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Memory
The Hard Way

@Timothy_Kenny Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory

 1.0
@Timothy_Kenny
Introduction
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory
 The Hard Way
● Memory is messy
● It’s like learning a new language
● Memory is not the solution to everything
○ There are lot’s of successful people who never do
this stuff
● You will need to build systems, then
implement multiple new habits
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 Common Mistakes
● No spaced repetition system
● No knowledge of how to make things
memorable
● No way of determining whether something
should be memorized and time/energy cost
● Not being able to motivate yourself

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 Other Memory Courses
● Selling mnemonic stage tricks dressed up as
real memory solutions
● No offline spaced repetition system
● No realistic look at time/energy costs of
spaced repetition
● No talk of creating mental infrastructure
using mnemonics
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 1.1
@Timothy_Kenny
My Story
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory
 Who is Timothy Kenny?
I am Author of Accelerated Learning for Entrepreneurs.

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 1.2
The Course Project
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 A Notepad and Some Habits
● A 10 slot memory palace based on a room in
your apartment/home
● Dedicating 2 days per week for review (Sat
and Sun suggested)
● Mark 20 high priority documents with your
color coded tabs

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 1.3
How to Use this Course
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 How to Use
● Don’t expect to be fluent in Mnemonics in
days or weeks without huge effort
● Focus first on building habits
● Add things to your calendar as soon as
possible
● Prioritize spaced repetitions over
Mnemonics
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 Section 2
The 3 Ways to Memorize

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 2.0
@Timothy_Kenny
Introduction
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory
 Way # 1
● Spaced Repetition
● Look at something over and over
● We vastly undervalue spaced repetition
○ Aha vs. Uhuh
○ I know that syndrome

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 Way # 2
● Spaced Reconstruction
● Use questions to trigger reconstruction
● Metaphor of memory retrieval is wrong
● Struggle to find memory builds stronger
memory
● All memories are reconstructed each time
you "remember"
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 Way # 3
● Mnemonics
● Functions like scaffolding when building a
skyscraper
○ Maintains structure of info until normal web of
connections form
● Like learning a new language
● Very time intensive until fluency
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 2.1
Spaced Repetition
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 The Good
● Easy, just re-read, watch, or listen
● Can do reps while driving, exercising,
cooking, relaxing, etc
● Huge benefits over doing nothing
● Basis of SuperMemo

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 The Bad
● Gives false sense of knowledge
● Skimming happens more and more
● Hard to set up scheduling that works
○ Digital requires proprietary software and
re-organizing all info
○ Physical requires huge organization change

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 2.2
Spaces Reconstruction
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 The Good
● Best way to build strong memory
● Moves you quickly to instant recall
● Can combine with mnemonics
● Can be built into reading process
● Good for test-prep
● Flashcards use this system

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 The Bad
● Takes too long to create flashcards
● Not all answers can fit on flashcards
○ Graphics not easy
● More cognitive strain...leads to fatigue

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 2.3
@Timothy_Kenny
Mnemonics
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory
 Three Types
● Visual - shapes and 3D locations
● Auditory - Sounds/words
● Body - Dance

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 Body
● YMCA Dance
● Strong African dance traditions
● Doesn't scale
● Small vocabulary
● Muscle memory
● Hard to share

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 Auditory
● Rhyming
● Acrostics
● Doesn't scale well
● Useful for small chunks of info
● Songs and Bard and Quran memorization

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 Visual
● Humans and other animals naturally
memorize locations and objects
● Turn info into objects
● Attach objects to things in imaginary
environment

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 The Good
● Memorize impossible information
● Impress people with tricks
● Works when you can't write
● Best when you can't get multiple reps
● Enables you to achieve clarity of thinking by
consciously organizing info in mind

@Timothy_Kenny Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory

 The Bad
● Same time commitment as learning a new
language
● Requires visualization abilities
● Requires spaced repetition
● Hard to share
● Take a lot of brain processing
● Hard to match with your knowledge tree
organization
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 2.4
The Ugly Side of Memory
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 What They Don’t Tell You
● Lists, random numbers, playing cards are
the easiest to memorize
● Spaced repetition cannot be bypassed
● Spaced reps require that all your info is
organized and you have a schedule for
review

