hi ive been experimenting with PR with a variety of reading material. mainly class notes, txtbooks, and magazines.
before anything i read now, i preview, PR, and postview. my problem lies in the activation.
ive been the type of reader who has done well before in school by reading things as many times as possible. apparently as a kid, i was a 'slow reader' or was 'slower to comprehend' material but i managed to get top grades in school by repetition and equal self-discipline.
when i activate, i turn blank. ideas trickle in at an incredibly slow pace, and they come in very small groups. It takes so many passes with for me to end up finishing the mindmap to a satisfactory amount of detail. its as if i cant retain what i activated through the dip, though i did recognize those important points i needed to know.
its a similar type of feeling i get in med school where we have role playing problem-solving situations, where im perceiving zilch of what's happening outside though i want to.
i get the most difficult during the mindmap stage. after dipping, i can remember very very few details to add onto my mindmap. ive started to give myself more hints, by physically writing down first letters of words during my dips, and occasionally using them as cribnotes (after i cant get any more from my mindmap)
a big difficulty is that my notes from lectures are pretty condensed as it is. i write down all the important points, and it seems that there's nothing i can really sift out.
im starting to wonder whether its an issue with my memory. before uni, i never even considered that i had a poor memory because i was doing so well academically. though i admit i have found myself in situations where i have no clue about directions even to places i have been 100 times, and cant recall a list of directions just dictated to me. it may even be perhaps related to an aspect of perceptual intelligence. i have no idea really, though ive asked close friends and they said i shouldnt second guess my brain.
anyways, ive become a little frustrated with how long it takes and how little i get from mindmapping and have completely skipped that out of my reading routine.
in the meantime, i periodically switch the memory supercharger tape. i looked at the memory optimizer set, and the price looks pretty steep for a student for me to afford.
anyone relate to parts of my experience? ill consider any constructive advice to get me over this psychological hump.
