The larger or more detailed the real place is, the more information you can store in the corresponding mental space. Other options for memory palace locations include school, church, work, a vacation spot you visit frequently, or a friend’s house.
Beginning to practice your route now will make it easier to memorize later on, too.
If your palace itself is a route, like your drive to work, choose landmarks along the way. Some examples include your neighbor’s house, a traffic light, a statue, or a building. If your palace is a structure, consider separating information in different rooms. Then, within each room, identify smaller locations like paintings, pieces of furniture, or decor.
Picture the landmarks in as much detail as possible. Make sure your mental image includes their colors, sizes, smells, and any other defining characteristics. If your mental image doesn’t match your drawing, review the drawing a few more times and then try again. Repeat until you can visualize it perfectly. Another option to practice visualizing your palace is to recite it to a friend. Walk them through the route verbally while they look at the map you drew to compare.
If necessary, place things along your route in the order in which you need to remember them. If your palace is your house, and you are trying to remember a speech, you might place the first few sentences on your doormat and the next few in the keyhole of your door. Put your best friend’s address in the mailbox outside or on an envelope on the kitchen table. Put their phone number on the couch where you always take their phone calls. If you’re trying to remember U. S. presidents in order, make the washing machine George Washington. Walk further into the laundry room and find a pair of long johns, which represent John Adams.
Don’t make your symbols too abstract. If they don’t have an obvious correlation to what you’re memorizing, it defeats the purpose. You won’t be able to make the connection between the symbol and the information. Symbols are shorthand and more effective than picturing the actual thing you are trying to remember.
Another example uses the number 124, which isn’t memorable. But an image of a spear shaped like the number 1 going through a swan (which looks like the number 2) and splitting the swan into 4 pieces is. It’s disturbing, but that’s what makes it stick in your mind. You don’t have to use only positive images. Negative emotions or images, like including a politician you hate, are just as strong.
For instance, say you need to recall the order of notes on the lines of the treble clef (EGBDF). Imagine a little boy eating a piece of chocolate fudge, which would evoke the first-letter mnemonic “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. " A rhyming mnemonic is, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. ” Envision Columbus holding a blue sailboat toy in your living room.
For example, see James Joyce sitting on your toilet as if he belongs there and really is an integral part of your bathroom décor instead of an imagined image. This helps you remember that James Joyce was the author known for his toilet humor. The best part is you can practice this anywhere, anytime. All you have to do is close your eyes.
If you need to remember that your girlfriend’s birthday is March 16, simply go into your bedroom and see the soldiers “marching" on the bed to the tune of the 80s cult classic “Sixteen Candles. "
If your palace is becoming too large or contains information you no longer need, remove that data from the route.
There’s no limit to how many memory palaces you can build. For example, you might have your house store the names of all the U. S. presidents. Then, your walk to work contains the phone numbers of your friends and family. And your office itself has the contents of the speech you’re giving tomorrow.
