I just put my phone and palacard on the counter!!! Where did they go?
Did I schedule lunch with him at 11:30am or 12:30pm? We just talked about this...
Did Professor Snape say the outline was Due on the 13th or the 19th?
Ugh what was my last point in my notes!?!?! I just looked at it! I guess I'm starting at a 85.
Ok, so you get it right? Sometimes we all have issues remembering things. I want to give you a few tips to help you keep all this info in your brain! Now, this is not limited to school work. Use these memory tools in every aspect of your life.
So here we go!! Let's exercise our brains to keep our memory!!
1) ACRONYMS
Yes yes, this one is ancient, but some people don't know about it or just forget how useful it can be! Crazy because its a part of life at Furman. Basically, when you have a list of things you need to remember, take the first letter of each of those things and make an acronyms for it! Remembering a name, simple word or a phrase is wayyyy more easier than recalling every single thing in that list.
Example:
List: lip balm, apple sauce, doggie treats, icecream bars, elephant ears, sugar, frozen french fries, ionized salt, razors, salt, toiletries
Acronym: LADIES FIRST
2) JAM!
When we have a favorite song, everyone knows it is our favorite song because we know every beat, every word, the artists, title of song, what year it was made, every scene from the video, where you were when you first heard it etc... Rhymes, rhythms, and beats, help you remember the songs. So, just use this same idea and put it to daily things you need to remember. You don't even have to be a lyrical genius like Kanye West to do this!
3)CHUNKY CHUNKS
This method is particularly good when dealing with numbers. A common rule is that we can remember 7 (plus or minus 2) things in short term memory. So instead of trying to memorize a very long strand of numbers or items, place them into categories.
Example:
List: 42389485238522634213472108321710278102973210831028120481
Chunk: 423894-852385-226342-etc
So now you have, 6 or 7 sets to remember instead of 1 set of too many numbers!
4) LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
Ok, so now you have another list of things to remember right?
Take a few minutes to identify a path that you travel often. Familiarize yourself with each of sections of your path or object. Mentally go through each of locations and visualize them. Just fyi, it is important to be able to visualize and recall each location easily. Next, have your friend read you a different list of words. This time, try to create visual images of the words associated with one of the locations.
5) PRACTICE: SAY IT DO IT SAY IT DO IT SAY IT DO IT AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN
Another ancient one! Just do it over and over and over. The more you force yourself to retrieve the information (pull info from your brain) the more likely you are to remember it.
