Memory Techniques

I said, “Remembering hunks!”

January 5th, 2008

First, I’d like to thank my parents for helping me get this written and posted while I’m home for the holidays since my computer use is rather limited these days.
Anyway, I thought I would share a memory technique I came up with last year.

Hopefully this will be of practical use for some of my readers.

Do you ever find yourself intending to do something like picking something up at the grocery store and then realizing afterwards that you forgot to do it? I’ve found the following technique to be a reliable way to trigger my memory.

The basic idea is that you imagine yourself in the situation where you want to remember to do something, and then you imagine something that you know will happen in that situation reminding you to do whatever it is you wanted to remember. For example, recently I went to my physical therapist and I knew I needed to ask about changing my appointment time for the next Friday. I know from experience that’s exactly the sort of thing that I would forget until it’s too late. So before I left the house, while I was still thinking about it, I imagined myself walking into the physical therapy room, seeing the receptionist’s desk, the posters on the walls, etc., and me setting my backpack down. Then I imagined that particular event triggering my memory to ask about my Friday appointment. Sure enough, when the trigger event actually took place several hours later, like clockwork it popped into my head that I needed to ask about changing my appointment.

I’ve used this technique in a variety of situations, such as remembering to put my keys back in my pocket once I’m done with the treadmill at the gym (I imagine the act of getting off the treadmill, feeling tired, and wiping the sweat off my face reminding me to get my keys again), or picking up something at the grocery store. So far the technique is pretty reliable. The more vividly and accurately you imagine the trigger situation, the more reliable it is. I don’t think it’s ever not worked for me when I’ve vividly imagined the trigger situation.

Posted in Jedi mind tricks

http://stalkingelmo.net/blog/