So … you want to know how to remember things.

Excellent. You’re in the right place. I read every book on the topic I can find. And I am always

looking to improve my own memory skills.

Here’s a simple fact about improving your memory:

People with excellent memories and memory championship winners are not too different from

you. They just use a combination of techniques to enable their minds to memorize things.

You might find it hard to remember names, facts, equations, lists, tasks you need to take care of,

a new language and so on.

But if you follow the right techniques, you can remember almost anything you want. Th

techniques you’ll discover on this page will work for you, no matter how bad you think your

memory is.

In this article, I will show you a number of techniques that will help you understand:

• How to remember things you read

• How to remember names
• How to remember lists and things you need to do
• How to memorize things faster
• How to remember things you have forgotten

… and so on.

There are dozens of techniques for memory improvement, but they can be classified into three

approaches:

1. Mnemonics for Memory Improvement

2. Lifestyle Changes For Memory Improvement
3. Other Memory Methods for Improvement
Let’s take a look at each. You can read or enjoy this video version of the text by clicking “play”

and eliminating all distractions:

How To Remember Things With Mnemonics

Mnemonics are memory techniques that help you to remember things better. They are also the

most effective for forming strong long term memories. Here are a few of the most common

mnemonic devices:

1. Memory Palaces

The Memory Palace is the most powerful mnemonic device ever formulated.
If you are a fan of ‘Sherlock’ – the BBC series, you have seen Sherlock Holmes use his ‘mind

palace’ to remember practically everything. This memorization method isn’t just used by

fictional detectives. Memory champions swear by the memory palace.

The mnemonic device, also referred to as the ‘Method of Loci’ or ‘Cicero Method’ was

developed in Ancient Greece.

How does it work?

The fundamental concept of the Memory Palace Technique is to associate pieces of information

that you wish to remember with parts of a location that you are very familiar with. This location

can be your home.

This memorization method begins by visualizing yourself walking through your home and

remembering every single detail that you can. It’s also a great mental exercise.

However, you necessarily do not need to visualize, and can physically walk through your home

too. In fact, the idea of the memory palace is to make use of all your senses – auditory,

kinesthetic (touch) and so on.

Associate each item that you with to remember with a specific object or space in your home. For

example, if you are trying to remember a new language, you might want to store all the words

related to weather in your wardrobe.

Associating items within your mind with a real physical space helps your brain ‘file’ important

things to remember more easily.

Memory Palaces can be used to remember names, faces, languages, lists, academic material and

pretty much anything under the sun. I talk about the Memory Palace in more detail in this article.
2. Spaced Repetition

It’s easier to remember something that you read yesterday than a paragraph you have read a year

back. Hermann Ebbinghaus referred to this as the forgetting curve. His research into the

psychology of memory observed that we forget most newly acquired information within a few

hours or at the most days.

However, if you reinforce what you learn at regular intervals, it’s easier to retain that piece of

information from the long-term storage areas of your brain.

The spaced repetition method is all about practicing remembering at the right time.

You do that by reinforcing a bit of information in your mind just when you are about to forget it.

A simple way of applying this technique is to use flashcards. You can organize your flashcards

into three batches depending on how easy it is for you to remember.

If you remember something clearly, test yourself with the same flashcard within ten minutes, but

if you do remember, test yourself at a longer interval.

There are several tools out there which claim to be spaced repetition software, but which are

actually not. If you wish to try out spaced repetition, the best approach is to make your own

flashcards.
 I’ll answer a.s.a.p.

REPLY

1. Maricela G.S. Griffith

May 22, 2018 at 5:25 am

I am not using any method to memorize right now. I just reading to get familirize with the

information. I will like to try different memory methods to see witch one i feel and see

will work for me. In life style i fail in sleep habits and socialize

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
May 22, 2018 at 7:37 pm

Thanks for checking this out, Maricela, and great that you’re familiarizing yourself with

these techniques.

Dive in as soon as you can with using them. One of the “traps” that people fall into is the

activity of learning about the techniques without diving in and learning by doing. Keep

the D.O.C. and S.I.P principles of the Magnetic Memory Method in mind:

D.O.C.

Doing is the Origin of Consistency

Doing is the Origin of Creativity
Doing is the Origin of Courage

 Doing is the Origin of Clarity

Doing is the Origin of Control

S.I.P

Study memory techniques

Implement memory techniques

Practice memory techniques with information that improves your life

REPLY

2. Oren
October 1, 2018 at 2:03 am

Very helpful tips to remember things.Thank you for sharing!

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
October 1, 2018 at 4:03 am

My pleasure, Oren. Which of the strategies did you find most useful and want to try first?

REPLY

3. Zulfiqar
February 22, 2019 at 1:35 pm
 Very nice article for helping people memorize things. These memory tricks are very

doable. Thanks

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
February 22, 2019 at 2:14 pm

Thanks for letting us know you appreciated this, Zulfiqar.

