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How to Remember Things: 21 Memory Techniques

 Anthony Metivier |  December 17, 2020 |  Featured
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So … you want to EVERYDAY
know how to THINGS
remember things. WITHOUT
Excellent. You’re in FORGETTI
the right place. I NG?
read every book on Enter your email

the topic I can nd.  And I am always looking to improve my own below to get instant

memory skills. access to my FREE

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Here’s a simple fact about improving your memory:
a proven step-by-step
Help
process
People with excellent memories and memory championship winners for remembering

are not too different from you. They just use a combination of anything you want.

techniques to enable their minds to memorize things. You'll discover how

to:
You might nd it hard to remember names, facts, equations, lists,
* Speak any
tasks you need to take care of, a new language and so on.
language uently

But if you follow the right techniques, you can remember almost
* Recall complicated
anything you want. Th techniques you’ll discover on this page will formulas, math
work for you, no matter how bad you think your memory is. equations, or

numbers.
In this article, I will show you a number of techniques that will help
* Master the
you understand:
technical terms for

your eld of work or

How to remember things you read
study.
How to remember names
* Recite poetry, jokes,
How to remember lists and things you need to do
and even long
How to memorize things faster
speeches word-for-
How to remember something you forgot word

* Quickly absorb the

… and so on.
most important

ideas from books,

There are dozens of techniques and memory tricks, but they can be
textbooks, or
classi ed into three approaches:
lectures…

1. Mnemonics for Memory Improvement Unlock your natural

ability to learn and
2. Lifestyle Changes For Memory Improvement
remember anything
3. Other Memory Methods for Improvement 3x faster now!

Let’s take a look at each. You can read or enjoy this video version of Enter Your E
the text by clicking “play” and eliminating all distractions:
 ABOUT
ANTHONY
METIVIER
 

How To Remember Things With

Mnemonics: 21 Memorization
Techniques
Anthony Metivier has
Mnemonics are memory techniques that help you to remember
taught as a professor, is
things better. They are also the most effective for forming strong
the creator of the
long term memories. Here are a few of the most common
acclaimed Magnetic
mnemonic devices:
Memory Method and the

author behind a dozen

1. Memory Palaces bestselling books on the

  topic of memory and

language learning… Read

The Memory Palace is the most powerful mnemonic device ever More

formulated.
Anthony Metivier has taught as a

If you are a fan of ‘Sherlock’ – the BBC series, you have seen professor at:

Sherlock Holmes use his ‘mind palace’ to remember practically

everything. This memorization method isn’t just used by ctional

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?

 START HERE:
IMPROVE
YOUR
MEMORY
In 4 Short Days With
This FREE Video
Series

Join over 82,406

others who are
using the Magnetic
Memory Method
and start
remembering
everything, plus...

Speak any

language

uently

The fundamental concept of the Memory Palace Technique is to Recall

associate pieces of information that you wish to remember with complicated

parts of a location that you are very familiar with. This location can formulas, math

be your home. equations, or

numbers.
This memorization method begins by visualizing yourself walking

through your home and remembering every single detail that you Quickly absorb
can. It’s also a great mental exercise. the most

important ideas
However, you necessarily do not need to visualize, and can

physically walk through your home too. In fact, the idea of the from books,

memory palace is to make use of all your senses – auditory, textbooks, or

kinesthetic (touch) and so on. lectures…

Associate each item that you wish to remember with a speci c Get Your Free
Videos Now
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 ‘ le’ important things to remember more easily.

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Memory Palaces can be used to remember names, faces,

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2. Spaced Repetition
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  That Ensure
Memory
It’s easier to remember something that you read yesterday than a Improvement

paragraph you have read a year back. Hermann Ebbinghaus referred Aphantasia:
to this as the forgetting curve. His research into the psychology of Develop Your
Memory Even If
memory observed that we forget most newly acquired information You Cannot See
within a few hours or at the most a couple of days. Mental Images

7 Killer Memory
However, if you reinforce what you learn at regular intervals, it’s
Improvement Tips
easier to retain that piece of information from the long-term storage For Effortless
areas of your brain. Conference
Interpreting

The spaced repetition method is all about practicing remembering 15 Reasons Why
at the right time. Learning A Foreign
Language Is Good
You do that by reinforcing a bit of information in your mind just For Your Brain

when you are about to forget it. 17 Reasons Going

To Art Galleries
A simple way of applying this technique is to use ashcards. You Will Improve Your
Memory
can organize your ashcards into three batches depending on how

easy it is for you to remember. 11 Reasons You

Should Reread At
If you remember Least One Book
Every Month
something clearly,

test yourself with How to Build A

Memory Palace: A
the same
Scienti cally
ashcard within Proven Approach

ten minutes, but if

How to Remember
you do remember, Things: 21
Memory
test yourself at a
Techniques
longer interval.
The Memory
There are several Palace of Matteo
Ricci
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 ashcards.

