A System To Stimulate Short Term Memory

 

By Vic Smith  |   Submitted On May 12, 2017

      As we grow older, we find that our short term memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. We wind up having to make notes or lists to remember things in our daily lives. Forty and some odd years ago I learned a system where I can remember fifteen or twenty items and rhyme them back off in the order they were given to me. I can go to the supermarket without a grocery list and remember every item. This system not only stimulates your mind but is something you can have fun with. So here is how it works.

   

     First we have to create a series of what I call anchors. These anchors are pictures in our minds that are ridiculous and absurd. To give you an idea, my first five anchors are:

#1 A race horse running alone on a racetrack in the rain.
#2 A canoe that is just about to go over a huge waterfall.
#3 A parachute that got caught in some high power lines and just burst into flames.
#4 A package falls out of the back of a delivery truck and bounces up on the hood of my car.
#5 I am riding the bullet train in Japan with Santa Clause.

Now let's create a list of five items we want to remember to buy at the supermarket. I am going to list things you wouldn't buy every day.
#1 A jar of dill pickles.
#2 A bag of whole-wheat flour.
#3 A block of cheddar cheese.
#4 two cans of chicken noodle soup.
#5 A large bag of frozen corn.

Now we tie our grocery list to our anchors and here is what we now picture in our minds.
#1 the race horse running alone on the track in the rain and on his back is a jar of dill pickles.
#2 the canoe about to go over the falls throws out a bag of whole-wheat flour.
#3 the parachute caught in the high power lines and just burst into flames, dangling at the bottom is a block of cheddar cheese.
#4 the package falling out of the delivery truck and bounces up on the hood of your car contains two cans of chicken noodle soup.
#5 riding the bullet train in Japan with Santa Clause and he pulls out of his sack... a large bag of frozen corn.

You can expand up to twenty or twenty five items by creating more anchors. You can also use this system to remember ingredients for a recipe or the arrangement of items or events in a certain order. Write down the anchors you create and number them and don't change to number sequence. The more ridiculous and obscure the anchor image the easier it will be to remember.

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