I like to read occasionally. I don't consider myself to be a heavy reader. But I read when the opportunity presents itself. In the past I faced a dilemma in connection with reading. I would come across great insights and ideas only to forget them a few weeks later. When I would revisit the books that I had read and take a look at the pencil underlines and markings, I would be amazed at just how much I had forgotten and how profound and important these ideas were.
If only there was a way to repeat the information until I could remember it with ease...where I had learned it well and could always remember it.
I understand that reading material once seldom works to truly remember it. A higher standard of learning something requires several repetitions of the material.
The core insight
📚 Reading once → forgetting
🔄 Repetition → retention
⏱️ Spaced repetition → permanent memory
The flashcard memory
I had to devise a system to remember the information. One day, I was on Wikipedia, reading about accelerated learning techniques. One of these techniques was spaced repetition, particularly using flashcards.
The last time I had ever heard of flashcards was in second grade when we were learning new vocabulary words. The memory is somewhat faint, but I remember the teacher would hold these little cards up to a student to teach them. I cannot recall the name of this teacher.
Incidentally, in the second grade, I learned that memory works by repetition. We would usually verbally repeat the information as children, sometimes for the entire period. I disliked this and believed it might have been a way for the teacher to avoid teaching.
Rote learning awakening
This repetition insight would be fully appreciated in the 11th grade where I was basically a rote learning machine. I would repeat information exhaustively. I was obsessed with perfect comprehension and learning....at least for a brief period of time in my life.
So I knew repetition was important. I had only had a small taste of flashcards in my early life. But how could I leverage these ideas to remember information from books?
Enter Anki
The idea of creating flashcards by hand seems somewhat daunting and time consuming. Additionally, these cards may become damaged, lost, etc. I did more digging on the internet and found modern software which allows for this process to be more automated. The name of this software is called Anki. Anki, I heard, is widely used by medical students. Since medicine requires a lot of repetition, this software is highly useful and has many premade decks for subjects taught in medicine.
So I gave it a try for everything I would learn. I created flashcards for any insights I absorbed from books, from reading Wikipedia, from inspirational quotes, from YouTube videos, LLMs, etc.
The results
The results are positive and substantive. The information learned flows more easily when I need to teach or advise someone. I feel like I have a great deal more control, ease and lucidity.
The takeaway
So the main take away is that if you encounter an interesting point in a book that you wish to remember long-term, turn it into an Anki flashcard. Repeat it in spaced intervals using their automated spacing features.
My simple system:
1️⃣ Read and encounter insight
2️⃣ Create Anki card immediately
3️⃣ Review daily (Anki handles the timing)
4️⃣ Information moves to long-term memory
The beauty of digital flashcards is that you carry thousands of cards in your pocket. No paper clutter, no lost cards, and the algorithm shows you exactly what you're about to forget. It's like having a personal memory trainer that knows when to quiz you.
Next time you read a book and underline a powerful passage, don't just leave it in the pages. Turn it into a card. Let spaced repetition do the heavy lifting. Your future self will thank you when the insight comes to mind exactly when you need it.