNotes]

really enjoy this video. I take notes while reading in a notebook as well. I have to stop myself sometimes when I write to much. I try to summarize up sections of a chapter into my own words with some reference points from that section. Applying knowledge is more than acquiring knowledge. I recently just started reading last year and really glad that I have taken notes since I started. Its nice to see the change in my note taking from the beginning to now. Also the Art of Re-Reading which I saw from Mr. Holiday. Your not the same person now as when you read said book. So really looking forward to go through my books again sometime this year. Nice Video thank You!

Just watched it again and took notes this time. I started to add a short summary after each reading session. Really enjoyed the video again. I do need to get into the habit of rereading my notes from past books and summarizing those throughout the year. Something I didn't do when I did read them.

[FreyaEmily-gi]

Joel Snape's system for remembering everything you read is genius! Invaluable for retaining knowledge

[ChristopherAlsruhe-siff]

Studying has a place for learning memory, but it is inferior to teaching. I have one technique which is an ancient one. I started doing it myself and then learned decades later that it was nothing new. In essence, teach what you're learning. Sit back in your chair, close your eyes if you want, pretend you're in front of a class, and teach what you just read, whether a page, or pages, or a chapter. imagine students challenging you with hard questions or challenges on those things which are hardest for you to understand and remember. Let students refute you in your imagination and then defend your information. I guarantee you will remember for the long haul because you taught it and had to reason it out to someone else, even though it is in your imagination.

[misterviren]

I'm about to become unstoppable fr

[tiborkovacs]

Some ancients said memory is the mother of learning suppose if you can not recall a thing you can not think about. Asking & answering questions I noticed the 5W1H kinda match the parts of speech = Who What Where When Which Why How - person place thing idea time reason method.

[Athena-nd]

Finally someone telling us something to simple to follow through

[Grunfeld]

Rightio, I like this. Let's see how it goes for a few months.

[Neuro]

im on college, first year, with no idea of how to remember 50 pages of information from a book of history of theater, assigned for 2 days from now... not sure if i can do it but ill try 💔

[secondthought]

I've been meaning to ask this for a while. Have you read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy?

[timothybourner]

'orginally paused video up to 1:57

[aqueleAntonino]

active recall a skill i want desperately to develop

[brianniac]

So how many books do you iterate thru this system?

[pezn]

You are, by some significant degree, England's dullest, baldest, and most self-satisfied man, and I say this as an admirer.

[cramar]

I found point 2 on making connections hard to understand.You were talking too fast and too softly on a fuzzy explanation so you lost me. I could go over it sentence by sentence to try to understand, but I'm just pointing this out to you. It may be obvious to you, but you glanced over the idea without formally and clearly stating them.

[desireco]

You read fiction for the experience and adventure... not to remember everything