{"id":1439,"date":"2018-10-10T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T10:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/2018\/10\/10\/one-memorable-way-to-remember-stuff\/"},"modified":"2018-10-10T21:52:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T10:52:00","slug":"one-memorable-way-to-remember-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/2018\/10\/10\/one-memorable-way-to-remember-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"One memorable way to remember stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Flying Solo contributor<\/em>\u00a0Lucinda Lions<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever said to yourself, \u201cThat\u2019s a great idea, I don\u2019t need to write it down,\u201d only to regret your decision within 17.7 seconds? Here’s a quick, easy way to remember names, numbers and everyday information.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Is this you?<\/h2>\n

Have you ever been driving along and tried to memorise a website or business name, to no, frustrating, avail?<\/p>\n

Have you ever spell-checked a word online\u00a0so<\/em>\u00a0many times that Google voluntarily and independently shows you memory loss ads, abandoning its algorithm in order to salvage yours?<\/p>\n

Have you ever been introduced to someone, instantly forgetting their name while secretly grasping for your own?<\/p>\n

If you answered \u2018yes\u2019 to any of these questions, you may find this article memorable, for all the right reasons.<\/p>\n

To be clear, I\u2019m no expert in memory. Heck, if I remember my age, it\u2019s a good day. But an event happened recently that prompted me to take a hard look at why I should attempt to improve my memory skills.<\/p>\n

“These numbers became seared into my memory within minutes, and now I literally can\u2019t forget them. Yet, I had been struggling to memorise them for months.”<\/p>\n

I should have remembered this<\/h3>\n

I had been struggling to remember the last three digits of my son\u2019s mobile phone number for ages, which became an issue one day when my phone battery died and I had to call him using someone else\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n

But I couldn\u2019t remember his full number, only the first seven digits.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t call him. Yikes!<\/p>\n

Thankfully everything worked out, but it so easily may not have. The incident pushed me to learn more about my memory, or lack thereof, as well as the best techniques to help me remember stuff.<\/p>\n

This is what I found out.<\/p>\n

Baker versus baker<\/h3>\n

I watched an excellent Ted Talk by\u00a0Joshua Foer on memory<\/a>.\u00a0 In it, Foer explains that all memory techniques come down to \u2018elaborate encoding\u2019, which involves trying to remember abstract information (such as the numbers 417) by making them relatable and meaningful, therefore memorable. Elaborate encoding is illustrated perfectly by the Baker\/baker Paradox.<\/p>\n

The paradox goes like this.<\/p>\n

If I said to you, \u201cRemember that there\u2019s a guy who is a baker\u201d, and I said to your friend, \u201cRemember that there\u2019s a guy by the\u00a0name\u00a0<\/em>of Baker\u201d, YOU are more likely to remember the word \u2018baker\u2019 than your friend.<\/p>\n

The reason? The name Baker probably doesn\u2019t actually mean anything to your friend. As Foer explains, the word Baker is \u2018untethered to all the other memories floating around\u2019 in his skull. But\u00a0a baker,\u00a0<\/em>on the other hand, triggers visual images of people in white hats with floury hands. So when you hear about a baker, your brain starts sinking \u2018associational hooks\u2019 into the word, making it easier to fish out later.<\/p>\n

When it comes down to it, Foer says that the art of trying to remember information well, is about figuring out how to change capital case Bakers into lower case bakers. In other words, turning all abstract information into interesting, relatable, memorable information.<\/p>\n

Foer also describes our minds as being a palace: \u201cAs bad as we are at remembering names and numbers and word-for-word instructions from our colleagues, we have really exceptional visual and spatial memories\u2026 The idea behind the memory palace is to create this imagined edifice in your mind\u2019s eye and populate it with images that you want to remember. The crazier, weirder, more bizarre, funnier, raunchier, stinkier the image is, the more unforgettable it\u2019s likely to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

I put it into practice<\/h3>\n
\n

Straight after watching the Ted Talk, I created the below image in my head of the last three digits of my son\u2019s phone number.\u00a0 I turned the abstract, impersonal numbers into a visual, memorable cartoon.<\/p>\n

I imagined that the number four was climbing up a long rope that looked like the number one, and the number seven was a platform, just above the rope.<\/p>\n

These numbers became seared into my memory within minutes, and now, I literally can\u2019t forget them. Yet, I had been struggling to memorise them for\u00a0months<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably been doing this all your life<\/h3>\n

Like me, you\u2019ve probably been using Mnemonics for ages. (Oh yeah, now\u2019s a good time to explain this funny word. \u00a0Mnemonics is pronounced \u2018ne-monics\u2019, we have to\u00a0remember\u00a0<\/em>that the \u2018m\u2019 is silent \u2013 cruel!\u00a0 Mnemonics are creative memory techniques that help us retain and retrieve information; techniques such as songs, rhymes, poems, acronyms, images and more.)<\/p>\n

What Foer\u2019s Ted Talk did, was\u00a0jog my memory<\/em>\u00a0and remind me to\u00a0continue<\/em>\u00a0using these mnemonics, rather than falling into the nasty habit of wrongly assuming I can\u2019t remember stuff.<\/p>\n

This is what I mean.<\/p>\n

Yesterday when I automatically Googled whether to use \u2018bare\u2019 instead of \u2018bear\u2019 (in relation to \u2018bearing\u2019 a burden), as I\u2019ve done several times before; I stopped and took the time to create a memory hook instead, so I\u2019d never have to look up the word again. I imagined a bear carrying a cumbersome cross, which now reminds me that a bear must bear the heavy burdens. And as for \u2018bare\u2019 meaning naked, I now imagine that the letters \u2018b\u2019 and \u2018a\u2019 look like breasts. (I\u2019ll spare you the cartoon of that visual image!)<\/p>\n

Time and practise<\/h3>\n

I think a lot of this memory work comes down to time, inclination, practise and habit.<\/p>\n

Am I willing to invest the time to remember something, even if it takes just a few seconds? Am I actually interested in retaining a piece of information? Will I make it a habit? Am I going to regularly practise until I get better at it? (I recently tried to remember a lovely lady\u2019s name using a memory hook, and I stuffed it up remarkably. The lady\u2019s unusual and beautiful name was Kofee, and I said, \u201cBye Cocoa\u201d. I felt terrible!)<\/p>\n

To be honest, I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll get into the daily memory-practicing habit, though Kofee probably thinks I should! At least I know there are techniques out there for all \u2018417\u2019 situations.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no such thing as a brilliant memory<\/h3>\n

The good news is, there\u2019s no such thing as a God-given brilliant memory, just brilliant ways to remember information. And the great news is that these memory techniques are accessible to all of us. Now,\u00a0that\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0good to remember!<\/p>\n

Source : FlyingSolo September 2018\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article by<\/em>\u00a0Lucinda Lions<\/a>\u00a0is reproduced with the permission of\u00a0Flying Solo\u00a0<\/a>– Australia’s micro business community. Find out more and join over 100K others<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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By Flying Solo contributor\u00a0Lucinda Lions Have you ever said to yourself, \u201cThat\u2019s a great idea, I don\u2019t need to write it down,\u201d only to regret your decision within 17.7 seconds? Here’s a quick, easy way to remember names, numbers and everyday information. Is this you? Have you ever been driving along and tried to memorise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}