30 Days to a More Powerful Memory

Chapter 23. Be a Recorder

Another powerful way to remember what you observe or experience is to imagine yourself as a camera or audio recorder. The purpose of these techniques is to remind you to pay extra attention to details, so you pick up and record even more. Then, you have more complete and firmly encoded material for better recall later.

The basic way these techniques work is that you use a trigger you have created, such as snapping your fingers a certain way or telling yourself that “Now I am a camera . . . Now I am a tape recorder.” Then, you go into record mode, where you pay extra careful attention to whatever you are observing, hearing, or otherwise experiencing. By reminding yourself to use either of these techniques, you are more ...