I've recently taken to keeping notes of all the media I consume that contains storylines or concepts I want to remember.

My process is as follows:

  1. Consume media only in amounts small enough to remember stuff clearly. (1 hour audiobook or a few chapters reading)
  2. Take point-form notes of plot and ideas in a written physical journal (I use little journals, and am partial to the Traveler's Notebooks)
  3. At a later time (usually when I fill out a notebook) move these notes to a long-term digital journal. At this time I'll usually also do retrospective or a small review of the media in question.

This has had a lot of benefits! I'm spending more time thinking about the media I consume, and try to take smaller bites of media so I don't over-saturate my memory.

With such big backlogs, I can't be spending all my time re-experiencing things, and I'm finding this process has helped greatly reduce backlog anxiety for me, while increasing my patience and enjoyment with the media I consume.