📚 How to Improve Your Memory, 2 Chess Documentaries, and more.

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular book summaries you may have missed:

• “Learn Like A Pro” by Barbara Oakley.

• “Steve Jobs In Exile” by Geoffrey Cain.

• “The Coaching Habit” by Michael Bungay Stanier.

PS: I’m thinking of adding a “Reader Recommendation” section to this newsletter:

Reply to this email with 1 book and 1 paragraph explaining why you loved it. And you might get a shoutout in next week’s newsletter!

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “Remember” by Lisa Genova.

I’ve been reading a ton of books about memory this year; here’s another great one.

It’s written by a neuroscientist, but the author is also an incredible storyteller who makes the science and subject of memory a fascinating read.

If you enjoyed “Uncommon Sense Teaching”, “Make It Stick”, or “Learn Like A Pro”, you’ll love this book.

📖

1) Focus Less On Remembering & More On Reminding

On October 16th, 1999, the world’s most famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, climbed into a yellow cab in NYC.

Twenty minutes later, he paid the fare and left the cab. Seconds after the taxi drove away, he realized he left his $2.5 million cello in the trunk.

Fortunately, Ma called the police, and they returned the cello to him.

But how could Ma have forgotten this expensive and incredibly personal item in the first place?

Simple: the cello was out of sight, which made it out of mind.

Our memory isn’t as reliable as we think.

In 2013, it was reported that 722 surgical instruments were forgotten and left inside patients over the previous eight years. In one case, a surgeon left a 13-inch retractor inside a patient.

So what can we do?

Create reminders that remind you, instead of fully relying on your memory:

• Create To-Do lists and Checklists: Offload the mental burden of remembering by writing down what you want to accomplish.

• Enter the information into your calendar: Put your most important activities and even the smaller tasks you want to complete onto your calendar. Take it one step further and add a reminder for each event.

• Place your cues in impossible-to-miss locations: Need to bring a wine bottle to a party? Place it in front of your door so you can’t leave without it. Need to finish a book or paper for class? Place it on top of the TV remote so can’t watch TV without being reminded of the assignment.

Use your memory to remind you, but set up additional reminders so you have a backup and never forget something important.

📖

2) How to Forget Negative Memories

Our brains are fascinating; they sometimes forget important tasks yet remind us of moments we wish we could forget.

Fortunately, however, there is a method you can use to ‘delete negative memories.’

This doesn’t work for PTSD or other seriously traumatic moments, but if you want to forget an embarrassing moment, like when you tripped in front of your crush or when you threw up on yourself after a crazy night out, here’s how.

First, it’s important to explain why you keep remembering that negative memory.

Your brain tends to remember moments that have meaning and are repeated.

Chances are some of those negative memories have some meaning attached to them. Such as trying to teach you an important lesson, like watch where you’re walking or don’t have five shots in an hour.

Once you’ve extracted that lesson, it’s time to delete the embarrassing moment. You can do that by–drum roll please–not thinking about it.

Literally stop repeating or replaying the story of what happened. Stop going over the details with your friends or in your thoughts. Don’t talk about it or think about it.

If you find yourself replaying a negative memory, distract yourself with a silly jingle,

If you find the discipline to leave those memories alone, they will eventually fade away.

As the saying goes, time heals all wounds. But you can speed up that process by not replaying negative moments.

📖

3) Additional Memory Tips

Here are a few helpful tips to remember more:

Pay Attention: You can’t remember something unless you first give it your attention. You can increase the amount of attention you give something by decreasing distractions, putting your phone down, and not multitasking. Instead, be present to all of the visual, emotional, and factual information in front of you.

Make It Meaningful: If you want to remember a moment, make it meaningful. Relate what you’re trying to remember to stuff you already care about. Create a story about the information or event you’re trying to remember.

Practice Makes Perfect: The more you repeat a memory, the more you’ll strengthen it. To maximize the effects, space out your practice sessions and test yourself instead of just rereading the information.

There are a lot more great memory tips in the book; if you found this newsletter interesting, I’d recommend read it.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Instead of trying to remember every task you might need to do, set reminders for it–such as creating a to-do list or adding it on your calendar.

2) You can forget negative memories faster by not recalling or replaying them in your mind.

3) If you want more memory tips, read “Remember” by Lisa Genova.

💎 Weekly Gem:

2 Entertaining Chess Documentaries:

1) Queen of Chess: This documentary explores the life and career of Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgár–the greatest female chess player in history. The amount of time, energy, and effort it takes to become a world-class chess player is insane. If you’re into chess, sports psychology, or greatness, watch this.

2) Chess Mates: This documentary is about how Hans Niemann, a rising chess star, somehow managed to defeat Magnus Carlsen–the greatest chess player of all time. It involves the infamous ‘anal beads’ cheating scandal. If you’re looking for a more casual and comedic chess documentary, watch this one.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

-Alex & Books

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