Hold Yourself Accountable While Studying (and After)

It’s very easy to read or hear something and tell yourself the false story that you’ll remember it. For example, how many times have you looked at your weekly schedule to find the time of a meeting that will occur the next day. Say you see that you wrote down 5 p.m. for the meeting time. If as soon as you close your calendar and go on to a new task you forget the time, you are a victim of passive reading; the meeting time seemed simple to remember, but you did nothing active to help yourself remember what you read.

So, instead of just looking at the meeting time, you could read it and then ask yourself what time the meeting is as you close your schedule. If you can recall that the meeting is at 5 p.m., then you can conclude that you understood what you read and you’ll remember the meeting time later on. As an added layer of protection, 30 seconds after you close your book, you could ask yourself again, “What time is the meeting?” By again recalling, “The meeting is at 5 p.m.,” you maximize the chances that you’ll remember the meeting time. You must take as active an approach as possible to your learning; you cannot be a passive participant.

You can apply this technique to your GMAT prep. When you read something, don’t let the information simply wash over you. Remember that just reading some material will result in a very poor knowledge retention rate. Instead, check in with yourself regularly to ensure that you’re understanding and retaining what you’re reading. Imagine that you have just read the definition of the least common multiple for the first time. Before you continue reading, take a mental step back and ask yourself to recite the definition from memory. Then, some time later, recite the definition again. Such a strategy will keep you honest and help ensure you’re actually learning and not just reading.