How to Retain Information at Work

Studies indicate we lose up to 90% of new information within 3 days. That said, if we review this information within 24 hours, it’s been shown that we retain up to 80% of what we just learned. If we review again within 48 hours, that retention goes up to 85%, and if we review AGAIN within 72 hours, odds are we retain most if not all the material. This is spaced repetition and if you have new hire training or ongoing work trainings coming up, it could be a good idea to use this method. Here’s what it looks like in the real world: Yesterday was day 1 of our company’s 3-Day advanced training program to help us master a certain area we cover. - I limited distractions and took notes during the call. - After dinner, I reviewed what I learned for simply 5 minutes. - This AM before heading out, I took out a sheet of paper and wrote down every detail I could remember off the top of my head from the training yesterday to see what I retained and what gaps to fill. - At work today, my goal is to purposely get into convos with customers to practice what I learned and ask questions about their experience on the topic. - 15 minutes prior to today’s training, I’ll do another quick review of my notes from yesterday. - I’ll focus and take notes during today’s training, and later tonight will review what I learned yesterday AND today. - Tomorrow AM I’ll do another session where I’ll write out everything I can remember from the past 2 days off the top of my head, and will see what gaps are left. - I’ll sprinkle in a call with my 2 FSTs 🫱🏼🫲🏽 - Then I’ll repeat for day 3. At the end of this 3-day training, the goal is to get closer to mastery and be a more trusted advisor to my customers, help serve more patients, and as a result, help the company brand and sales. With this meaningful goal, the stakes are higher and makes my focus and excitement to learn increase. If you have a lot of new material to learn, I suggest getting serious about WHY it’s so important that you learn it and what life will look like if you master it. I also suggest looking into Jim Kwik ASAP. Good luck out here everybody. If you have a favorite method of learning, let me know! Include an example of when and how you used it too if you’re willing 🫱🏼🫲🏽

Most of what you learn today will be forgotten by next week. But here’s how to make it stick: Apply it, then share it. For years, I consumed endless content (Books, Podcasts, Trainings, you name it). It felt like I was learning a ton, but in reality, it was like pouring water into a leaky bucket. Now, whenever I learn something new, I follow these steps: 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Write it down. I create folders for different topics and store new info there. ↳ This helps me remember it longer. 2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: Create an action item to put the learning into practice. ↳ Taking action cements the knowledge. 3️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲: Communicate it to others in a succinct way (like here on LinkedIn). ↳ Explaining it to others forces me to master my understanding. As Einstein said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” That’s how I personally ensure knowledge sticks — what techniques do you use? Would you give this a try?

Humans forget 50% of new information within an hour of learning it. After a week, that jumps to 70%. It's called the forgetting curve, and it's killing your team's performance. Sales leaders come to me all the time with the same issue - their team is struggling to retain training and new information. Thanks to the forgetting curve, you forget new information faster if you're not actively reinforcing it through repetition or application. But the solution is simple: The more drills you do, the longer you can go between refreshers. I'll explain with 2 scenarios—a minimal forgetting curve situation and a maximum. (These are the most common examples I've heard from sales leaders in the last year.) → Minimal forgetting curve For sales reps constantly in the field, talking about competitors becomes second nature. Almost every prospect asks how their company stands up to competitors, so they're refreshing that knowledge daily. → Maximum forgetting curve For leaders, giving tough feedback or conducting termination conversations tend to be crucial moments, yet they happen infrequently. So what happens to these skills? They deteriorate the fastest. To combat the forgetting curve in a critical scenario like this, you have to set structured refreshers. Get the foundational knowledge in place and then schedule follow-up sessions at increasing intervals. Easier said than done—I know. But this is where tools like Exec's AI roleplay come into play. We allow employees to practice these high-stakes, low-frequency skills on demand. And for organizations who don't have an L&D head, but want to train their teams effectively, we have more intense learning programs that span 1-2 months where we set up automated follow-up nudges (emails that go out 6 months post-program, for example, to make sure trainees don’t forget what they learned). That way, no matter how long it has been since your team learned the material, they can improve their retention of critical skills, improve performance, and reduce any anxiety during challenging moments. TLDR: The only way to combat the forgetting curve is with continuous, strategic reinforcement. Any approach to keeping critical skills fresh working for your team right now? Comment below.