Scottish memory expert’s ‘ridiculous’ technique helps you remember ‘almost anything’

Many people struggle to remember everyday essentials, but one expert says there is a simple memory trick that can help you remember almost anything – and it works for both school pupils and adults

Many struggle to recall basic everyday information. Whether it’s names, locations or simply what’s on the shopping list, these details can vanish from your mind as swiftly as they appeared.

However, one specialist claims there’s a straightforward technique that can help people remember “almost anything”. And he says it proves just as effective for schoolchildren attempting to retain facts as it does in daily life.

Eamonn Byrne, Director of Scotland Tutors, has been delivering private tuition to boost pupils’ academic performance since 2002, and he insists that merely reading something repeatedly isn’t the solution. Rather, he says you should make it “ridiculous”.

He explained: “If you want to remember something, repeating something in your head doesn’t give your brain anything to hold on to. Create a vivid picture instead – the stranger the better. Give your brain a point to connect to.”

One of the ways to do that is to create a vivid mental picture around the information. For instance, if you need to recall a list of four items, he suggests transforming them into a striking scene rather than simply attempting to memorise four individual words, reports Glasgow Live.

He said: “The stranger the image the better. If you are trying to remember four items, imagine them interacting in a completely ridiculous scene.

“Your brain is more likely to remember something unusual than a bland list of facts. If you’re trying to remember apples, keys, a birthday card and washing powder, for example, don’t simply repeat the list.

“Picture a giant apple driving your car, keys swinging from the mirror, and a birthday card on the passenger seat covered in washing powder. It sounds daft, and that’s exactly why it works.”

Eamonn says, this method proves particularly valuable for schoolchildren attempting to retain facts ahead of examinations. Adults can equally apply it to day-to-day situations.

He added: “This isn’t just a revision technique. You can use the principle when you are trying to remember a shopping list, a name, tasks you need to do or new information you have just been told.

“The trick is to create a connection, rather than simply trying to hold the information in your mind. I do it myself.

“To remember to unplug the iron, I grab the plug and sing a line or two of Elvis. It’s silly, but now a habit and I never forget.”