Often called a superpower, having a photographic memory comes with several advantages—learning, processing and adapting—leading to higher productivity, better problem-solving ability and improved confidence. The good part is that eidetic memory is not a special advantage enjoyed only by some; anyone can develop it with mnemonics and other techniques. Here are some ways of improving it.
Loci method: Also called the journey method, it uses locations to foster memory. You essentially use visualisations of familiar things from your spatial environment to recall information. For instance, imagine placing the things you want to remember around a room familiar to you. Next, visualise yourself walking through that room, noticing all the items, while picking up one thing at a time in the same order as they were placed. You will see that with time, you get better at recalling things using this method.
Memory Peg: You use numerical rhymes, also called memory pegs, to remember important things. You simply need to attach a word to a rhyming number.
Here are a few examples: one-gun, two-zoo, three-loo, four-brew, and so on.
Military Method: This form of memory building takes time, but pays huge dividends in the long term. Here’s how to do this exercise: You sit in a quiet, dimly lit room. Place a bright lamp near you, close enough to be able to switch it on or off. Next, take a piece of paper and cut a rectangular hole. Place this stencil over the information you want to remember, one paragraph at a time. Read it carefully. Turn off the light and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Turn on the lamp in three seconds. This helps form a strong visual imprint of what you saw a few moments ago. When the imprint starts to fade, turn off the light again, while your eyes are still on the selected paragraph. Read it carefully. You can repeat this several times, as it especially helps in memorising complex information.
Quick Recall
● There are four stages of memory—sensory, working memory, short-term and long-term. When you forget something easily, it’s probably because the data was stored in your short-term memory.
● Memory is a complex system, not a single process.
● Humans start forming memories as early as five months before birth.
● Almost forgetting something makes you more likely to remember it.
● There is no limit to remembering. The brain can store about 2.5 petabytes of data. Therefore, people don't forget things; it’s just that they’re unable to recollect information when they need it.