How To Retain Information From Books, Articles, and More

As procurement professionals delve more deeply into supply market intelligence and the research that is involved, a particular irony becomes evident: the more information is produced (think Internet) and digested, the harder it is to retain and recall it when needed the most. Luckily, there are knowledge management processes that procurement departments can put into place once supply market intelligence is collected, analyzed and documented.

Along this same line, but with a slight twist, is an interesting post written by Lifehacker’s Herbert Lui that looks at retaining information on a personal level, especially from written passages or quotes that teach lessons. Lui writes,” Although we can learn a lot of great information from books, articles, interviews, and conversations, we naturally forget a lot of it. Create a system to regularly remind you of lessons you’ve already learned.” Lui lists three simple steps and recommends tools to use. In summary:

1) Take Notes As You Read

Tools to use include a commonplace book (a book containing excerpts from other books), and an Idea Index (categorize interesting ideas as you read). In addition, digitize written notes using Evernote, Google Keep, or Simplenote (and tag your notes with relevant keywords).

2) Review The Information

You can do what author Ramit Sethi does: Set aside a block of time every 4-6 weeks to review highlights of books/articles. Also, “take the information and use it in your daily             conversations when they fit.”

3) Trigger Lessons With Mementos

“Objects can trigger ideas and memories….Each situation or experience comes with different mementos. For example, you could print quotes that have resonated with you and stick them on your wall as constant reminders. “

Copyright © Copyright 2024 Cottrill Research. Site By Hunter.Marketing