Why Do I Forget Everything I Read? 5 Reasons and What to Do About It

You’re not alone. This isn’t to do with your memory or your capacity to retain information.

It’s about what tactics you’re employing before, during and after a book.

What activities are you consciously carrying to help you retain your information.

That familiar feeling of completing a book and trying to remember what you have read is a tricky situation for everyone and one that many people face.

Readers will naturally forget the exact words, examples they have come across, key characters throughout a book, and individual details for each chapter. 

The biggest point here is that your reading wasn’t wasted because you forgot some key details. It was still valuable time spent.

Let’s run through the key reasons why you could be forgetting what you read.


1) You’re reading passively

There is a clear distinction between being able to understand something on a page vs. proactively to retain information as you read.

It’s likely that when you’re progressing through a book, you’re not doing the following after each chapter:

  • What were the main points from that chapter?

  • What do I actually remember from that chapter?

  • What were the key points and lessons?

  • Why did it matter?

Asking those questions change the reading from passive to proactive.

To help improve this, read our article on 50 prompts to help your reading.


2) You’re trying to remember too much

This is on the other side of the passive/proactive spectrum when it comes to reading. The goal isn’t for you to remember every word in the book, this isn’t a script you’re learning. Not every book will have tons of lessons and ideas you want remember so you have to be selective about what you’re trying to retain.

It’s crucial that you trying to distinguish the different between examples, ideas and lessons. This will allow you to be smart about what you capture throughout your reading session.

The easiest way of doing this is asking yourself “if I could only remember three things from this book, what would they be and why?”.


3) You’re not connecting ideas to your own life

Reading with a purpose makes retention much easier. If you are seeking ideas and lessons from a book they naturally resonate with you because you have an issue or challenge that needs a resolution.

This is how you can connect with your ideas.

Imagine you’re reading Atomic Habits and the principle of becoming 1% better each day by creating habits is something you have come across for the first time. During the same period, you happen to be actively trying to lose weight because you feel unfit.

Looking at that piece of advice without any reference to your own life will make it hard to remember because there is no purpose for you to retain that information. It’s a lesson that invokes no feelings. However, if you flip your approach and think about proactively applying that principle of creating a habit to achieve your goal of losing weight then it becomes memorable as you are actively applying it your life. You have created a purpose for it.


4) You finish the book and move onto the next one immediately

The title says it all. You are not giving yourself time to process what you have just read. Instead, your mind is now occupied with trying to remember something new because you have started another book immediately.

It should follow the steps:

  • Read

  • Finish

  • Reflect

  • Retain/Apply

The only time this doesn’t apply if the book genuinely provides no value to you or you did not finish it, which is perfectly acceptable. Not every book turns out to be what we expect.

If you want more ideas on how to actively retain information after finishing a book then read our article on how to remember what you read.


5) You do not retrieve the ideas later on

You finish a book. You take notes. You do not think about the books principles for months and years.

It’s a common theme for many readers because you’re occupied with the new books, ideas and lessons.

However, for the books that have had an impact on your life, you should proactively reread your notes to ensure you remember the core principles. This doesn’t need to be a complicated or a time intensive exercise, it’s a quick process to help you retain information.

We have quick exercises listed for this exact purpose in our 50 prompts for reading article.


Conclusion

Once again, it’s not based on you or your memory. You’re just adopting habits and behaviours that do not put you in a position to remember what you read.

If you want to begin your journey of retaining more information then apply the points above and also download our app, Your Chapter, where we generate lessons, workbooks, and action plans based on what you have read. It’s a seamless way to make reading and learning proactive.