What is the best way to retain what you read?

The most effective way to retain what you read is to engage actively rather than passively. This means pausing periodically to summarize what you just read in your own words, a technique called elaborative interrogation. Testing yourself on the material shortly after reading, rather than rereading it, dramatically improves retention through a process called the testing effect. Spaced repetition also helps significantly, meaning you review the material at increasing intervals over days or weeks. Writing notes by hand rather than typing forces deeper processing. Finally, connecting new information to things you already know creates stronger memory anchors. Teaching the concept to someone else, even hypothetically, is one of the most powerful consolidation methods available.