In my latest video, I tried to remember sixteen numbers on a grid after seeing them for only eight seconds.
I did it twice. The first time I had no plan. The second time I used one small trick.
The trick was simple. Before the second round, I drew the grid on paper and wrote a range of numbers above each column: 1 to 15, 16 to 30, 31 to 45 and 46 to 60. Now every number had a place to live.
Why would that help? In Episode 41 of Influential Me, “The Cycle of Learning”, I talk about how raw information becomes knowledge once you connect it to something you already know. A loose number is hard to hold. A number that belongs in the third column is easier to hold, because it is connected to something.
I don’t know if it will work for you.
One try each proves nothing, and the two boards in my video were different. But it is a small idea you can test yourself, this week, with no cost.
Here are three ways to give information a place to live.
1. Group it. Before you go shopping, sort your list by aisle: fruit and vegetables together, tins together, dairy together. Each item now sits with its neighbours.
2. Write it by hand. Writing a number or a name on paper makes you slow down and look at it properly. Try a phone number in chunks, like 0161 · 555 · 0142, instead of one long string.
3. Draw it. A quick sketch counts. Picture the item in a place you know well, such as your kitchen or your street. In an earlier video, a simple picture of a daisy helped me remember the first move of a Rubik’s Cube.
There is a phrase for this kind of thing: “a place for everything, and everything in its place.” It means that when things are organised, they are easier to find.
This post is about everyday memory habits. It is not medical advice, and it makes no claim about your health.
Give this a try. Tell me how it feels. If it doesn’t work, let’s try something else.