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For instance, you could try remembering your grocery list according
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4. Expression Mnemonics or Everything You
Need to Know
Acronyms
 

You have probably come across this method in school. You create

an acronym of the different things that you wish to remember.

If you have taken music lessons, you would remember EGBDF (the

treble clef) with the acronym, “Every Good Boy Does Fine.”

Another common expression mnemonic you might remember from

your school days is HOMES – for the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario,

Michigan, Erie and Superior).

Acronyms are di cult to forget! There are similar Expression

Mnemonics which involve rhymes, songs and so on.

5. Remembering Numbers with The

Major System
 

The Major System is also called the Major Method or is sometimes

referred to as Harry Lorayne’s Number Mnemonics.

It works by associating a number with a sound. Like this:

0 = soft c, s or z

1 = d, t

2=n

3=m

4=r
… and so on

(see

diagram for

the full list.)

You use this

simple

formula by

forming words with these numbers. For instance 22 could be nun

(formed by combining n and n). You combine these words to

visualize an animated sequence of activities, which makes it di cult

for you to forget!

The method can be used to memorize long digits, multiplication

tables, phone numbers, number-based passwords and so on.

6. Using the NAME Acronym to

Remember Things
 

The NAME acronym is a process used to remember names.

However, you can use it to remember other things too. This is based

on an interesting book I read recently – Boost Your Memory by

Darren Bridger.

For those of you who are seriously into memorization and mastering

how to remember something you forgot, it’s a worthy read. Even if

you’re already well establish, I suggest reading it for a quick review

of the major principles that support how to remember things.

Notice

Notice is the rst word in the name acronym.

In this case, the author is talking about not only about how to

remember things like names by noticing the person’s hair, eye color

and other distinct features of the face. He’s also talking about

noticing the sound the sound of the name as part of learning how to

remembering things better.

Seriously. Notice how the names you want to remember sound. Even

a seemingly pedestrian name like “Bill” becomes quite interesting if

you think about it.

You can even

go so far as

to pretend in

your mind

that you’ve

never heard

the word

before. Just

as we want

to pay close attention to the sound of the words we are memorizing

using the Magnetic Memory Method, when we learn a person’s

name, we want to swirl it around a bit.

It’s almost like testing wine. That’s kind of a weird way to think about

learning someone’s name, but I’ve tried it out many times, and it

actually does bring an interesting quality to the memorization

process.

Ask And You Shall Remember

Ask is the second word in this powerful acronym that teaches you

how to remember names or even how to remember things for a test.

In the case of names, Bridger is suggesting that we ask for the

name to be repeated if we haven’t heard it the rst time. When it

comes to how to memorize things for a test, it’s really the same

process.

For example, I’m sure you’ve had this experience:

You hear someone’s name, but don’t quite catch it. Instead of asking

for it to be repeated, you let the name issue drop and hope it will

come up again …

But It Never Does!

And so, as Bridger suggests, there’s no shame in asking for a name

to be repeated. Likewise when you study: there’s nothing wrong with

going back and repeating the information. And then add the act of

asking with this quick tip:

If you want to know how to remembering things better, start asking

people about their names. Like this:

“That’s an interesting name. Where does it come from?”

These are perfect questions to ask a person. Questions like these

will not only increase your rapport with the person, but also cause

you to pay more attention to the name in the rst place.

It’s the same thing with any information, and you can always ask

questions about any information using this formula:

What is interesting about this?

Why is it like this?

How did it come to be this way?

What if it was different?

Remember: a great deal of what knowing how to remember things

boils down to is noticing and paying attention to the target material.

It also comes down to “rotating” the information in your mind by

examining it from different angles.

