Your reading is probably a waste of time.
You spend hours and hours pouring over a book. Then after just a couple of months, you forget it all. It’s like you've never read it before. There are few things more infuriating (clearly not much does in fact infuriate me).
Fortunately, however, there are two types of interventions that can dramatically improve your memory. The first is to use better study methods, which include active recall and spacing.
The second are general lifestyle habits that will improve your ability to remember what you learn for any given set of study methods. I want to share three such habits with you.
Side note: these habits impact your brain through numerous complicated mechanisms. I’ll only provide a brief and non-exhaustive overview of each of the three.
1) Meditation
I like to call meditation exercise for the brain.
There are a couple of ways it benefits memory, both directly and indirectly. It leads to improved focus and working memory capacity, which in turn helps you better understand and remember what you learn. In addition, meditation lowers stress levels, protecting your brain against the devastating effects of stress on memory. It has also been shown to increase cortical thickness in the hippocampus, an area of the brain crucial for learning and memory.
Thankfully, you don’t have to quit your job and become a Zen monk to get many of these benefits (despite it being tempting when you’re in your eighth meeting of the day). Different studies use different quantities (and types) of meditation, so giving exact recommendations can be difficult. However, you should experience significant benefits with as little as 15-20 minutes of it per day. Aim for more if you’re particularly ambitious.
2) Exercise
"In order for man to succeed in life,” wrote Plato, “God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection."
It turns out Plato was a pretty smart guy. Plenty of research has shown that a regular exercise routine can transform your brain. It’s time to re-evaluate your stereotypes: the best nerds are jocks.
As with meditation, the benefits of exercise work through several mechanisms. It helps release BDNF, a substance that supports the growth and survival of neurons. It also encourages higher rates of neurogenesis (basically generating new neurons) in the hippocampus. To top it off, it can lead to improved focus, lower stress levels, and better sleep quality. All of these are highly beneficial for memory.
Aim to get at least a couple of hours of aerobic exercise per week (the more the better). It doesn’t have to be anything too strenuous–much of the research uses walking as the primary intervention.
3) Sleep
Ah, the lazy way to learn. But it’s more than that: it’s the smart way to learn.
During sleep, your brain moves memories to more long-term storage, preserving what you’ve been learning and clearing enough room to get you ready for the next batch of information. Your brain also loves to activate many different areas during sleep, making strange connections between distant pieces of information. This can help you develop more creative insights regarding your studies.
The recommendation is simple: get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Make this non-negotiable. Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
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