5 Proven Memorization Techniques to Make the Most of Your Memory

Author: Dr. Jamie Schwandt / Source: Lifehack

Do you forget stuff every now and then? Are you trying to enhance your memory but not sure how?

All you need is the right memorization techniques to make the most of your memory.

The human brain is fascinating. More specifically, the vast interconnections within our mind.

Mendel Kaelen compares the human brain to a hill covered in snow,

“Think of the brain as a hill covered in snow, and thoughts as sleds gliding down that hill. As one sled after another goes down the hill a small number of main trails will appear in the snow. And every time a new sled goes down, it will be drawn into preexisting trails, almost like a magnet. In time it becomes more and more difficulty to glide down the hill on any other path or in a different direction.”

The intent of Kaelen’s discussion is to think of new ways to temporarily flatten the snow. Kaelen remarked,

“The deeply worn trails disappear, and suddenly the sled can go in other directions, exploring new landscapes and, literally, creating new pathways.”

The idea here is to temporarily rewire your brain, or as Michael Pollan remarked in How to Change Your Mind,

“The power to shake the snow globe, disrupting unhealthy patterns of thought and creating a space of flexibility-entropy-in which more salubrious patterns and narratives have an opportunity to coalesce as the snow slowly settles.”

So, how can we rewire our brain allowing deeply worn connections to disappear and new connections to form? The answer is quite simple. We must change the way we store information in our mind.

Let’s examine 5 specific memorization techniques that will change the way you think and remember information.

1. Build a Memory Palace

What is it?

The method of loci^[1] (aka memory palace) is a method of memory enhancement using visualizations with the use of spatial memory. It uses familiar information about your environment to quickly recall information. It is a method that was discussed by Cicero in an ancient dialogue called De Oratore.

How to use it?

Ron White discusses in , that it’s essentially a room or building that you have memorized and you use locations in the room to store data. Ron informs us,

“You memorize locations in a room and then you later go back to those locations to retrieve the data that you want to remember.”

Example

An easy 5-step example, in the form of a Wiki, can be found at Artofmemory.com. Let’s examine the the steps:

Step 1. Choose a place that you know well. For example, your house or office.
Step 2. Plan the route and pick specific locations in your route. For example, your front door, bathroom kitchen, etc.
Step 3. Decide what you want to memorize. For example, geography, list of items, answers for a test, etc.
Step 4. Place one or two items, with a mental image, and place them in your memory palace. Exaggerate your images. For example, use nudity or crazy images forcing it to stick in your mind.
Step 5. Make the image into a mnemonic.