Mention to Help Remember Things

The author uses the word “mention” for the purposes of his

acronym, but usually tips on memorizing names tell us to repeat the

name we’ve just heard.

Memory experts are actually divided on this point. Yes, it helps the

name you want to remember sink into your memory. And yes, it tells

the person that you’ve heard their name and that you care about

knowing them. But it can still come off as rather corny.

Still, I spend a lot of time in places where the language is not my

native tongue, and have found repeating the names of people I meet

to be an essential habit.

Pronunciations of names vary widely, and there are often subtle

sounds that people will gladly correct for you once they’ve heard you

mispronounce their name. It’s only polite to make sure you can

pronounce a person’s name right.

Plus, pronunciation is one of the weakest points for me. I’m always

working on improving it in my own memory improvement journey –

largely due to being 80% deaf in my left ear.

Even though it can be a bit corny to repeat the names of people

you’ve just met, just do it. Taking that simple step when it comes to
how to remember things like names is worth it in the end.

Envision

Here Bridger nally shows us how to bring it all together.

Envisioning is simple. It’s the part of the mnemonic process where

we take the visual characteristics of a face and associate the name

of the person with some distinct feature.

To use Bridger’s teaching, which seems pulled straight out of Harry

Lorayne, let’s say I meet someone named Jacob and he has rather

bird-like features. All I would need to do is imagine him having the

face of a Blue Jay and then imagine him pu ng on a corn cob pipe.

(Jay + Cob = Jacob). Simple stuff.

The only problem is …

I don’t like doing it this way. I nd that it makes me look at the

person strangely later as I’m going through the recall process. I

prefer seeing the images I create either behind the person, on their

shoulder or above their head. That way, when recalling their name,

I’m not looking all screwy eyed at them.

The Missing Memory Step

Plus, there’s a missing step when it comes to truly knowing how to

remember things. “Envisioning” is one thing. Having a place to nd

what you envisioned quite another.

That’s why I’ve had at times dedicated Memory Palaces just for

names.

If I meet a person named Jacob and see him as a Blue Jay smoking

a corn cob pipe. But I don’t want to let the association just oat
around in the void. I want to Magnetize it somewhere. To do that, I

put the Magnetic Imagery in a Memory Palace.

Later, when I want to recall his name, the association will come

much faster than it would have otherwise.

Why? Because memory no longer needs to hunt for the association

or “envisioned” information. When we associate without placing our

associations somewhere, we often have an “uhhhhhhm” moment

where we’re searching for the association we know that we’ve

created.

Plus, without a Memory Palace, we have no means of performing

Recall Rehearsal. We will nd the imagery in our Memory Palace

later, but still have to reverse-engineer it in order to get the target

material.

If you want to know how to remember things, that’s the key: always

locate your material somewhere and then use that Memory Palace

to rehearse the information into long term memory.

 

How To Remember Things

Through Lifestyle Changes
Your lifestyle and habits have a signi cant impact on your memory.

These are not memory tricks. However, implementing these lifestyle

changes will boost your overall ability to remember things.

7. Getting Adequate Sleep will Help

you Remember Things
 
One of the biggest mistakes that students make is trying to study

longer hours by skipping on sleep. What they forget is that sleep

deprivation affects several cognitive abilities, including memory.

This should hardly

be a surprise. In

addition to

affecting the mind,

lack of sleep is

also considered to

be a risk factor for

heart disease, cancer, diminished immunity, obesity and several

other complications.

Numerous studies have established that sleep helps in the second

stage of memory – consolidation.

And there’s no doubt about it:

Sleep helps in recalling facts and information as well as in

procedural memory formation – the aspect of memory involved in

learning new skills faster (Diekelmann and Born, 2010)

And there’s more to it.

Sleep also contributes to reorganizing memories, by forming

stronger connections between different memories. Sleep helps the

brain to link newly absorbed information with previously acquired

information, which spurs creativity (Diekelmann and Born, 2010)

Other studies have indicated that lack of sleep also makes us

remember things incorrectly (Diekelmann 2008). Therefore, for

several reasons, getting a good night’s sleep can signi cantly

contribute to memory improvement.

 

8. Taking Naps will Improve Your

Memory
 

What if you are unable to get adequate sleep? Try taking naps.

David Dinges (University of Pennsylvania) concluded from sleep

experiments supported by NASA that naps help in boosting working

memory.

