Try to Remember

I’m not much of a musicals guy, but I’ve always loved the song “Try to Remember” from The Fantasticks. Maybe it’s because as a kid growing up in Dallas, my parents took me to see a local production of the show. It ran 42 straight years off-Broadway, quite a record.

The first and best version of the song was by Jerry Orbach, who most folks know as the sarcastic cop Lenny from Law and Order. But he was also quite a singer and all round performer.

As we get older, trying to remember is a more frequent chore. At age 72, I find that while my long term memory is good, short term is more problematic (Why exactly did I just go upstairs?).

Some try drugs such as Prevagen. But scandals in that product’s past give pause.

I’ve been a “list man” forever, and always have a current list of things I need to do over the upcoming days, weeks, and even months. If I’m sitting at my desk, I might quickly jot down a list of 4 or 5 things I need to do in the next few hours. But sometimes it’s just not practical to make a written list of a few things you need to keep front of mind.

Long ago I read a couple of books about memory whizzes and all the tricks they use to accomplish their feats. There was a lot of emphasis placed on using the Memory Palace technique. While I’m sure that’s a formidable way to memorize a long list of items, for that type of chore I’m going to use a written list.

I’m more interested in being able to keep 3 or 4 or 5 things on my mind when jotting them down isn’t practical—say when wanting to remember a few things I need to do as I’m driving home. For that purpose there was a simpler technique the books explained. The basis of it is that it’s easier to remember pictures than words. And the more outlandish the picture the better. So the idea is to form a mental image which includes pictures representing all of the desired items in a single frame.

For instance, if I want to remember to call my doctor’s office, take out the trash, feed the dog, and get the mail, I might picture a white coated doc, holding a trash can in one hand, a dog bowl in the other, and an envelope balanced precariously on her head. I can later summon that picture much more readily than I can remember the individual items.

So, are there any memory tricks my fellow HD readers rely on?