Is it possible to get my academic brain back?

[Noreen Claire]

I left work when DS7 was born and my teaching license has since become 'inactive', and there are several hurdles to getting it renewed. I have a plan to jump the first hurdle this fall, and it starts with me studying at the library a few mornings a week. I spent 90 minutes reading this morning in glorious peace and quiet. However, as I was walking to my car, I realized that I had absolutely NO MEMORY of what I had just read. My academic brain has gone to mush, and I really have no idea how to get it back!

Has anyone else gone through a season like this? Can you offer tips on teaching yourself a new topic that is only tangential to your own (supposed) area of expertise? What if you've *also* gone rusty in your area of expertise? 

 

[Farrar]

I have had to go back to reading "serious" literature as opposed to light and children's stuff almost exclusively in the last couple of years - as my kids have gotten older, and I've joined some more serious book clubs, that sort of thing - not quite what you're talking about, but I was also rusty after having been a serious reader of literary fiction and heavy nonfiction for years. It took be awhile and I still don't feel like I'm 100% there, but it has gotten easier. I just have had to keep forcing myself to do it. And then it's like a muscle that you're working out. It starting to flow and work again. I'm sure there are tips and tricks, but I think mostly you just have to keep doing it and it will get easier after awhile.

[Andromeda]

Yes! It's definitely possible.

In my case, I started to feel... I don't know... stupid I guess. It's not a good description, but I had trouble focusing and retaining material. I went to graduate school at that point and my "academic brain" came back quickly. :)

But for you, I recommend trying a purposeful reading strategy. If we just read text, most of us will forget the majority of what we read even if the text is something like a high interest novel. If you read with a purpose it is much easier to not only understand what the text is saying, but also to remember and make connections with other things you already know.

My favorite reading method is called SQ3R, if you haven't come across it before. There are many websites that describe it and also videos. Here is a link to a short version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dhcSP_Myjg and another, longer one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ui2mpPDP7E

[Katy]

Yes, after a couple of years of heavy duty painkillers and an antiseizure drug I felt like my IQ dropped dramatically even when my health returned.  I did a bunch of research into it (but I didn't save any of the links because I was just doing it for me, not to prove something to someone on a message board).

Science suggests:

1. Exercise - at least half an hour of brisk walking, and 20 minutes or more of vigorous calisthenics per day.  The benefit seems to peak at about 3 hours of walking or 10-12 miles per day. It is thought to be because that's about how far a migrating group of people would walk, and if you're going into a new area you will need increased IQ to survive there.  Interestingly, there seems to be an epigenetic effect increasing the IQ of children whose mothers walk daily during pregnancy.
2. If you eat a low fat diet you need saturated fat. If you tend to have anxiety or mental health issues and you've avoided saturated fat for a while you may need a daily serving for a while, but for most people 2-3 servings a week seems to strike the best balance between brain health and heart health.  Obviously if you have heart disease you should probably skip this one.
3. Study challenging material.  Take notes.  Use Flashcards.  If you know something well put the card to the side when you review them, if you don't know it easily put it at the back of the pile.  Go through the entire pile, and then repeat the ones you know until you have no review 3 times.
4. Don't feel bad.  Academically inclined people tend to only need to review something they are interested in 1-3 times to get it into short term memory, but the average person needs to review it 7-10 times.  Below average could be much more than that.
5. To transfer from short term memory to long term memory you need to get enough REM sleep. And then review the flash cards again, first daily, then weekly, then randomly to make sure you remember.  There's an app called Anki that makes digital flashcards that makes review easy, and is on a repetition pattern most shown to help you study, if you'd rather do that than paper cards.  I personally find that writing the cards helps me remember so I haven't stuck with Anki.

[DawnM]

Yup!  I didn't work for 10 years, although I had maintained my credentials because I didn't want to jump through any hoops later.

But when I went back to work and needed to interview, I realized there were a lot of things I no longer knew, partly because I had been out for so long and things had changed.  So I needed to brush up.  I read, downloaded some things, and studied.  I honestly felt dumber than ever.  And I didn't retain it all.  

I have done a LOT in the last 3 years and learned a lot, and I even took the first part of my National Boards test this year!  

I can honestly say that I now feel confident I can learn again and don't feel like an old dog who can't learn new tricks.

