Title Remember It!
Author Nelson Dellis
Year Published 2018
Kind of Book How to/Memory
How strongly I recommend it 9/10
My Impressions This is a great practical “how-to” book for learning memory techniques. It offers tips and strategies for people at various levels with various aspirations. The fact that it offers so many various types of methods could be seen as a pro or a con. A pro because you have the choice to try out several systems to see what works best for you and a con because it might be overwhelming for the people who just want to be told which system to use.
Date Read Dec 2020
Practical Takeaways
Pay better attention to the things you want to remember
Stop telling yourself you have a bad memory
If you forgot something you made a marker for, go back and add more detail. (eg. More color, more strangeness, my raunchiness etc.)
Have fun memorizing and creating markers
If you forgot why you came into a room, go back to the room where you had the idea to go into that room
Look the person who is talking to you in the eye A: you'll be more likely to remember what they said
Close all phones, laptops, books etc. when someone is talking to you
Have a small bowl or location where you always put your keys or wallet when you get home
(Remembering where you put something) (Move it or lose it method) When you set something down, make a strange/unique movement in your body (eg. Put keys down and do the sailor walk) To find it just think about that movement
Put the thing you need to remember to do or take somewhere in your path or line of vision where you know you will see it in the future
(To remember to do something later) Take an object (eg. A pen) throw it somewhere you will see it (eg. Middle of the floor) and peg a marker to it (eg. Call Jeff)
(Remembering names) Take the most memorable facial feature the person they have an exaggerate it. Use that as your peg to peg the marker onto (eg. Marker=a tire for Tyler feature=acne there is a loose tire rolling on his face an popping his zits)
(Remembering names) Don't tell the person the marker or facial characteristic you used to remember their name
(Remembering names) break the person's name into syllabels and create the marker off of that (eg. Shannon = shine on) Don't make it a vauge association (eg. Shannon=Irish name= Ireland)
(Remembering names) choose your exaggerated facial feature/peg before asking for the person's name so you already have a place to peg your marker
(Remembering names) go to a party with the goal of remember 10 people's names
Keep a journal of people you met and what you talked about. Review it before you see them again
Use the linking method when you're on the go and you want to memorize a series of things, but don't really have time to do any prep with a memory palace (eg. To remember to get eggs, toilet paper and water: humpty dumpty wiped his butt with toilet paper and then a river of water busted down the door) **great for errands and shopping lists
(Markers) if the word or syllables don't remind you of anything. See if there is a word that it sounds like that reminds you of something (eg. Tyler=Tire)
You may not need an image for each syllable when memorizing a word or every word when memorizing a phrase A: out brains are really good at picking up the slack as long as they have a bit of association to nibble on (eg. A woman sipping money out of a wine glass for Muni-cip-ality)
(to memorize a collection of words) break it down into the most important words, or into a single word that encompasses the whole idea
(for memorizing directions) create markers for left, right, straight, exit
(for memorizing directions) use the linking method
(Memory palaces) walk through places to turn them into memory palaces
Try not to need to combine multiple locations for a memory palace
Subdivide your journey into sections (eg. This section of the garden is the 20's this section is the 30's etc.)
(Memory Palace) walk through your memory palace after you've created the route before you place markers in it
(Memory Palace) if you have to double back over part of your path try to see it from a different angle
(To memorize quotes) First Letter Method:
Read the quote in your head twice
Read the quote out loud twice
Write the first letter of each word in a series (including capital letters and punctuation)
Read from the minimized version filling in the rest of the words
(For memorizing poems) Use a long journey for
Come up with your own images for you PAO. Don't use someone else's list
Train your memory for 15mins a day (cards, names, words, numbers)
Memorize decks of cards A: there is nothing better for training your brain than this
Time yourself when training your memory
(Memorizing dates) Create a real or fictional location to represent each century (eg. 1800s= a saloon 1900s=a spa) Whatever comes to mind when you think of that century. Make the location fairy large so you are sure to have plenty of room to add new info. Then you can just use a two digit number to add the year in the century when you learn a date) (eg. 1845 would be Saloon=1800s Duke Ellington=45)
Practice memorizing cards A: memorizing cards is one of the best way to practice, measure, and improve your mnemonic abilities
(Memorizing cards) resist the urge to go back and look at the cards you already saw
(Memorizing cards) first go through and see if you already have any associations with any of the cards (eg. King of clubs=Tiger woods)
(Memorizing cards) you can use you PAO 0=10s 1=Aces
(Memorizing cards) time yourself to track your improvement
(Memorizing cards) you can make each suit have a different category (eg. Clubs=famous athletes, Diamonds=Rich people, Hearts=Family, Spades=Musicians)
Try combining memory training with physical training (eg. Anki cards on the eliptical)
Learn to trust your memory
(Memorizing what lap you're on) For each lap around the track say the number in a different unique voice (eg. Lap 1=saying 1 with a cowboy accent. Lap 2=saying 2 in a scary ghost voice etc.)
When asking people for their phone numbers ask for the area code first. After they tell you ask where it is from, so you can buy yourself some time to create a marker for it
Create a memory palace for all of your numerical data (eg. Credit card #, Social security card etc.)
(for major system) You can use words that should be 3 digits for 2 digit numbers because you encoded it and you know what it means.
Big Ideas
Memory starts and ends with paying attention.
Surprising Facts
It is a myth that your brain can only store so much information.
The reason we sometimes come into a room and forget why we came there is because we remember ideas we had in the same room better and when we go into a different room we forget them because we don’t associate them with that room
Acronym for remember The great lakes
HOMES
H Huron
O Ontario
M Michigan
E Erie
S Superior
Unknown Terms
The Linking Method: a mnemonic device to memorize lists of things where the first item is associated with the second item which is then associated with the third item and so on creating a story. (eg. To remember eggs, toilet paper and water humpty dumpty wiped his butt with toilet paper and then a river of water busted down the door) 2)The first image does something to the next or causes the next image to happen etc.
Association System: For each number think of an image that comes to mind immediately when you think of that number (eg. 23=Michael Jordan)