This is an excellent method for memorizing numbers. In this system, you associate portions of the number with a word that has some relation to it. For example: 74736052007365 Split the number up and make an association for each sequence. Doing so can give us a list like this: Jumbo Jet (747), XBox (360), Deck of Cards (52), James Bond (007), Days in the year (365). This method can again be used for passwords that are easyto remember . To help you remember your images, try to imagine a scene that incorporates all of the items. For example, you may see a calendar with a photograph of James Bond playing poker on his XBox on a private 747. Sounds weird, but it works.

An excellent way to remember a large number or phrase, is to look for patterns. Here is a simple example: 3810151722242931363843 The number appears to be random until you realize that it is following a pattern: add 5, then add 2, repeat. Once you know the pattern, you only need to remember the first number in the sequence. This can be a useful way to create a numeric password that changes regularly. Another way to use this system isto remember the numbers in the form of a numerical keyboard. You can use your spatial awareness to remember the number rather than just blind memorizing.

We are all very familiar with the system of alphabetization – we see it every day in phone books, online directories, and a variety of other places. If you have a list of wordsto remember , put them into alphabetical order. If you wanted to learn a very long list – such as the States of the USA, start with one state per letter. Once you have that memorized, go back and add another state for each letter. Repeat until the whole list is stored in your mind. You would be surprised how much more effective this is than just tryingto remember the whole list in one go.

In a way, alphabetizing is categorizing, but with this method you can go a lot further. If you have a big list of things to remember, you can find similarities and group them. For example a shopping list: Apples, Shampoo, Cheese, Milk, Sugar, Bananas, Soap, Coconut, Flour Now, reorder them into categories and we have this: Fruit: Apples, Bananas Dried Goods: Coconut, Sugar, Flour Dairy: Milk, Cheese Bathroom: Shampoo, Soap Another great way to remember your categories (especially in the case of a shopping list) is to remember your categories in the order that they are found in the supermarket. For example, if your first aisle is Fruit, remember the fruit first and think of the fruit aisle while you are doing so.

Chunking is such a useful method of remembering things that we all use it every day. The best example is telephone numbers. When we are told a phone number we haveto remember we chunk it up – usually into area code – 3 digits – four digits. This is not out of conformity – it is because it is the most effective way to remember such random numbers. This is also an excellent way to remember long sequences like pi to n digits. Taking just four extra digits a day you can easily remember pi to many decimal places. Great for a party trick.