 

[Storygirl]

I'm glad to hear that others have found a way to get back in the groove mentally. I have to admit that I really feel that my mental ability and stamina is not what it used to be. I was extremely academic in my teens and twenties. Now I feel mentally sluggish. I do know that it is probably related to not having enough sleep, in my case. But there are some other good tips in this thread!

OP, I do agree with taking notes and reviewing after you read. I never had to do that when I was in school. I took notes in class and studied them for tests, but I could just remember what I had read in any book and didn't take notes on it. In recent years, I have done some research into reading comprehension and retention, because I have a kid who struggles in that area. Taking notes is a strategy that can work. You might google "two-column notes" and see if that method of note-taking would help you. Using flashcards is  also a great way to practice definitions and facts.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Storygirl

[EmilyGF]

I started narrating, Charlotte Mason style (read a bit, tell it back to yourself, aloud, own words), a few years back, and I now read better than I ever did before. At first I was shocked when I'd read a really interesting article and not be able to tell it back well at the end. Now I can read long passages of complicated text and tell them back easily. It helps me pay attention. So that's my first suggestion. I do take notes, often on 3x5 cards, if I am reading something very detailed oriented and I need to be able to reproduce specific parts and not just the ideas in general. 

Also, people are really back at multi-tasking. If you have kids bugging you, or you check email as a break, you probably won't get much done. What you get done won't be done well. I use sound-blocking headphones if I am trying to study. I realized I feel constantly mushy-brained if I'm trying to multi-task or use my phone too much.

For study at home, I get up early (5 am) and get in a good 1.5-2 hours before the kids are up. I generally take a short nap mid-day of about 15-20 minutes and go to bed earlier than hubby at night.

I still haven't tried my hand at learning math and science again, my specialties when I was in school. These habits have been useful for me when learning a foreign language and doing complex readings. 

Emily

[Noreen Claire]

24 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

I started narrating, Charlotte Mason style (read a bit, tell it back to yourself, aloud, own words), a few years back, and I now read better than I ever did before. At first I was shocked when I'd read a really interesting article and not be able to tell it back well at the end. Now I can read long passages of complicated text and tell them back easily. It helps me pay attention. So that's my first suggestion. I do take notes, often on 3x5 cards, if I am reading something very detailed oriented and I need to be able to reproduce specific parts and not just the ideas in general. 

Also, people are really back at multi-tasking. If you have kids bugging you, or you check email as a break, you probably won't get much done. What you get done won't be done well. I use sound-blocking headphones if I am trying to study. I realized I feel constantly mushy-brained if I'm trying to multi-task or use my phone too much.

For study at home, I get up early (5 am) and get in a good 1.5-2 hours before the kids are up. I generally take a short nap mid-day of about 15-20 minutes and go to bed earlier than hubby at night.

I still haven't tried my hand at learning math and science again, my specialties when I was in school. These habits have been useful for me when learning a foreign language and doing complex readings. 

Emily

Narrating back to myself, in my own words, sounds like something that might help, thanks. I wonder if narrating into a tape recorder and playing it back to myself later in the day might help, too?

I have index cards to take notes, and I purchased my own copies of the texts I am using (instead of borrowing from the library) so that I can annotate them. I am getting to the library at 9am, when they open, and have headphones to listen to listen to (very quiet) classical music, in order to keep out the sounds of the library. I wish I could get up at 5 and work at home, but DS2 still sneaks into bed with me each night and is up the second my eyes open. Even if he did stay asleep, there is so much stuff to do in my house that I would be too distracted to work at home. I will make sure to keep my cellphone in my bag to limit distractions. I am exercising before I go but probably not enough to make that much of a difference. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

You've received some great suggestions.  I reentered the classroom after 35 years away and found that I had to learn differently.  In the past, I'd be able to hear something once and review it once and I'd know it and need only minimal review.  Now, I can't rely on that memory.  I need to take notes, review frequently, make it multi-sensory if possible by drawing things out and giving myself a mini-lecture, and make it part of a system, not just discrete facts.  I need to know the WHY.  I have the advantage now of life experience, so I have more pegs to hang information and make it part of a system.  But I have to work harder and do more repetition with memorization.  I also learned that the sooner I review something after reading or hearing a lecture, the better my recall.  I aim for revisiting it within 24 hours and making my note cards in that time, if possible.