Dinges also says that working memory “involves focusing attention

on one task while holding other tasks in memory … and is a

fundamental ability critical to performing complex work.”  Another

study concluded that a nap as short as six minutes can help boost

memory (Lahl et al 2008)

9. Foods that Boost Your Memory

 

When we talk about diet, the conversation is usually about weight

loss, improving immunity or preventing diseases. However, what we

eat also has an effect on memory improvement.

There are several foods that are great for memory such as walnuts,

green tea, blueberries, sh, whole grains, olive oil, etc. – often

referred to as the Mediterranean diet.

Studies have demonstrated that consumption of green tea leads to

enhanced activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex (Schimdt et al

3888). This optimization leads to improved memory and better

cognition overall (Feng et al 438).

Fish, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, oysters are all excellent sources of

Omega-3s, which lowers risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s by as

much as 47% (Schaefer et al 1545).

Incidentally, the Mediterranean diet is also recommended for

preventing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Therefore,

there are plenty of reasons besides memory improvement to include

these foods in your diet!

You should also avoid foods that contain too much saturated fats

and trans-fats such as red meat, butter, etc. Foods that cause

cholesterol leading to heart attack or stroke also lead to memory

impairment.

10. Exercising Leads to Memory

Improvement
 

Exercising is another great way to improve your memory.

 It’s well known that

exercise leads to

increased blood

ow to the brain,

which has several

cognitive bene ts,

such as alertness,

better

concentration, more positive mood and so on.

Exercising also improves memory by releasing cathepsin B. It’s a

protein which triggers the growth of neurons and forms new

connections in the hippocampus, a section of the brain playing a

vital role in memory.

Memory improvement necessarily doesn’t require rigorous exercise.

Just 150 minutes of walking every week has been known to improve

memory.

11. Socializing for Stronger Memories

 

Australian researchers conducted a study involving 700 participants

over 15 years. The researchers concluded that maintaining close

relationships helps in improving memory. Other studies have also

indicated that socializing helps prevent memory loss through

dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Since better relationships are also linked to happiness and

improvement in a number of heath parameters, it’s a great reason to

invest more in your current relationships as well as get back in touch

with people you haven’t spoken to for years.

12. New Stimulating Hobbies Will

Improve Your Memory
 

Columbia University researchers have found that people having

more than six hobbies have a 38% lower chance of developing

dementia. Researchers at Berkeley, California also found that people

who regularly engage in activities that stimulate their brains avoid

the formation of a protein that causes Alzheimer’s.

They key is to pick up new hobbies that force you to expand the

capabilities of your mind.

For example, you could:

Read a book in a topic that you are completely unfamiliar with

Learning a new musical instrument or a new dance form

Pick up a new form of exercise,

Regularly meet new people

The key here is to engage in activities that lead to the formation of

new neurons in the brain as well as new connections between

existing neurons. This helps maintain the brain’s cognitive reserve –

it’s ability to avoid memory loss.

13. Learning a New Language Boosts
Memory
 

There are several reasons why learning a new language is great for

memory.

The process of

remembering vocabulary,

phrases and grammar

rules all exercise your

brain cells. Mental

exercise like this leads to

overall memory

improvement. Studies

have indicated that

bilingual people are at

less risk of Alzheimer’s.

You also develop

renewed curiosity about

everything around you,

which helps you to focus more on everyday activities and objects.

As I have pointed out earlier, focus is another factor that helps us to

remember things better.

Learning how to remember things is an essential skill that you have

to pick up while learning any new language. When you are actively

looking for ways to remember, you pick up lots of memorization

techniques – which in turn improve your memory.

It’s a cycle that helps you to keep improving continuously. So why

not spend a few minutes every day in brushing up your French or

Spanish or pick up a completely new language like Mandarin!

14. Do More Challenging Work

 

Studies have found that people who do more mentally challenging

work are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Working on things that

are mentally taxing keeps your neurons on their toes and prevent

them from deteriorating over time.

If you are in a job you nd boring, if changing careers is not an

option, developing better memory and a healthier brain is its own

reward. You could also ask your boss to give you additional

responsibilities every day that place you out of your comfort zone –

so that your cognitive abilities stay in peak shape.

