Memory Aids


I read this Scott Adams blog where he talked about how he kept forgetting to take his 5 items to the gym. Stuff like keys, iPod and so on. He wondered why his brain can’t seem to remember a simple list of 5 items? He never got around to answering that question because his blog focused on finding a way to remember, not why he couldn’t remember in the first place.

So I will give it a shot instead: why is it that most of us can’t seem to remember such short lists when we can, at the same time, remember much more complex things? I feel the answer is that a checklist activity really has 2 parts to it: first, remembering the list; and secondly, finding and carrying each item on that list. I feel it is the time gap between the 2 parts which makes us forget. I am guessing we get bored by the time we perform the 3rd part of the activity. Or maybe we don’t allocate time to do so many pairs of actions at the last minute!

Oh, if you are interested, Adams’ solution to remembering such lists is to stop trying to remember the list: instead, he suggests just trying to remember the item count (say 5): thus, when he leaves for the gym, if he has fewer than 5 items, he knows he missed something. I guess, for an activity repeated frequently enough, a number count may do the trick.

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