Hello and here is what is on my mind today. My question is in two parts. First thing is that like many people in early middle age I find that my memory is not as acute as it once was. There is nothing hugely wrong with my memory; I can still recall names and faces of people I know and account numbers and passwords and so forth. But my short-term memory is less acute for instance I am apt to forget where I parked my car when parking at the mall unless I make a deliberate effort to do this. What I do is simply say aloud where I am parking. “Christopher you parked on the north side of the mall lot, facing west” will do it. For things I am likely to forget it is helpful just to describe them aloud because then I can remember saying it. Does anybody else do things like this and if so what?
I do it for various usernames and passwords, I turn them into a phrase that I always “say” in my head as I’m typing them. My favorite one right now is, “Sexual zeal for Microsoft NT and five horses.”
Hey, that’s my password too!
For things like remembering my car location I just put the info into my phone. But with people’s names and faces it’s harder. I’m still trying to come up with a good trick.
First thing is to actually listen when you are being introduced make sure to repeat the person’s name when you first speak to them, to to repeat it at least three times during the first conversation if possible. Also you have to get over being embarrassed about asking the name if you don’t get it when you first hear it.
The more ridiculous I make a memory, the more likely I will remember it. I try to think of my car keys as a bomb and it explodes whatever I put them on. I use a similar trick with my glasses.
Years ago I used the memory palace technique to remember lists (and sometimes poems), but I haven’t done that in a while.
I have two words that total 10 individual letters. (I could actually use the first ten letters of anything and neglect duplicate letters.) I assign the numbers 0-9 to these letters. I can then write my ATM pin numbers and lock combinations where ever I want and always have a way to retrieve them. This rarely happens, but I did double check at the bank last week when the ATM ate my card. I accidentally crossed two numbers. I knew when I did it that I made the mistake, but the machine gave me no second chance. I got my card back and double checked using my cheat used the correct number that I knew.