15. Positivity Promotes Memory

Improvement
 

A 2012 study indicated that feelings of positivity have a bene cial

effect on remembering things in case of older adults. Positive

thinking and happiness are believed to trigger the release of

dopamine in the memory-related regions of the brain, which

stimulates memory formation and retention.

Try to engage in activities that make you happy. It can be as simple

as setting aside 10 minutes a day to revive a hobby that you used to

enjoy, such as reading or singing.

Using memory tricks de nitely makes me happy, and research by

Tim Dalgliesh shows how and why. In “Method-of-Loci as a

Mnemonic Device to Facilitate Access to Self-A rming Personal

 Memories for

Individuals With

Depression,” he

shows precisely

how and why using

memory

techniques reliefs

mental anguish

and creates more

joy.

You can also practice positive visualization or meditation. Both of

these activities  reduce stress and release dopamine in the brain.

Practicing gratitude also makes us happier and helps improve our

memories.

16. Meditation for Memory

 

Meditation is the most effective way of improving the ability of our

mind to pay attention to tasks – which is important for improving

retention and converting a short term memory into a long term

memory.

Studies have demonstrated that practicing meditation improves our

ability to focus on smaller details. (Maclean et al. 2010). Other

studies have shown that mindfulness meditation works better as a

memory improvement technique than yoga.  (Quach et al 2015).

Building a habit of meditating every day isn’t too hard.

What if the thought of sitting still for even a couple of minutes is too

painful?
Try walking

meditation. Lots of

people nd this

approach far

easier than the

regular sitting

meditation

approach, and as

effective as

calming the mind.

Other Memory Tricks To

Remember Things
 

Improving your memory is also possible by approaching the process

of learning something new a bit differently. Making these small

additional changes can go a long way in helping you remember

things.

17. Learn in the Afternoon

 

Research indicates that the afternoon is the best time to study to

maximize recall, not necessarily when you are feeling the most alert.

If your work involves any sort of learning, try to schedule it during

the afternoon hours.

18. Recall Before Writing
 

Everyone remembers how school teachers asked us to write things

down to help us remember. Adding a step to this age-old practice

helps us remember things even better.

If you just mechanically write something down, you are likely to

forget it soon.

Actively recall each item you wish to remember and then write it, as

opposed to just copying something without thinking about it.

Repeating this process multiple times is great for adding things to

your long-term memory.

A useful hack to remember things that you read is to summarize a

page or a paragraph in the margin of the book as you read along.

This reinforces absorption into your memory, as well as help you

quickly remember the contents of the page when you look it up in

future.
Finally, remember that writing something down is far more effective

than typing it out, because it helps you pay more attention to the

moment. The reticular activating system is a section of your brain

that gets stimulated when you do something with higher levels of

alertness, and lowers your chance of forgetting things.

19. Be More Interested

 

It’s always easier to remember things that we are interested in. For

instance, you might nd it far easy to remember personal details of

your favorite celebrity, but you tend to forget historical facts or the

names of your in-laws friends!

But how do you apply this memorization technique to areas that you

are not so interested in?

By actively trying to nd reasons to be interested. Remind yourself

regularly about why it’s important to remember – how will it

contribute to your personal or professional life? That will signal to

your brain the importance of the topic and it will dedicate more

resources to strengthening neurons that reinforce those memories.

20. Pay More Attention

 

Out of all the techniques on how to remember things, this might be

the most effective.

Researchers from MIT have identi ed a neural circuit in the human

brain that helps in forming long-term memories. This circuit works

best when your mind pays close attention to the task at hand.

Essentially, higher concentration automatically leads to better

absorption in the brain and helps in converting short term memories

into long term memories.

Unfortunately, concentration is becoming an increasingly rare trait in

a world where people are bombarded with an in nite number of

distractions from multiple digital devices, and multitasking is the

norm. However, there are two simple steps that will help improve

your concentration – and hence boost your memory.

First, gradually reducing the use of digital devices will improve your

attention span and free you from Digital Amnesia. Next, try doing

one thing at a time and avoid switching between tasks every few

minutes.

Simply building these two habits will help you to remember things

more easily.

 
21. Visualizing Helps You Remember
 

A simple way of remembering tasks that you need to do is by

visualizing yourself doing that action. This is especially useful when

you don’t have a notepad or a to-do list app with you right away, or if

the process of noting down a task is too cumbersome. This is useful

in several situations, but here are the two most common ones.