REPLY

4. Neha
June 16, 2019 at 9:03 pm

It is very useful and super fantastic article. I love it. I was not able to remember facts,

history dates, and one word answers. I am doing graduation. This article will always help

me lifetime specially in national level examination. I am Indian . And I want to say a

great thank you . At this moment , you are really a Santa Claus for me, who fulfil my

wish. Thank you so much sir…..!

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
June 18, 2019 at 9:19 pm
 Glad you found this useful, Neha. I really appreciate you taking a moment to let me

know.

And to be like Santa Claus – what an honor!

REPLY

5. Oren john
July 5, 2019 at 5:08 am

Impressive tips, I must say. These tips must be practiced by everyone. I am not sure

whether I have some illness or what but I do struggle with remembering things.

Sometimes I even forget the name of the person I met a day before. I was looking for

some helpful tips and found a lot of them. Thanks for sharing this valuable post

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
July 5, 2019 at 4:03 pm

Thanks for checking this out, Oren. I’m glad you found useful tips.

If you have any feeling whatsoever that an illness might be involved, please do see a

doctor. Memory training is tremendously useful in many ways, but it’s good to get any

concerns you have checked out.

REPLY
6. David Payne
October 28, 2019 at 12:47 pm

When revising, or wanting to learn and memorise a new subject, I find it very useful to

write down questions about the subject matter instead of lots of notes. Reading and

making notes is very passive but asking questions automatically stimulates the brain to

active recall. It’s very hard not to answer a question even when you feel lethargic. It’s a

stimulus and we can’t help but respond. It also tests your recall. If you can answer the

question then you know it by heart. If you can’t then you can go back and just review the

things you can’t recall rather than everything. This makes it a time-effective method as

well.

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
October 28, 2019 at 2:51 pm

Thanks for this important and profound tip, David. Self-testing along the way is great and

brings to mind the Feynman Technique. I’ve done some YouTube material on it before

and certainly need to get more about it on this site.

You’re so right that the Q&A process stimulates recall and that it’s doable even when

tired. In fact, being tired might even be a benefit in that situation due to a slight

dreaminess and tendency towards the fantastic.

 We might also add that people can ask questions while walking, showering and

performing all kinds of tasks. An ongoing inner dialog is a great way to continually learn

more while bolstering one’s memory.

REPLY

7. Brittany
November 19, 2019 at 4:36 pm

These are some very helpful tips! I have been looking for ways to improve my

memorization. I usually try to repeat things as often as I can, but it is very time-

consuming. Thank you for sharing!

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
November 19, 2019 at 4:45 pm

Excessive repetition is a waste of time, Brittany. By using effective memory techniques,

you can save a ton of time and learn far more.

REPLY

8. Christoper Miller
April 5, 2020 at 11:09 am
 Anthony, for spaced repetition for learning something new or technically complex, what

is your recommendation for how often to study the material?

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
April 5, 2020 at 2:44 pm

Thanks for the question, Christopher.

Can you let me know more about what the technically complex information is that you’re

referring to?

A lot of people will give you some kind of generic answer, but nuance will probably help

best based on an actual example.

Are you using general memory techniques or specific ones like the Memory Palace

technique? If you’re using the Memory Palace, it has a recommended schedule built in

(or how to think about review and strategize on your own), if the training you’ve received

is any good.

Look forward to your reply for more details.

REPLY

9. Christopher Miller
April 6, 2020 at 3:33 am

Anthony, thanks for the reply.

 The technically complex info I’m referring to can either be Professional IT Certification

and software development.

I’m just learning the details of memory palaces and applying them to learning.

I thought you were referring to say, study on Monday, don’t study on Tuesday, study on

Wednesday, don’t study on Thursday, and study on Friday. Basically you don’t study

every day of the week Vs trying to study every day and overworking your brain. It would

be like going to the gym every day and not giving your muscles time to rest.

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
April 6, 2020 at 4:49 pm

Thanks for the follow-up, Christopher.

It depends on your level of skill. I would not personally treat this like going to the gym,

but you can use interleaving to take pauses.

When it comes specifically to the Memory Palace technique, one would do well to learn

the role of Primacy, Recency and Serial Positioning to ensure that you’re getting

adequate exposure. These matters are covered in the free course on this site.

It’s also recommended that people make Memory Palace Networks, not one MP. It’s very

unlikely that anyone will develop solid skills with just one, and even though some

competitors talk about “one” Memory Palace, here’s the thing:

 Everyone I’ve interviewed on the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast or talked to off-the-

record says that they use heavily segmented MPs. So even if they use the term in the

singular, it really breaks down to networks of them in strategic segments.

REPLY

10. Michael
April 18, 2020 at 4:59 am

Anthony,

Well written article with factual information. Very excited to try some new methods.

Thanks for helping myself and others.

All the best your way,

Michael

REPLY

o Anthony Metivier
April 18, 2020 at 3:04 pm

Thanks, Michael. Great to meet you here and I look forward to hearing which of these

methods work best for you.

Is there a particular kind of info you would like to remember better?

REPLY
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