Use Memory Pegs to Remember Lists

If you are like me, you have to deal with lists all the time. Often we just write the items down, but what if you want (or need) to quickly memorize a particular list?

The easiest way is to use a memory technique. For short lists of 10 items or less, I like the Peg System. Here's how the Peg System works:

How to Use the Peg System

1) Before you ever use the Peg System, you must first select 10 "peg" words to memorize. I'll give you these words right now. This won't take long - each peg word rhymes with a number (1, 2, 3, and so on), so it’s really easy to remember them.

The good news is once you have the peg words memorized, you can use the pegs over and over for different lists. Your brain can usually tell the difference between lists without much trouble, even if you used the same pegs to memorize different lists.

2) To memorize a list of items, simply associate each item you want to remember with one of your peg words. Associating means to create an easy-to-remember mental picture.

First, let me give you the peg words. Then I will give you an example of how to use them.

Okay, spend a few minutes saying the following peg words over and over until you can remember them without looking. In other words, say to yourself "One - Gun", "Two - Shoe", "Three - Tree", and so on.

1. Gun
2. Shoe
3. Tree
4. Door
5. Hive
6. Sticks
7. Heaven
8. Gate
9. Line
10. Hen

Example - The Peg System in Action

Now for the example. The other day, I wanted to memorize the seven ingredients in the famous "Chicago Seven" calzone. This is a pasta dish at Old Chicago, a favorite restaurant of mine. The ingredients are: sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, red onions, and melted cheese.

To remember this list, I associated each ingredient with one of my peg words.

1. Gun - sausage
2. Shoe - pepperoni
3. Tree - mushrooms
4. Door - black olives
5. Hive - green peppers
6. Sticks - red onions
7. Heaven - melted cheese

For each item, I quickly thought of a funny mental picture to remember it by. I did this while I was looking at the menu. It really only took a few moments.

For the first item, I pictured a gun shooting sausages instead of bullets. For the second item, I imagined that someone put pepperoni in my shoes so that when I walked each step was squishy. For the third item, I imagined a tree in my yard had giant mushrooms growing between the leaves instead of fruit. And so on.

Any time I want to recall this list, all I need do is run through the numbers. I think "One", and that reminds me of my peg word "Gun" - which reminds me of the gun that shoots sausages. Next, I think "Two", and that reminds me of my peg word "Shoe" - which reminds me of my shoe with pepperonis in it. I think "Three", which reminds me of "Tree" - which reminds me of the mushroom tree in my yard. And so on through the list.

After you practice the Peg System a few times, you'll see that literally as soon as you think of each funny image, you have that item memorized. The images make the items hard to forget, especially if you take the time to visualize them clearly.

Try the Peg System the next time you have a list to remember. I think you'll really be amazed at how well it works!

For more great memory tips, see my website, Memory-Improvement-Tips.com.