A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

To improve memory, widely recommended on Reddit and with a good score on Goodreads. Excellent book, well written and full of examples, stories, and exercises to remember what you learn; I actually feel confident about the concepts I learned. It will give me ideas to better remember what I read. I’m noting the “10 rules for good studying” listed at the end:

Notes

1. Use recall. Summarize, rework, bring back the ideas you learned by asking yourself what you just read and what you actually learned. FUNDAMENTAL.
2. Test yourself. By quizzing yourself you train memory better. Do small challenges.
3. Chunk your problems. Small steps; dividing into segments helps you memorize, then you can connect the dots in diffuse mode, maybe while doing something else.
4. Space your repetition. It helps to revisit the concepts in the following days to train long-term memory.
5. Alternate different problem-solving techniques during your practice. This is more for math, but don’t stay stuck on one approach: switch around, try new methods, change it up now and then.
6. Take breaks. They are essential to rest focus mode, to process, and to feel good.
7. Use simple analogies. Example: F=ma with the mule, but in general tackle tough concepts with images and memories, aiming to explain them to a ten-year-old.
8. Focus. No distractions, stay in quiet environments, use the Pomodoro technique.
9. Eat your frogs first. Tackle the hard tasks first to activate your brain; as soon as you get stuck, switch to something simpler.
10. Make a mental contrast. Picture where you were, where you want to go, your dreams. Motivation. Vague…

It also covers bad habits: rereading passively; procrastinating without resisting the impulse for immediate rewards; reading the solution and thinking you know it all (definitely an issue of mine); studying together and wasting time; and distractions.