The rst is in the middle of a conversation. Paying complete

attention to someone speaking, is also a positive step in building

rapport and whipping out your phone to note down a task can be a

distraction.

The second is remembering where you have kept something, like

your glasses. Quickly visualizing it will help you recall where it is.

Visualizing to remember things doesn’t eliminate the need for a to-

do list, but it serves as a useful complement.

 
 Remembering Things Isn’t Hard!
 

We have covered a wide range of methods that will help you to

remember. You don’t need to practice all of them. Just picking up a

few of these techniques will make a substantial difference to your

memory.

And what if you wanted to learn just one method that will make a

huge difference to your memory? I recommend the Memory Palace.

Click here to learn more about how to effectively create and use one

– fast.

Then create and use more Memory Palaces. It’s good for the health

and longevity of your brain!

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Last modi ed: December 17, 2020

About the Author / Anthony Metivier

Anthony Metivier is the founder of the Magnetic

Memory Method, a systematic, 21st Century
approach to memorizing foreign language vocabulary,
names, faces, numbers, poetry and any information in
ways that are easy, elegant and fun.

42 Responses to " How to Remember Things: 21 Memory

Techniques "

Daniel Welsch
May 9, 2018 at 3:09 am

This is very complete and has a lot of good information…

I’ve had a lot of success with Memory Palaces myself.
Thanks Anthony!

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
May 9, 2018 at 7:16 pm

That’s great to hear, and of course people

should check out your post on memory
techniques for a di cult language. It’s a

great one!

REPLY
Mohammad Sheri
May 17, 2018 at 9:29 pm

Thanks a lot for what you are offering. you’ve changed

different aspects of our life. I truly appreciate you besides
your job.

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
May 18, 2018 at 1:21 am

My pleasure, Mohammad.

Are you currently doing some memory

improvement activities at the moment? Do
you have any questions? Let me know if any
come up and I’ll answer a.s.a.p.

REPLY

Maricela G.S. Grif th

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

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

Elizabeth
August 15, 2020 at 9:27 pm

Thank you for this. I just started nursing school

last week and I’m 49 yrs old. I am going to try
these methods and see what works best for
me. There’s so much information to learn in the

medical eld! Do you have any

recommendations for me?

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
 August 15, 2020 at 9:57 pm

Thanks for reaching out,

Elizabeth.

The number one

recommendation I have is to

master the fundamentals of

mnemonics.

That means:

1. The Memory Palace technique

2. Associative or “Magnetic”
Imagery for using in your MPs

3. Solid Recall Rehearsal for long

term memory

4. The Big 5 (Reading, writing,

speaking and listening from
Memory for greater

consolidation)

5. Consistency of practice

Therein lies the magic that will

make nursing school so much

easier for you. And being part of

this community will help too.

Enjoy and I look forward to

hearing from you again soon!

REPLY

Oren
October 1, 2018 at 2:03 am
Very helpful tips to remember things.Thank you for
sharing!

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
October 1, 2018 at 4:03 am

My pleasure, Oren. Which of the strategies

did you nd most useful and want to try

rst?

REPLY

Zul qar
February 22, 2019 at 1:35 pm

Very nice article for helping people memorize things.

These memory tricks are very doable. Thanks

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
February 22, 2019 at 2:14 pm

Thanks for letting us know you appreciated

this, Zul qar.

REPLY

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 ful l

my wish. Thank you so much sir…..!

REPLY

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

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

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

David Payne
October 28, 2019 at 12:47 pm

When revising, or wanting to learn and memorise a new

subject, I nd 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

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 bene t 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

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

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

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

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 speci c 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

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 Certi cation 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

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 speci cally 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

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

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

Michael
April 23, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Anthony,

Hope all is going well during this

wild time with you! And kudos to
responding and being so
engaged with the replies on here!
Can tell this is something you
love and are passionate about.

BLUF: To skip my quarantine

ramble and get your answer,

please just scroll to “your

question answer” at the bottom
haha!

