Ask HN: What are your strategies to retain something that was recently learnt?
I was wondering what are your conscious and subconscious strategies to retain for the long term something that you recently learnt.
Also, I inmediately try to find a way to make it useful for me. This is not always the case because I tend to read more rather than "do" more but it helps me create even more relations in my brain.
Also, from time to time I revisit the topic and do the same steps as before because in the meantime I could have learned something that might be useful for the first thing.
Also, if is really important or something really nice for me I try to simplify it and teach it (Feynman technique style).
Taking notes and mind-maps have not worked for me, I feel that once is written in notes (digital) or in xmind I tend to really forget about it.
For supposedly superficial knowledge and mathematics etc. the good old presentation is very helpful for me. At the moment you try to condense and present it, everything changes. What was obvious or clear becomes difficult to tell and this are the bridges that will help a lot later.
To quote one of my professors in loose translation. "I don't know much about that topic yet, maybe I should make a lecture for it."
Retention by creating course material is quite powerful and can be very deep.