Yesterday I discussed a method of forming a mental picture, which is a very efficient and easy way to train your memory. Today I want to take a new method and that method could be called ‘a journey technique’ or a method of loci. It is very good for remembering lists (even very long ones) and this method is one of my favorite ones. In this kind of method you use association method and you associate things you have to remember with places that you travel trough in your mind by placing various objects which you want to remember.
Let us say you have to remember a list of 30 words. Have in mind that an average person can remember around 5-7 items when he goes shopping. So, by using a standard technique of repetition which most people do, it would be difficult to remember so many things. But if you try to use a journey method you will be able to remember a list of 30 words in about 5 minutes and when you train your brain really well this will be done in under one minute.
The first thing that you have to do is to learn the places where you want to place the objects you want to remember. I made those thirty places points of my journey from my home to the shop. Some of them are: balcony, living room, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, corridor, entrance to my flat, elevator, entrance to my house and etc. As you see I use well known places to start my journey. Of course, in real life I do not go to the balcony before going to the shop. I just use a logical sequence of places that bring me closer to a shop.
So, after you learn those 30 places, you need to start placing those 30 things at those spots (one thing in one spot). You have to create some unusual bizarre situation around those places in connection with those things. This will help you to remember things better. So, you travel in your mind from place A to Z by placing those things and creating a story of your own which will help you to remember the things you have to remember.
I recommend you to start from 10 things, not 30, so that you would not get disappointed. You will see how easy it is to remember ten things. If you see that some things were not remembered well, be sure that it is not due to the fact that the method does not work, but you failed to create vivid and extraordinary images in your mind.
I hope I managed to explain the method clearly to you and you will be able to apply it in your daily life. Good luck in creating your stories and training your memory.
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