How do you guys actually learn and retain new things?

Hi, 

I wanted to ask y´all how you learn and retain new things? I´m currently a Freshmen and have been using my Ipad to read about various finance/economics textbooks and to keep up in lectures. However, this strains the eyes over time. Do you read (finance/economics) (Text)books as PDFs or on physical paper? And what system do you guys have in place to understand and retain what you read? Do you have the feeling that you retain more things when you´re reading a physical book? I´ve been using the Active Recall method through Notion which has been time consuming and screen heavy. 

Thank you 

3 Comments
 

For me, PDF vs a physical book doesn't matter, but I always handwrite notes. I initially tried to type all my notes but found that to be very unproductive and I didn't retain anything. I switched to handwriting notes and now I retain way more. Taking notes while reading will be time consuming yes, but I would rather take the extra time the first read rather than have to reread everything 2 or 3 times. 

 

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