Thread by @SahilBloom

How to retain what you learn:

Growth is driven by the accumulation and compounding of usable learning.

We accumulate and compound this learning through consumption and retention.

Consumption is the inputs—retention is what remains after leakage.

This thread shares my simple framework for retention:

The retention framework I use involves five steps:

• Inspired Consumption
• Unstructured Note-Taking
• Consolidation
• Analogize
• Idea Exercise

The structure is sequential, but its practice is often dynamic & iterative.

Let's walk through each of the steps...

Step 1: Inspired Consumption

Retention starts with consumption.

If it’s forced, it’s forgotten. If it’s inspired, it’s (more likely) retained.

Inspired consumption is when you feel genuinely pulled to consume—when you enjoy the consumption process.

It requires the willingness to put ego aside and "quit” more books (or content) when that genuine inspiration fades.

Inspired consumption encourages:
• Flow state
• Engagement

Both are critical.

Inspired consumption is the foundation of retention.

Step 2: Unstructured Note-Taking

Begin with basic, unstructured notes.

Take note of:
• Foundational ideas
• Novel insights
• Things that made you go “hmmm” or “wow!”
• Connections you identified to other topics

I use Notion for this, but choose whatever works for you.

Step 3: Consolidation

Zoom out and review your unstructured notes.

What are the most interesting, novel insights or ideas? What are the most confusing?

If unstructured note-taking created a bunch of dots, consolidation is where you start connecting them.

Step 4: Analogize

Analogizing is the most effective—and least well-known—retention tool.

This is where you take your newly-learned information and place it within your existing maps.

You make clear comparisons and connections between newly-learned and existing information.

Step 5: Idea Exercise

Think of the new idea as a muscle—if left alone, it will atrophy. You have to exercise it!

A few ideas:
• Bring it up in conversations
• Talk about it with a friend
• Try to teach it to someone

Spaced Repetition works wonders (detailed thread below).

https://twitter.com/sahilbloom/status/1441766163394990080

It’s not enough to simply learn more—you have to retain more of what you learn.

So to recap, my framework for retention:

• Inspired Consumption
• Unstructured Note-Taking
• Consolidation
• Analogize
• Idea Exercise

Follow me @SahilBloom for more threads on growth!

And for a deeper-dive, check out my newsletter piece on retention that went out to 69,000+ subscribers today! sahilbloom.substack.com/p/how-to-retai…