When working on things that needed a lot of memorization (like anatomy or pathologies), I found that making Quizlet note cards really helped.  The act of making the note cards helped solidify my understanding because I was having to synthesize the information.  I have the app on my phone so I can review them any time I have a couple of minutes ... in line somewhere, while on hold, etc.  Also, I found that you can have the app read your flashcards to you, which I used very often while driving to and from school.  I credit that for helping me memorize information that I probably would have glossed over in my "big picture" view of things.  

[Noreen Claire]

1 hour ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

When working on things that needed a lot of memorization (like anatomy or pathologies), I found that making Quizlet note cards really helped.  The act of making the note cards helped solidify my understanding because I was having to synthesize the information.  I have the app on my phone so I can review them any time I have a couple of minutes ... in line somewhere, while on hold, etc.  

I didn't know that this was a thing. I'm going to check out out, thanks.

[elegantlion]

Well, I started college at age 46, everything was rusty. It took a bit of time to get the momentum going and I used study tips designed for high schoolers to start. My field is more analyzing and contextualizing than memorization. I pulled out the "How to Read a Book" book that ds and I went through a few years earlier. I can't remember the title of the other study skills book I used, It's been recommended on here before. 

I also study in 25-30 minute increments. I set a timer, it helps me focus and eliminates me looking at the clock. I then take a 10-15 minute break, then study again. I do a few cycles of that and found it ups my productivity. 

I also listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on repeat. It tends to quiet my subconscious well enough to focus. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

24 minutes ago, elegantlion said:

 

I also listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on repeat. It tends to quiet my subconscious well enough to focus. 

I listen to epic movie soundtracks ... anything by Hans Zimmer is fantastic for studying.  

[KidsHappen]

I am ashamed to admit that I have lost the ability to more than the most rudimentary math and I am talking about really anything above long division. I, of course, went all the way through algebra II in high school, again in college and again while teaching my kids and yet I can not remember how to change decimals to fractions and then to percents and back again. I can't even remember when I need to do what. Of course, I look it up and say to myself oh yeah, I remember but then the next time I need to do it I forget again.

My command of English is better. I can usually remember what to do but not necessarily why. My vocabulary is still strong and my memory of classic literature pretty good but I have finished books recently only to realize that I have already read them. I frequently finish reading things only to realize that I have no idea what I just read.

History and science are pretty good as far as memorization of random facts but the putting together of how and whys not so much. 

I do have ADD/inattentive. I have been off my meds for a few years as I figured I did not need them anymore but I just restarted them recently because quite obviously I do. Not long enough to know if they are making much of a difference but I am hopeful. I want to spend of few hours a day in study relearning all of this but I am struggling with both the motivation and physical ability to do so. Of all the indignities of aging, this one is the worse and personally the least expected personally. 

[KidsHappen]

5 minutes ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

I listen to epic movie soundtracks ... anything by Hans Zimmer is fantastic for studying.  

I do listen to Hans on a regular basis because for some reason my one year old grandson absolutely loves him. He has a concert on Netflix and my grandson knows how to get to it on my phone which he does on a regular basis. He has tons of other options but listening to Hans is always his first choice.

[Lawyer&Mom]

Annotating is great!  Law School is when I finally got over my fear of writing in books, and I am so glad I did.  I do a lot of underlining key points in a paragraph and writing direct quotations in the margins of the most important phrases.  I don’t use the annotations much, it’s the process itself that makes me engage with the text and think while I am reading, and make the information my own.  (Snarky comments are always good.  I hope no one ever reads my case files...  I’ve left some rude comments on opposing counsel’s memos!)

[sassenach]

Chiming in with the others- YES! You will get your groove back. On top of doing a lot of what has already been suggested, I have found that concept maps and drawings help my visual memory. Example- for physio I drew out the nephron and labeled where each hormone is activated/acts in color, then redrew it from memory several times. This is something my 18 yo self never had to do but I feel so much more engaged with my material, the extra effort doesn’t bug me. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

49 minutes ago, sassenach said:

Chiming in with the others- YES! You will get your groove back. On top of doing a lot of what has already been suggested, I have found that concept maps and drawings help my visual memory. Example- for physio I drew out the nephron and labeled where each hormone is activated/acts in color, then redrew it from memory several times. This is something my 18 yo self never had to do but I feel so much more engaged with my material, the extra effort doesn’t bug me. 

Yes - drawing, labeling, showing the flow and order.  Then redrawing from memory.  This really helped me with the physiology of the immune system.