Retain More of What You Learn at Work

Organizations spend a whopping $82.5 billion on training annually, or $1,111 per employee, according to Statista. Employees attend virtual conferences, webinars, training classes or perhaps some are back on the road traveling to an in-person or hybrid meeting.

How often do you find yourself listening to a keynote speaker, thinking, “wow, that’s a great idea, I’ve got to try it.” But then you get back to your daily grind, an inbox full of emails, and urgencies of the day. You start to forget, and that great idea is no longer top of mind.

According to cognitive scientists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel in their book Make it Stick, we forget about 70% of what we read or hear. The forgetting curve is a mathematical formula by Hermann Ebbinghaus that originated in 1885. The curve demonstrated the rate at which information is forgotten over time if we don’t attempt to retain it.

Learners will rapidly lose their memory of learned knowledge in a matter of days or weeks unless the information is consciously reviewed. Some studies suggest that humans forget approximately 50% of new information within an hour of learning it. That goes up to an average of 70% within 24 hours.

However, the rate at which a person forgets depends on several factors including memory strength, how meaningful the material is, and physiological factors such as stress. The good news is that there are a number of methods you can use to challenge the forgetting curve.

Here are some ways to make the most of your next learning opportunity:

1. Make time for reflection. After a presentation, take a moment to recall the main takeaways. Think about how you can apply them to your job, team, or industry.
2. Share your learning. Type up your key takeaways, review them with your team, boss, or peers, and suggest how you can put relevant ideas into practice.
3. Apply the learning. Think about how you can apply what you are learning. During and after the session, link the learning to a situation at work.
4. Think ahead. Space out the learning by scheduling follow-up emails to appear in your inbox as reminders about a concept you learned.

References:
Chartwell Content (2017, March 22): 6 Ways to Overcome the Forgetting Curve
Fast Company (2021, September 23) by Jennifer Lewi: How to Retain More of What You Learn at Work
LearnUpon (2020, January 16) by Olivia McGarry: 5 Ways to Challenge the Forgetting Curve