Simple Tricks to Never Forget Again

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Most people don’t realize how much bad memory costs them.

You forget a client’s name. A key stat from a meeting. The perfect response you practiced hours for that’s stuck on the tip of your tongue.

It’s not just embarrassing—it’s a direct hit to your credibility, confidence, and performance.

But the problem isn’t you. Natural memory is limited, you need processes to improve it.

Here’s how to remember anything:

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Facts vs Processes

Your brain doesn’t remember everything the same.

It uses certain methods for facts (names, dates, stats) and another for processes (the order of a deck of cards, riding a bike).

In order to absorb information the fastest and longest, you need to use the correct techniques based on what you’re trying to remember.

I’ve looked through hundreds of sources, including the World Memory Champions.

Here is everything I found:

Facts with Spaced Repetition

The forgetting curve shows we forget 50% of what we learned within an hour.

Names, stats, definitions… all gone.

Spaced repetition combats this, which is reviewing information on:

• Day 1

• Day 3

• Day 7

• Day 14

• Day 30

then as necessary to keep the retention.

Studies show this to result in over 74% more information stored on average.

Flashcards are a great way to do this, using sites with spaced repetition ingrained in them like Anki, Memozora, Knowt, Mochi, and Voovo.

Another fact technique is mnemonics, creating a mental image to represent a word and what to remember about it.

An example would be,

“Photosynthesis”: The process plants use to convert sunlight into energy, allowing growth.

Mnemonic: “Foe-Toes”, imagine a plant with 4 toes sticking its foot in the sunlight and it growing huge.

The wilder you get, the better they stick.

Now, how to remember a deck of cards:

Sequences in a Memory Palace

Lists and sequences are much different from facts.

You can’t throw your to-do list into flashcards and try to memorize it.

That’s why we build Memory Palaces for things like this.

Now a memory palace doesn’t have to be a house, it can be your:

• Route to work

• Elementary school

• Body parts

It just needs to be a landscape you’re extremely familiar with.

To teach you, I’ll walk you through the exercise Joshua Foer (2006 USA memory champion) used to learn this technique and wrote about in his book “Moonwalking with Einstein”.

Let’s use your childhood home and the 10 item list below:

1. Caramel-dipped apple

2. Coconut-milk soap bar

3. Smoked salmon fillets

4. Lighter fluid

5. Silk bean bag

6. Pickled garlic

7. 2 pairs of cotton socks

8. Lavender tide pods

9. Napkins

10. Cowboy hat

Now I want you to start at the base of your driveway, looking towards the house.

Picture Elon Musk behind a wooden farm stand, spraying glue-like caramel from a hose onto a giant pile of apples.

Imagine the smell, the taste, sticky texture. The more senses you can incorporate, the easier it is to remember.

Next, your front door. A pool-sized bathtub filled with milk, inside it your favorite middle school teacher using a coconut as body wash.

The crazier, the better. Always.

You get where this is going. Inside the door should be a big pile of flopping salmon.

Make a route through the house, picking a memorable location for each item on the list.

Eventually, you will have loads of memory spots along your journey through the palace, allowing for even bigger memory feats.

This is how Josh was able to memorize 52 playing cards in under 2 minutes.

To boost your new techniques even more, here are some quick biohacking tips:

Make It Stick Faster

Caffeine Timing

The majority of people grab a cup of coffee before sitting down to start learning.

Key studies show 200mg of caffeine AFTER learning increases memory consolidation by shortening the process of turning short term memories into long term.

Sip 1-2 cups (depending on brand) about 15 min after learning, more than 200mg didn’t show any benefit.

Exercise Timing

30+ minutes of moderate exercise (eg. cycling) 2-4 hours after learning increase levels of BDNF, which supports neuron growth and memory.

Avoid exercise too close to bedtime, we want your body temp trending down not up.

Sleep

The heavyweight champ of forming memories. During sleep, your brain replays and strengthens new info, while REM sleep connects ideas together.

7-9 hours uninterrupted sleep is a non-negotiable, for memory and health.

Wrapping Up

Memory champions all swear they are “just like us”.

No genetic superhuman gift.

Just techniques designed for our natural human brain to gather information faster and longer.

Warning: learning this will ruin your awe in memory party tricks.

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Explore Further:

• Feats of memory anyone can do | Joshua Foer- Ted Talk