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 You Don’t Need to Memorize Everything
● It's often more efficient to look something up
again
○ One time action
○ To do list/Action plan/checklist
○ Calendar
● Must have the organization memorized

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 Problem 1: Organization
● Only way to tackle unknown problem
● Clarity of thought
● Must organize externally to have good
internal organization
● Mnemonics sets like concrete, don't want to
have to fix later

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 Problem 2: Scheduling
● Supermemo is the gold standard
○ Not realistic for most people
● Paper>Digital
○ Helps focus
○ Annotation
○ Physical sense of knowledge
● Execution>Perfect timing of reps

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 Section 3

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 3.0
Spaced Repetitions
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 Overview
● Read/Annotate
● Summarize/Mind Map/Systems/Actionable
Plan
● Review/Memorize/Schedule actions
● Additional Repetitions

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 3.1
The Best Way to Organize your
Paper Files
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 The Hardware
● 4 or 5 drawer file cabinets
● Hanging folders
● Manilla 3 or 5 tab folders
● Tape Dispenser with tape
● Post it colored tags

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 The System
● Each learning project gets a number
○ Same with role models
○ 000 to 999
● Label all folder tabs with the number and title
● Keep in order
● Match digital and paper systems

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 Tracking What is Printed
● Batch print by combining documents into a
single PDF (Acrobat Pro)
● Use prefix "p-" or a "printed" folder
● Batch Renamer for renaming files in bulk

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 3.2
The Simple Scheduling System
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 Colored Post-it Tags
● Each color represents a different time
interval
○ Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, etc
● Each drawer contains ~1 case or 5,000
pages

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 The Process
● Print
● Tape first page
● Tag with proper color
● Review during scheduled time

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 The Color Codes
● Pink - Daily
● Red - Weekly
● Orange - Biweekly
● Yellow - Monthly
● Green - Quarterly
● Blue - Half Yearly
● Purple - Yearly
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 3.3
Setting Up Your Review Days
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 Starter Plan
● Weekly - Every Sunday
● Bi-Weekly - 1st and 3rd Saturday
● Monthly - 4th Saturday
● Quarterly - 2nd Saturday
● Half-Yearly - Choose 2 days during summer
vacation
● Yearly - Choose 2 days between Dec 26-31
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 What if You Miss a Day?
● Make it up during the week
● Skip a weekly rep

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 How to Set Up?
● Google Calendar
○ Set up automatic repeats
○ Set color to match sticky note color
● Set up SMS and popup notifications

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 How Long?
● Start at 1 hour per session
● Spend first sessions setting up
○ folders
○ file cabinets
○ tags
● Ideally spend half or full days setting up to
get started fast
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 3.4
Hacking OneNote (and Evernote)
to Work with Your Schedule
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 Searchable Tags
● Special character + schedule tag
○ ex. "#biweekly"
● Search "#biweekly"
● Test before using
● Change tag after review
● Put tag in same place in all docs, or in title
as suffix
● Remove after printing or add "#printed" tag
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 3.5
Hacking Your Documents, Audio
and Video Files
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 Add Tag as Suffix
● No special characters
● Batch Renamer
● Setup file indexing
● Combine with Dropbox or Google Drive

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 Combine with Mobile and Offline
● Windows Search
● Select All -> Copy
● Paste to cloud folder(s)
● Save folder for offline sync

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 3.6
Daily Habit Reps
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 Quotes, Beliefs, Philosophy
● Create a separate text file for each day
● Convert to audio
● Read out loud

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 Audio and Video
● Tag first
● Put in a folder for each day of the week

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 Monthly Reps
● Folder 01-31
● 31 low priority
● Plan duration for your commute or daily
exercise, cooking, or chores

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 Section 4
Mnemonics

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 4.0
@Timothy_Kenny
Introduction
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory
 The Language of Your Mind
● Hijack your spatial memory to store other
types of info
● Translate info into images/3D objects
● Build or find environments to store your
objects

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 Dangers
● Takes a long time before useful fluency
● There is no delete key
● You can't undo poorly designed memory
structures
● Not permanent without spaced reps

