Memory Tricks and Hacks

A Quote From Memory Champion Joshua Foer

“One trick, known as the journey method or 'memory palace,' is to conjure up a familiar space in the mind's eye, and then populate it with images of whatever it is you want to remember.” - Joshua Foer

Memory strengthening exercises in both the individual and group setting work to improve memory over the long term. But what if you have a test tomorrow and do not have the time to invest in improving your memory by exercising it? The following memory tricks and hacks might prove helpful.

Say What You Are Trying to Memorize Out Loud

Silently reading information uses specific neural pathways. When you read the information out loud you employ different neural pathways. Studies have shown there is a separate “memory link” at work when speaking out loud. As such, reading information out loud that you want to memorize will more quickly and effectively encode the information into your memory.

Teach What You are Trying to Memorize to Someone Else

When you teach something to someone else, even if you have not fully mastered the subject you tend to learn the material in a different way. This is true because you will anticipate your student’s reaction to the information you are conveying. You will ask yourself the questions you think your student will ask and by doing so, you will encode the information not only in a different manner but also more quickly and deeply in your own mind.

“To teach is to learn twice.” - Joseph Joubert

Create Mental Associations

The mind calls information into consciousness through association. Words, pictures and ideas are linked together in various ways such that one idea will give rise to recalling another idea. The ability to recognize the inter-relationships between words, pictures and ideas is key to the process of memory. As such, when you actively create an association between two ideas you will find it easier to remember them. For example, you might tie a string around your finger to remind yourself to buy a carton of milk at the grocery store on your way home from work. When you do this you are actively creating an association between the string and the task you want to remember. This association in theory will then be triggered every time you look at the string.

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices (generically speaking) can be any tactic used to remember information. This whole blog is technically a list of mnemonic devices. In common parlance we use the term to describe simple, common tricks used for memory. We have all probably used mnemonic devices of this sort at various times in our lives to help remember information for tests (for example). The effectiveness of these techniques has been demonstrated in studies. Here are three common mnemonic devices.

1. Singing – Probably every child learns the alphabet by singing it. You can create a song out of the information you are trying to memorize.

2. String Together The First Letters – Similarly, every child probably learned the order of the colors of the rainbow with the mnemonic ROY G BIV created from the first letters of the words Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Use this mnemonic device to remember any series of words or concepts.

3. Make A Sentence – If you are trying to memorize the spelling of a word, create a sentence out of the letters in the word. For example, the word COLOR could be made into the sentence Cats Order Lots Of Rice. Obviously you would use this technique to remember more complicated words but you get the idea.


Conceptualize With Mind Maps and Pictures

Conceptualization of ideas through mind maps has been shown to be an effective tool to enhance memory. A “Mind Map” is a picture employed to organize information and explain how all the different information relates to each other. Often mind maps take the form of a “hub and spoke” image whereby the hub is a specific idea with a circle drawn around it and the spokes are depicted by lines emanating from the hub with related ideas inscribed upon them. For example, the word in a hub might say “WATER” and one spoke might read “ONE PART HYDROGEN” and another spoke might read “TWO PARTS OXYGEN.” This diagram would conceptualize ingredients for water and how they come together to form water. The spokes can be further subdivided into subcategories as well. In addition to mind maps any conceptualization of an idea through picture form could serve to enhance your memory and understanding of a concept.

Remember Tasks Easier With A “To Do” List and Set Reminders on Your Device

Have you ever travelled all the way to the grocery store only to discover that you cannot remember what you wanted to buy once you got there? Or perhaps you arrived at the grocery store to buy five items but only remembered three of them. This may seem obvious but actually writing out a “To Do List” is an easy way to remember all tasks you wanted to perform. This is especially true for the tasks that do not come effortlessly to you. What you are actually doing is relinquishing your memory (and will) to the list. Allow the list to tell you what to do and check off the tasks as you complete them. This technique works well for getting done what you do not necessarily want to get done but know you must get done. I have found that writing a list of tasks to perform serves to “free me up” a little if there is part of me that does not want to perform a task and keeps stopping me through procrastination or self-sabotage. This technique works well as a source of motivation especially at first but then loses its power as time progresses. It is good to be aware of this so you can switch to a different technique at that point in time.

There are many different reminder apps you can download on your handheld device or smartphone. No Rocket Science in that,you can download it ,Right? Yes.

Do One Task at a Time

Studies have shown that it takes eight seconds to fully incorporate a piece of information to memory. As such if there is something you want to remember, focus on that thing for eight seconds without performing another task at the same time. Dividing your attention between multiple tasks (aka “multi-tasking”) actually makes it less likely that you will remember any one thing involved in those tasks.

Maintaining Good Health

Doing Yoga everyday.

Maintaining good health is helpful to cultivate the focus needed to take in information but maintaining good health is also helpful for maintaining and recalling information. Maintaining good health involves eating well, staying hydrated, getting adequate sleep and regular moderate exercise.

The maintenance of good health as it relates to memory should also include keeping your brain sharp. Reading, writing, playing mental games such as crossword puzzles and Sudoku can all help in this regard. You can download such apps that enhances your Memory.

Maintaining Good Emotional Health 

Emotional health involves socializing and interacting with other like minded and positive people. This can be accomplished by choosing a life coach or mentor. Be sure that the people you associate with are positive and supportive of you. Negative people create negative environments that can lead to depression and a dulled memory. Maintaining healthy boundaries with negative people is necessary for the maintenance of emotional health.

Take Advantage of the Most Creatively Productive Time of Day 

The most mentally productive time of the day is during the two hours after you become fully awake. As such, it is extremely important to make the best use of this time for creative work and tasks that require most of your mental attention. In other words, the two hours after you become fully awake is the time when you will find it most easy to achieve and maintain focus. Accordingly, this period of time is the best time of day for the function of memory. If you are taking a test, giving a speech or performing some other task that requires sharp focus and memory, try to schedule your sleep so that the task takes place during the two hours after you become fully awake.

These memory hacks may work in a pinch but keep in mind a strong memory requires constant exercise of the muscle that is your brain. In addition to exercise, the brain requires proper nutrition for optimal performance. In the next blog, I will mention foods that help to maintain a healthy brain and strong memory.

Thanks for Reading
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