Looking forward to seeing which

methods work the best for me
too ha. I use expression
mnemonics & acronyms pretty
regularly and they work well. The
acronym use de nitely came
with the military for 10 years, but

now I’m I’m enrolled in a

personal trainer certi cation and
there is a lot of info. The info
there doesn’t scare me too
much; I think I’ll manage.
However, when I hopefully
succeed with this, I’m thinking
about an R.D or N.D program and
I feel I need new ways to retrieve
and store information if I am to

be successful in those elds. I

work hard, very hard, on all
aspects of physical and mental
health, but I feel maybe I need to
apply some new memory tactics
to stop being so down on myself
in the cognition area.

It would be best to employ and

practice some of the above-
mentioned methods now rather
than waiting to later. I just used

the chunking method last time I

was at the supermarket (even
though I had my list on my phone
just in case ha), and it worked
quite well. I’ve been more aware
after the reading of the article of
the spaced repetition, makes
sense and have been using it
with the ashcards for this
certi cation.

Lifestyle topic, I’ve been all over

that for a long time. I’ve beat it to
death haha.

So, to sum it up, I’m very excited

to mainly try working on the
memory palace, recalling before
writing (I sometimes struggle to
retain what I read), and working
on a new language.

Your question answer – Info I’m

working to remember better is
medical terms & lots of health
information(took Latin in school
so thats helping break words
down.) Also, just general stuff I
read. I liked the summarizing in
the margins tip. Oh an focus, my
brain skips everywhere which
can be problematic so any tips
with focus would be appreciated.
I’ve really limited electronics use

and it’s helped but I still nd my

brain just skipping all day (most
days). I’m increasing my green
tea & matcha and reducing my
caffeine to achieve that “calm
energy” ha! Anywhooooo.

Way more information than you

probably desired to know, but
writing this all out was probably

more for me anyway ha!

All the best your way,

Michael

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
April 23, 2020 at 5:06 pm

My pleasure, and
writing summaries
like this itself a great
memory and self-
development strategy.
I wish more people

would write at length.

Eventually, you might
like to explore
replacing ashcards
with the Memory

Palace technique.
This is where your
memory will really
start improving. The
longer we use external
references, the longer
we delay the more
profound results of
letting spatial memory
do the “heavy lifting.”

Meditation is one of
the best ways to
increase focus. I have
a whole book on the
topic coming out soon
called The Victorious
Mind: How to Master
Memory, Meditation
and Mental Well-
Being.

In the meantime, there

are a lot of resources
on focus and
meditation on this
site. Here’s one for
improving
concentration using
meditation.
 Green tea is indeed a
nice alternative to

coffee. Unfortunately,
I have bad reactions
to it – otherwise I’d go
green tea all the way.
Science shows that it
has great bene ts for
memory.

Thanks and look

forward to your next

post!

REPLY

Muhammad Faisal
May 31, 2020 at 2:46 am

Great article. I love your memory techniques!

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
May 31, 2020 at 4:55 pm

Glad that you enjoy the Magnetic Memory

Method – thanks for stopping by to read
this one. 🙂

REPLY

Deon
June 9, 2020 at 7:39 am

Very good techniques. I will surely practice them.

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
July 22, 2020 at 11:00 pm

That’s great to hear – enjoy the memory

improvement journey!

REPLY

Bhanu Priya
July 22, 2020 at 8:53 pm

Thank you so much for sharing interesting detailed

information.

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
July 22, 2020 at 10:59 pm

Thanks for letting me know you found it

useful.

Anything you’d like to see added to this

page or on a future post?

REPLY

Frank Farrell
August 20, 2020 at 3:32 pm

Thanks, Anthony. Great to see these suggestions

assembled. By the way, are you familiar with Anki? It’s a
spaced repetition App (or via desktop). Very supportive
for language learning, amongst other things. Best wishes,
Frank

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
August 20, 2020 at 4:20 pm

Thanks for checking this one out, Frank.

I am familiar with Anki and recommend

limiting its use to those serious about
memory techniques.

True, it does work for some, but we’re still

awaiting a lot of research on how and why

some use it correctly and others don’t. We

know that without elaborative encoding, the
rate of recall is actually very low and there
are many problems with self reporting that
spaced repetition apps not only enable, but
often encourage.

Thus, if people are going to use them, they

are advised to be very careful that they’re
using them well and are well versed in the

alternative: app free mnemonics and what

is called the levels of processing effect:
reading, writing, speaking and listening
from memory so things are consolidated in
memory.

Your thoughts?

