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When I look at a list of numbers like that the one I asked you to memorise – 73051128342, if you've forgotten already! – I know that I won't remember them as well as I might remember a stupid story. So I make up a stupid story out of the numbers, one that I know will stick in my mind.
Eggs, tea and Channel 4
I take the numbers a few at a time and give them meaning. The first three numbers are 730. Well, that's 7.30, the time that I get up. (Well, actually I'm rarely up before midday, but we can pretend!)
I see myself waking up at 7.30, and looking at the bright display on the digital clock by my bed. |
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But then I drift off for another 5 minutes, which is the next number in the sequence. |
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Finally, I get up and go into the bathroom. There I look in the mirror and see that I have a couple of big hairs sticking right up on the top of my head – that is, a 1 and another 1.
I comb them down, then walk downstairs. |
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Still in a doze, I trip down the last 2 stairs. |
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In the kitchen, I make myself a couple of fried eggs (which look like an 8 as they sit next to each other in the pan) |
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and a cup of tea (3). |
Got it?
Then I take my breakfast into the sitting room, turn on the TV to Channel 4 (of course) |
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and finish by putting my 2 feet up. |
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I now have a daft little story to imagine: I wake up, fall asleep again for a bit, comb my hair, trip on the way downstairs, make breakfast and take it into the front room to watch TV in comfort.
Now, run back through my story and name the numbers as you go along, easily remembering each one. Take your time – it's simple. Jot the numbers down on a piece of paper and then see how well you've done.
If you didn't get them all first time, it doesn't matter. The point is, you have undoubtedly done a much better job of remembering them and have done so at a deeper level. Once you have them all securely in your memory, you'll still know what they are tomorrow. All you have to do is run the story through your mind like a little film.
Today, I employ this technique to remember complicated telephone numbers, using the person whose number it is as a character in my little movie. In the past, when I had to learn a lot of information for exams, I would condense and condense everything down to lists of words and numbers and then convert those lists into stories in my head. When a whole year's syllabus is condensed into a ridiculous story about a penguin lost in a department store, it's not difficult to remember – and it's fun!
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