How To Remember Everything You Want To
I Aim To Grow Old With The Ability To Remember All The Good Stuff
Before I give you the power to remember everything, here are five things I have enjoyed in 2025 so far.
The fractals point outlined below - Disney and maths… heaven
Inside Out 2 - Ennui is my spirit animal
My SAGE Bleucer (a blender mixed with a juicer) - ginger juice maker extraordinaire
Ladder - my new weight training programming app. This takes the thinking out of getting strong
My extra-long shoe horn - getting on the Salomon XT6's this winter with a baby in the carrier would never have happened without it. It's powered me
*****
I read a lot; 50-odd books a year level. Fiction and non-fiction.
But reading a lot of books posed a problem for me; I started to get storylines and facts muddled up when telling pals about good books or helping answer a problem at work with something I had read.
So, the question arose: how can I better remember all the information and stories I read? It needed to be easy, so I went to James Clear’s mantra, “you don’t rise to the level of your goals*, you fall to the level of your systems”. I had to find a system to help me remember the salient parts of the books I read.
* One of my goals in life is to read all the best books and remember them so so I can put the information and learning into practice. And be the wise old Grandma who quotes poignant lines to her grandkids to help guide them in life when she is boozy and listening to their escapades.
How To Remember Content
Questions were the answer for me. In 2019, I started taking notes on the books I read in an attempt to exploit the Zeigarnik Effect. I try to create an earworm at the start of the book i.e., a song that won't get out of my head until I finish it. I do it by asking myself questions before I start the book. Questions like, what is the main objective of this book? What do I want to learn from it? What journey will the hero go on? How does this apply to my situation?
This starts a loop in my brain (via said questions) that my grey matter wants to close by the end of the book. Our brains look to close loops, e.g., finish the end of the song, so it seeks it and replays it to us until we quench it’s thirst for the answer, or completion.
As I read, I highlight, note answers to my questions and interesting bits down as I find them. My OneNote app is full of little sentences and snippets, and my brain recalls the content much more easily now I use this practice. I’ll leaf through them when I’m travelling somewhere to refresh my memory too.
A New Layer To The System For 2024 And Beyond
In 2024, I started a new layer to my system so I can decide what my favourite books are. I began grading them on three criteria, out of a maximum score of five.
Unputdownable (Speed at which I needed/could consume it)
Cover (Obviously needed to be in the criteria)
Impact (How did it sit with me and make me change my opinions and actions for the future)
Based on this criteria, the top three books I read in 2024 are;
Fiction
A Little Life - Hanya Yanigihara (WOW)
American Dirt - Jeanine Cummings
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
Non-fiction
The Creative Act; A Way Of Being - Rick Rubin
4000 Weeks - Oliver Burkman
Stuffocation - James Wallman
For the total 2024 list of 48, including those I did not finish, head to my Substack and subscribe.
I share each book's three criteria grade and my (uninformed) brief review on socials as others might want to read them. This may make you presume that I think people care what I think, but I don’t believe that; I do it to help me categorise my brain (another one for the memory function improvement) and start a conversation with my pals if they have read it too.
Why Do All This?
I love learning new stuff; sometimes I think I'm just greedy for information.
So, I'd like to remember what I have read long into old age. I want to live a life (and remember it) influenced by literature's beauty and usefulness.
Why not try out this reading system this year and see if you get any benefits from it? And let me know how you get on too, especially if it changes something for you for the better.
How To Read And Parent At The Same Time
One more thing about reading… before I had babies someone said "kiss goodbye to all that reading when you have kids" … which made me sad and worried me that I'd be exhausted and not have any time for reading.
I then quickly switched to wanting to think of a solution so I could parent and read at the same time.
After the birth of my first kid in 2022, I found myself up at night with one hand clutching a baby to my boob(s), and one hand free…lightbulb moment. I could read on my phone whilst feeding my baby. My iPhone could be dimmed and used very easily as a one handed-appropriate book via apps like Kindle and Apple Books.
The first book I intriguingly chose was 'Nightbitch' by Rachel Yonder, now a fantastic film with Amy Adams. It was wild reading it in those first parenthood day; psychedelic nights of no sleep, sweating and extreme cortisol spikes when you need the least. Readers of the book, are you like me and now check for a tail in the shower most days? Nothing yet on me thank God.
For reading at night, I highly recommend keeping the screen light yellow and low, and action dark mode if possible so you don’t affect your getting back to sleep after your wake window. This has allowed me to read plenty of books still in 2024 and raise a toddler and a newborn.
More for 2025
This year I’m rereading books to take my imprinting of memories on my brain further. Last year, I noted the books (on my google sheet obvs) that I want to reread in 2025.
I'll do it to hopefully discover Easter eggs that I missed on first read. I learned this recently as my toddler has made me watch Frozen at least 15 times this January and I was amazed when I discovered the hit song "Let It Go" included a reference to Fractals in snow; an incredible use of the beautiful mathematical term in a Disney hit for youngsters to learn and love.
When I can easily guide people to books that will allow them to learn wonderful new things which can help them navigate the life they choose, I’ll be sure to die full and happy.
To get the full 48-book rundown, head to my Substack and subscribe below
https://bctaylor.substack.com/p/how-to-remember-everything-you-want