Organized Kaos

I am really not good at remembering names. As soon as someone introduces themselves to me I almost immediately forget their name unless I have made a conscious effort to connect it to something or someone that is meaningful to me.

For example, in order to remember the names of the ladies in my physical therapists office I had to connect each one of them to something familiar. For Shannon, I think of Shannon Daugherty from the TV show 90210, for Sherry, I think of cooking sherry. And, for Sandy I think of the person who trained me as any ADHD Coach, Sandy Maynard.

I have discovered that making memory connections is not just important for remembering names but is helpful in remembering other things. For instance, if someone is telling me a story that I want to remember. I try to relate it to a similar situation that I have been through or have seen on TV. If I have to remember a word or list of things (and I can’t write it down). I form a picture or song in my head “staring” that word or list of words.

What memory tricks do you use?