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 4.1
The Book Memorization Myth
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 Information Structure is Hard
● Always get multiple perspectives
● Synthesize your model from these
● Don't memorize until the structure is
confirmed
● Large delay between reading and
memorization

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 What is Worth Memorizing?
● Systems
● Principles
● Labels/Vocabulary
● Examples
● Role Models

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 Not Worth Memorizing
● Checklists
● Raw data
● Multi-step techniques or strategies

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 Memorization is Just Scaffolding
● Info still needs to become interlinked with the
rest of your knowledge web
● This requires taking action on info (or
detailed rehearsal)
● Use for problem solving
● Generalization requires multiple uses in
different situations/environments
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 4.2
Small Chunk Mnemonics
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 Audio and Word Mnemonics
● Types
○ Acrostics
○ Rhymes
● Good for
○ Short lists (5-10 items)
○ Steps in technique or small strategy

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 4.3
Chain Mnemonics
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 Memory Chains
● Good for linear info
○ Speech
○ List
○ Process
● Weakness is one forgotten chain link ruins
the rest of the chain
● Only use for last mile or small, linear chunks
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 4.4
Large Chunk Mnemonics
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 The Loci Method: 3 Parts
● Environment
● Objects
● Connections

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 Difference Between Environment and
Object

● Big vs small
● Environment is the container
● Zoom in and an object can become an
environment

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 Environments
● Environment requires unique, object sized
parts to attach objects to
● Environment is just a collection of "objects"
that are already permanently connected in
your spatial memory

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 Simple Example
● Bathroom
○ Shower
○ Toilet
○ Sink
○ Window
○ Vent
● 5 Slots

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 Add 2nd Level
● Sink
○ Faucet
○ Handle
○ Drain
○ Toothbrush
○ Toothpaste
● 25 Slots

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 Add 3rd Level
● Toothbrush
○ Circular bristles
○ Pick tip
○ Thumb Ridge
○ Neck
○ Body (handle) end
● 125 slots

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 4.5
How to Connect Objects to
Environment
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 What to Look For
● Needs unique contours
● Avoid perfect shapes, square, circle
● Intersection of part of environment and
object
● Use actions (biting, clawing, etc)

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 Avoid
● Duplicate environmental features
● Duplicate objects
● Duplicate object features
○ Especially when object becomes an environment at
microscopic level

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 4.6
How to Turn Ideas into Images
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 Finding Images
● Google images
○ Add "icon"
● 3 levels of metaphor
○ above - what is this idea part of?
○ beside - what is an idea in the same category?
○ below - what is a smaller part of this idea?

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 Using Audio Techniques
● Yolk - Yoke (homonym)
○ Circle turned into defined contour
● Yolk - Choke (rhym)
○ Man holding his throat as if choking

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 Using Cause Effect
● What objects are used before and after the
idea?
● What is going on at the same time?

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 4.7
Finding and Building Environments
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 Where to Start
● Your house or apartment
● Previous living locations, self and others
● Current and former vehicles
● Well known routes/paths
○ Buildings along routes

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 Environemental Permenance
● All Environments change
● Use panorama feature on phone to capture
locations
● Draw birds eye view of environment

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 Fictional Environments
● Architectural magazines
● Home and Garden magazines
● Videogame maps
● Movie scenes
● TV shows with common locations (Seinfeld)

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 4.8
Improving Your Visualization Skills
(Even if You Can't Visualize)
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 Almost Everyone can Visualize
● Imagine giving directions over the phone
○ Around your neighborhood
○ In your home/apartment
○ School or university
○ Office

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 What Not to Expect
● Vivid visual hallucinations
● Lucid dream state

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 How to Get Started
● Talk out each step, just like if you were
giving directions
● Try visualizing right as you fall asleep
○ While brain is transitioning into dream state

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 More Tips
● Draw on paper
● Use 3D design software
○ Google Sketchup (free library of
objects/environments)
● Make a collage (digital or paper)
● Write a short story

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 5.0
@Timothy_Kenny
Conclusion
Memory the Hard Way #tkmemory