Life Tip – Remember Stuff
Lots of people like Uncle Chris because he remembers things. In fact, Uncle Chris probably remembers more than is healthy. But maybe you want to remember stuff good too!
Memory is a tricky thing. For most people, it seems like the harder they try to remember, the more forgetting they do. But I have developed a personal system that works pretty well. I don’t have photographic memory (although this can also be trained in most people), and I do my own share of forgetting, but hopefully these words of wisdom from Uncle Chris will help.
You know how some of the best ideas come while your in the shower? I think this is because you reach a decently Zen-like state while focusing on cleaning and not focusing much on trying to think. Cultivate that state of mind. “Shower Mind” sounds odd, but it would be a mostly accurate description of what you want. However, this is only step one!
Think random thoughts. Don’t try to organize your thinking so much. I think highly ordered or focused thinking tends to kill both creativity and memory. This does not mean that you should aspire to be that ADD kid everyone hates. But let your mind wander. I know a whole lot of things and can recall much of it very quickly because most of the things I have learned are connected to lots of other random other thoughts and bits of knowledge.
So how does this work in practice?
If I need to remember something at the store I try to attach it to a fact (it can be true or not, memory is the key here, not winning on Jeopardy) . You need bread, well lots of soldiers ate bread, and I happen to like the history of WWII, so when I think about the Medal of Honor game series and the fact that shooting Nazis is the most popular basis of all FPS games I remember I need to pick up bread (and hand grenades, they really never give you enough of those).
This can even help you pass tests. After all, Jess who sits two rows down has great tits, you know like Anne Heche, and that woman has some serious identity issues just like the ones mentioned in chapter two of… Hey look! Test answer!
If you have any other tips for improving memory that don’t involve deluxe free pills from my spam filter, let’s hear them!
I have a really hard time remembering things, so this article sure helps a lot. It’s especially needed for my AP classes since it requires a lot of studying/memorization for the tests. It is a strange phenomena though how people remember their best ideas through random thoughts.
Chris Schaffer Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Hopefully it will help!
Of course, like all thins, using random connections for memory takes practice.
I’m so glad you finally did this! Watch it become well-known and you end up on Oprah or something. You’ll have to give me a shout out!!!
Chris Schaffer Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
That would be awesome. And it would pay my bills… Maybe I should give Oprah a call this weekend.