This should have happened to you: you were in a bus, in the car, or in a cab, and you saw an advertisement on the street or in a shop with a phone number, a cell phone number, the open and close time of a shop, a car ID, etc. and you don't have you cell phone with you and nothing to write. Well, there is a method that uses a bit of you memory but much concentration. Only a few people tried it, but let me tell you that it works!
The process takes less than a minute and you can remember the number or those numbers for about one or two days. It can be used with words but it isn't useful because the words can be connected mentally with other events that make you remember them better than numbers that are not connected with anything, and because of that are hard to memorize. This can definitely be used for remembering important numbers like credit cards, pins, etc.
These are the three steps you have to follow:
When You See The Number You Want, Focus On It
Do not let anyone or anything interrupt you concentration; concentrate very hard on it, a lot more though if it is a long number. Explore the details of the graphic design and its context. For example: 0800-6445, the telephone number of a garage, and imagine the “0” are wheels, remembering that will make it easier for you to remember the whole number.Close Your Eyes, Remember It
Now, when you do not see the number anymore because you are in a bus for example, and it's moving, close your eyes and focus on the image (that now is on you mind) very hard, concentrate on its details. Then, with your eyes closed and the image on your mind, review the number about ten times until you feel a “click”, you will start to feel that the number starts to sound you familiar, then go on to the last step.Open Your Eyes, Remember It
Finally, open your eyes (if you didn't fall asleep) and try to remember the number while you look outside or you listen to music. Try to lose concentration for a while and then try to remember the number on your mind. If this is hard to do (the number is gloomy or you have numbers missing), immediately close your eyes and concentrate again on the image, and repeat step two.
Some Tips:
- If you have a really long number like this: 487455248774, maybe you have to mentally separate it in four parts like this: 487-455-248-774. Also you will have to expand more time to remember numbers like this, and also you will have to commit to memory the two first parts and then the second and the third.
- Continuing with the large numbers, I will advise you to divide them in equal parts or parts that have many same numbers or consecutive numbers, like this:
808567001...to...808-567-001
3555123… to… 3-555-123
If you can't divide it in identical parts try to split it in odd or even parts.
