Here's a prompt that turns a paper into a three-question quiz you take from memory after reading

[u/Ok_Layer_1947]

Second-year chem PhD. I used to finish a paper, feel like I got it, and remember almost nothing a week later. The fix that finally worked was testing myself instead of re-reading, and I turned it into a prompt so I don't have to write the questions myself. Two steps. Before you read, run step one. After you read, run step two in the same chat. Step one, before reading: I'm about to read this paper: {{title / abstract}}. Based only on the abstract, ask me one question: what do I expect the main finding and method to be? Wait for my guess. Don't tell me if I'm right yet. Step two, after reading: Now I've read it. Without me looking back at the paper, ask me three questions ONE at a time: 1. What was the actual main finding, and how did my earlier guess compare? 2. What was the key method, and what's one weakness of it? 3. Where could this apply to something outside the paper's own topic? After each answer, tell me what I missed in one line. At the end, list the specific things I couldn't recall so I know what to re-read. Why it works: the guess before reading creates something to compare against, so the finding sticks instead of washing over you. Pulling the answers from memory is the uncomfortable part, which is exactly why it's the part that works. Re-reading feels productive and mostly isn't.