7 Easy Tricks to Remember Numbers, Codes, Passwords

Everyone today wants you to memorize something. Here's how. In today's digital society, we're constantly being inundated with new numbers: tele hone numbers, credit and debit card numbers, !IP codes, PINs, asscodes and more" E#en i$ you rogram e#erything into your iPhone or %lackberry, it's still going to be easier && and more secure && to kee some $re'uently used numbers in your head" ()nything that has no meaning to you is tough to remember,( says neurosurgeon *arry +cCleary, author o$ "The Brain Trust Program.( (I$ I say the word 'cat' and you'#e had a cat, or e#en i$ you'#e seen a cat, it will bring u all these memories o$ that cat and you'll remember the word, no roblem" %ut most o$ us don't ha#e any emotional attachment to articular numbers"( ,o i$ you want to remember numbers, you'#e got to $ind the meaning in them" -e'#e talked to +cCleary and other memory e. erts about how to memori/e numbers, $rom $our&digit PINs to your 01&digit credit card number" 2ere are their to ti s: Create Associations -e all ha#e numbers that mean something to us: birthdays, anni#ersaries, a $a#orite N),C)R dri#er's number or the number o$ 03&cent wings you can de#our on all&you&can&eat wings night" The secret to remembering new numbers is to $ind connections between the number you want to remember and the numeric memories that are already $irmly lodged in your brain, says ,cott 2agwood, who had to memori/e 433 numbers in er$ect se'uence, among other tasks, to become the $irst )merican (5randmaster o$ +emory"( I$ you're ha#ing trouble coming u with an association $or a number, try mo#ing on to the ne.t number, 2agwood says, since that may trigger a memory that you can use to link to the $irst number" 6or e.am le, he says, (I$ I'm trying to remember 7407, but can't think o$ anything to associate with 74, I'll mo#e to the number 07" )s soon as I do, the song ')t 07' by 8anis Ian comes to mind" )s the music lays in my head, I imagine a now 74&year&old 8anis Ian singing the song"( Break Long Numbers into Sma er !arts The a#erage erson can hold only about se#en arbitrary units o$ in$ormation at a time in working memory" %ut by (chunking( or organi/ing the items in some way, you can greatly increase your recall ca acity, says Thomas Crook, author o$ (The +emory )d#antage"( 9This is why hone numbers are broken into grou s o$ three digits": -ant to see how it works; Try memori/ing this se'uence: 740<=>0=<7" I$ you inter ret it ?ust as a string o$ 03 se arate numbers, you'll ha#e a hard time remembering it" %ut i$ you recogni/e two meaning$ul dates in the se'uence, you ha#e only three chunks to recall && and remembering it is no roblem" Look "or !atterns 6or longer numbers, look $or relationshi s in the numbers" @o the $irst two add u to the third one; @o you see a se'uence o$ odd or e#en numbers; Then use those atterns to create a story with the more arbitrary numbers" 6or e.am le, i$ the number is 1733 30>A, note the attern (30>A( and $igure out how it can be remembered using 1733, 2agwood says" Bou could say something like, (-ell, once I s end my credit limit o$ C1,733, I'll ha#e to start o#er at /ero and build it back u again one dollar at a time && 0, >, A"(

Learn Active y Dur muscles ha#e better memories than our brains, so don't ?ust think the number, +cCleary says" ,ay it out loud at least three times" (-hen you say it, your brain has to tell the muscles o$ your mouth how to say it and your ear has to hear the words and ass them along,( +cCleary says" (It $orces you to use a lot more o$ your brain"( )nd don't sto there" Try writing the number down a cou le o$ times, or e#en singing it to a memorable tune" #e$eat %t Dnce you'#e memori/ed a number, set a timer and think o$ it 9and the associations you'#e made with it: again one hour a$ter you'#e learned it" Research shows that one hour a$ter learning something is the time when the memory is most #ulnerable to $orgetting, misinter reting or degrading the e#ent in some way, 2agwood says" Re eat the number again a$ter >< hours, then again a$ter one week and $inally a$ter a month" (The idea is to re eat the in$ormation ?ust as you are about to $orget it, in e. anding increments o$ time, so it sticks in your long&term memory,( 2agwood says" (-hate#er is le$t a$ter A3 days you'll robably be able to hold onto" &isua ize the Sha$e the Numbers 'ake on a (ey$ad ) lot o$ eo le use this techni'ue $or hone numbers, but it's also use$ul $or credit card numbers, PINs, !IP codes and more, es ecially i$ you're a #isual erson, @r" Crook says" It's articularly use$ul $or numbers that $orm ob#ious atterns, like a straight line, an (E( or an (*"( Convert Numbers to )ords or %mages I$ you're ready $or more ad#anced techni'ues, consider assigning the numbers 0 through = a letter e'ui#alent: )F0, %F>, etc" ,o i$ your new PIN number is >7A7, say, you'd con#ert it to the letters %5C5" Dnce you think o$ a sentence with those letters, such as (%ad 5uys Can't 5et,( as in (bad guys can't get this number,( you'll be able to recall it more easily" Com etitors in memory com etitions, such as 2agwood, take it one ste $urther" 2agwood has created an image or an action $or each number $rom 3 through ==" ,o >A, $or instance, makes him think o$ +ichael 8ordan and <A re resents the GNC Cha el 2ill mascot, a ram" (To remember a long number, I ?ust tell a story with those images in head,( 2agwood says" (It may seem like a lot to remember, but the more you ractice, the better you get"( DH, so now that I'#e got the ti s, I decide to gi#e them a try with my arents' !IP code: A<>30" I don't see any atterns in the numbers, and they don't $orm a memorable design on a key ad" I try creating chunks: A<, A<>, 30, but none o$ those numbers ha#e any meaning $or me" I ask 2agwood $or ad#ice" (Ty e the numbers into 5oogle and see what comes u ,( he says" I do it" (A<( brings u with nothing" I ty e (A<>( && another dead&end" Then (>30"( %ingo" )ll sorts o$ websites re$erencing (>303( come u " That's easy enough to remember" Now I'#e got to $igure out how to tie it to the $irst number, A<" 2mmm, my brother is A< this year" That's itI To remember the !IP code, all I ha#e to do is recall this sentence: (+y brother is A< in >303"( Piece o$ cake" %ut will I still be able to remember it an hour $rom now, and ne.t week; The odds, e. erts say, are on my side"