Jim Kwik explains why studying for 7-8 hours straight leaves you forgetting the middle. Your brain remembers the start and end best. Take a break every hour to create more starts and stops, so more material sticks.
Imagine studying for 7 hours straight with no breaks. There's a principle in memory called recency and primacy. Primacy is you tend to remember something in the beginning of something. Recency, you tend to remember things at the end or more recent. So the idea here is if you go to a party and meet 20 people, you probably remember the first people that you met there and the last people you met there. If I gave you a list of 20 random words, you probably remember the first few words and the last few words. So the idea here though, the challenge though, is like if you study 8 hours without any breaks, all other things being equal, you remember things the beginning and things at the end, but there's a huge dip in between. Now change that to taking a break every hour. Not only does your brain get a reset and a recharge, but you create more primacies and recencies. You create more starts and stops. So you get to pick up a lot of that information and learning in between.
The Library of Minds: Brain Coach: How to Stay Sharp When AI Does the Thinking | Jim Kwik
