Do you remember the information and points covered on page no. 11 of the last book you read?

“Memory is a monster; you forget—it doesn’t. It simply files things away.” —John Irving.

Most people believe that reading is learning. No matter whether you’re an entrepreneur, student, or casual reader, retaining the information from what you read is essential for growth and development. Forgetting what you read is most common, especially when we are bombarded with information on a daily basis.

Yet, most of us want to remember all the information from whatever we read. We all want our brains to work like a CPU, where we can store as much information as we want. But the fact is, the information we read gradually vanishes from our minds.

Our brain is not designed to store every piece of information we come across. If that were the case, your brain would primarily be filled with numerous negative thoughts and irrelevant information. Hence, if you want to store any particular information in your brain for a lifetime, then it’s important to practice active recall and spaced repetition techniques.

The Science Behind Why We Forget Most of What We Read

In the late 1800s, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus found out that our memory retention follows an exponential decline, which is called the forgetting curve. Research has shown that without reinforcement, we forget about 50% of the new information within an hour and 90% within a week.

Not being able to retain all of what we read is actually a function of our brain’s information prioritization process, not a defect. Hermann Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve states that unless we actively try to enhance it, our memory quickly disappears.

To prevent being overwhelmed, our brains automatically filter out irrelevant information so that we may concentrate on what really matters. This explains why a list of cold, hard facts could slip your mind, but an emotionally engaging story stays fresh in your mind. From a neurological perspective, remembering something requires action, context, and repetition.

Repeated exposure at regular intervals strengthens the neural connections that hold previously learned material in the brain. Reading becomes active learning when you actively remember what you’ve read through summarizing, conversation, or teaching.

Reading alone is insufficient for memorization, as this scientific understanding shows; we need to engage with the content in ways that send signals of value to our brains to retain it.

Techniques to Improve Retention

Reading is just the beginning; what really is relevant for learning is how we apply what we’ve read afterwards. We need to teach our brains to value and revisit information if we want it to stick, rather than just passively consume it.

Some proven methods for retaining more of what you read are as follows:

1. After completing a section or chapter, please set the book aside and try to recall the key points. Your memory will become stronger as a result of your brain’s constant retrieval of the information.
2. Increase the time between visits to the material (e.g., once every one, three, or seven days). This punctuality serves to strengthen memory just before it entirely vanishes, in line with the forgetting curve.
3. Summarize briefly using your own words. This makes reading more of an active process, which improves retention, and it also checks your understanding.
4. Having someone else (or even just yourself) explain a subject is a great method to remember what you’ve read. To have a firm grasp of anything means to be able to explain it in simple terms.
5. Connect what you’ve learned in the classroom to real-life examples or feelings. Emotionally charged or personally significant content is hardwired into our brains to remember more effectively than cold, hard facts.
6. Create a concrete representation of an abstract idea—through drawings, a mind map, or even just writing it down—to help you remember it later. When combined with verbal memory, visual memory can be a powerful tool.
7. Make question marks out of headlines and important phrases. Reading becomes more of an engaging learning experience when your brain is primed to seek answers.
8. Divide the material into tiny portions rather than reading big passages all at once. Because of this, your brain is able to store and process information more effectively without being overloaded.

You may educate your brain to retain and apply information more efficiently over time by combining these approaches, which also increases your memory of what you read.

How to Create a Retention-Focused Reading Routine?

Reading aimlessly is like trying to fill a leaky bucket with water: the majority of it will inevitably escape. You need a reading regimen that focuses on memory retention rather than page quantity if you want to read well and remember what you read.

Here’s a straightforward, research-backed regimen you can adhere to on a monthly or daily basis to retain more of what you read:

1. Take notes while reading, summarize ideas, ask questions, or highlight the key points.
2. Perform the active recall function after reading a particular section, and try to explain it to yourself without looking back.
3. After reading, ask yourself comprehensive questions like, what’s the main argument here, and how does this connect to the information that I already know.
4. Stop frequently in the middle and focus on re-understanding what you’ve just read during the session.
5. At the end of the chapter, use the questions to understand what you already know. Use this as a review tool to verify all the information.

In addition to the above-listed points, try to create a stress-free and distraction-free environment for yourself. Create a room that is quiet and free from any notifications or disturbances, and adjust the screen settings or lighting to your comfort level to prevent eye strain.

Conclusion

Although it’s impossible to retain every word we read, we may greatly enhance our ability to do so by intentionally shaping our reading habits. The human brain is hardwired to forget irrelevant facts, yet useful information can be retained by techniques such as spaced repetition, active recall, and making connections to real-life situations. Engaging with the material in a meaningful way—summarizing, questioning, explaining, and revisiting it—is essential for true learning when reading.

Knowledge doesn’t only pass through us; it becomes an integral part of our thinking and development when we establish a reading practice that focuses on retention. We can make what we read more meaningful and permanent if we put in a little extra work afterward. Remembering what you read ultimately comes down to your reading habits more than your memory.