Memory

Things I have difficulty remembering in a pinch:

• • names of people I haven't seen in a while

  • concepts, unless I've "gotten my hands dirty" implementing them

  • stuff I read online

    • tend to skim, missing details

    • distractions on individual pages/screens

      • Instapaper/Readability/full-screen mode (esp. with the iPhone) ease this

What seems to work for me

• • cue cards

    • especially true when I make the cue cards

    • examples where it worked:

      • learning Chinese in my twenties. I folded cue cards in two, then used the four sides for

        • outside: pronunciation in Pinyin

        • other side, outside: simplified character, since that's what we used to learn

        • inside: English translation

        • other side inside: traditional character, in order to at least recognize them in contexts outside mainland China (North American Chinatowns, for example), which tend to use traditional)

        • notes on the edges, such as which chapter of the textbook the word or phrase came from

      • taking an exam on railway safety procedures in my early thirties

        • reading the book twice, as recommended by the examiners, who said the test was simple, absolutely did not work. Failed the exam miserably using that method

        • my girlfriend stepped in an noticed that I had to try a different approach, and suggested cue cards

        • one side: the situation

        • other side: what to do in that situation

  • learning by doing

    • true in my late twenties/early thirties

    • I can read all about how to install a web server, but actually rushing through the instructions and breaking things leads to more success

    • "muscle memory", as much as muscle memory can be applied to typing on a keyboard

  • taking photos of stuff, mostly because it's easy

  • if not remembering the thing, then at least remembering where I can look it up

    • tagging is useful not for the social aspects, but for the individual aspect. That is, I don't expect anybody to know or guess what I tag something with, but I do know what I would tag something with if I need to find that something

Don't know either way if they work for me (questions about my learning style):

• • does taking notes and reviewing them work?

    • in fact, almost any lecture or event I attend will be well-documented, likely video- or at least audio-recorded. So why even bother in the first place?