I’m not a big fan of football ( soccer) but was in a pub with 2 friends watching a match. I was more interested in the beer but my friends were carrying on a lively debate about each team, the players, transfers, coaches etc.
After a while I realised that they knew a huge amount of information about the sport.
And I couldn’t remember a single detail of anything they had said.
Remembering new information is easy if it relates to existing information
Each new game or player was just a small addition for their mental map but for me it was essentially random information and difficult to retain.
Tony Buzan has written a series of books on memorisation and one of his favourite methods of organising information is the mind map.
But he also recommends something called the self enhancing memory matrix.
The idea is to memorise lists of basic information on a topic, lists of countries and their capitals, famous paintings, varieties of wine grape – that kind of thing.
Once this information has been safely squirrelled away in your mind it will serve as the foundation for any more information on that topic that you come across.
So when you meet someone from Vanuatu, instead of being clueless you can ask if they lived in its capital Port Vila.
Or when someone recommends a Riesling that they enjoyed you already have an idea of its origin and taste and you can more easily remember the details that are being added to what you already know.
C’mon I don’t want to spend time memorising lists …
Nor does anyone really, I’m going to approach this slightly differently and tie this idea to my TODO list.
Each goal is going to be associated with a small bit of information. I’m going to start with the periodic table of elements.
Once I add an item, I’m also going to assign an element which should keep it in mind until I’ve completed the task.
Add another task, add another element.
Write a blog post – Hydrogen
Edit a video – Helium
I’m hoping this will help keep my tasks small and add a nice sequence of information which will highlight the progress I’ve made.
Might be a silly idea. Might be a good idea.
Each everytime you check in code or every time you finish a streak on Khan Academy you can add a label for the piece of information you want associated.
I recommend using some memorisation techniques like the places method or pegs so that you can get better at linking things together in your mind.
I was about 10 or 11 when I found my grandfather’s copy of the memory book and I had great fun learning the 50 states of america until I could recite them.
I’m hoping to be able to add a few more hopefully useful items to my mental list
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