REPLY

Frank Farrell
August 20, 2020 at 4:43 pm
I use it to practise my Spanish vocabulary. I use imagery
to help me remember words as I am learning them. Eg I
had a colleague with the surname Hill. When I was
learning the word for spinning (Hillando) I imagined her
spinning around (the -ando su x I already knew in my
long term memory). I entered it into my Anki app and

practised the word. Now it’s in my long term memory and

although I may still see her spinning around, I don’t need
to search for the image to help me recall what it means
any more. So, I nd Anki helpful to work the vocab into my
memory but I use other methods to help me recall the
word in the rst place. My gut feeling is that the wider
repertoire of ‘tools’ we have at our dispoosal the more
likey we are to nd a suitable one for the job in hand.

Well, it’s late here so I have to go to bed (as you say, sleep

is important). Loving the work you are doing here. You

give so much value in these videos and the podcasts.
Thank you, again. Frank

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
August 20, 2020 at 6:24 pm

You do have a more sophisticated way of

doing things.

You raise another issue with apps, however.

I am thinking of it because I can’t nd
“hillando” as a common form of el hilado. Is
it regional?

I don’t know, but we often nd that people

borrow or buy vocabulary sources that
aren’t correct.
 Memory techniques obviously can’t check,
but the Magnetic Memory Method never
advises people to memorize vocabulary

without also speaking with native speakers,

ideally from the regional dialect one wants
to learn. Spanish tends to be fairly regular
around the world, but there are many local
pronunciations and expressions that one
might miss or learn well but incorrectly
depending on the source material.

REPLY

Frank Farrell
August 21, 2020 at 12:33 am

Hi. I came across ‘hillando’ while reading Nada by Carmen

Laforet. It’s from ‘Hilar.’ Hillando means spinning in the
sense of turning around (not, say, spinning yarn).

I know that Anki provides ready made lists. Like you, I

wouldn’t subscribe to them because context is so

important. Besides, by creating the lists from my reading I
can focus on new vocabulary that I nd interesting
enough to want to learn.

On another note, after watching your neurobics video, I

worte my journal left-handed last night. My penmanship
looks like its from an Elizabethan document!

Very best wishes,

Frank

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
 August 21, 2020 at 1:50 am

Interesting and thanks for adding

something new to memorize from Spanish.
Nada looks very interesting too.

I could only suggest a split test between

writing your own cards and pumping them
digitally into an app. I do not know for
certain that you’d notice a difference, but I
certainly do. Using multiple colors and
drawings also creates space for the kind of

diffuse thinking that is so essential for

memorizing.

And since you have Elizabethan

handwriting, that would be very ne to
behold indeed. Developing such script
would itself be a form of neurobics! 🙂

REPLY

senthamizhan
November 19, 2020 at 8:56 pm

Dear Anthony,

Thank you for your guidance. I am applying your memory

techniques in my studies. Its incredible. Most importantly,
you are so much care about users questions and

answering immediately. As a user, I really appreciated

your politeness.

So the question I was requested to you in YouTube

comments is, “How to apply memory techniques in
Computer Data structure algorithm subject ?”
If you suggest some suitable memory techniques then it
will be good. I can understand the concepts but steps are
really important with some computer syntax. Most of the
computer students are struggling especially
“Datastructures and algorithm subject”, even many are
failing to achieve pass marks.

REPLY

Anthony Metivier
November 19, 2020 at 10:49 pm

Thank you. I’ve had a look at the code and

removed it because it’s probably not good
to have on the site. But I do appreciate
taking a look.

What I still don’t understand is why that has

to be memorized? What concept is it going
to help a person understand to memorize it
all?

To memorize such code is incredibly simple

and can be solved right now:

1) Create proper Memory Palaces

2) Develop a Major System

3) Develop an Alphabet System

4) Develop a Symbols System

5) Memorize the code

But I believe that if people can explain more

about what the speci c concepts are and

why they have to be memorized, it won’t be

necessary to memorize that much code.
 I suggest all people learn these techniques
and then start practicing with the highest
order of information possible so they can
start to develop the understanding they
seek. There’s no reason to delay and every
reason to rest assured that these
techniques work. It’s sad that science

doesn’t motivate more people because

we’ve got the evidence in droves that this
works. (As do tness gyms for physical
tness.)

REPLY

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