Mnemonics Workbook: Skills for Improving Memory and Recall

As a high school student I became more and more easily distracted and my grades suffered. I received my first “F” as a sophomore. Though I could blame bullies for some of the distractions, they really were not an excuse for the study homework I struggled with.

Quite luckily my mother had returned to college about this same time and was taking a psychology class about memory. The topic of mnemonics caught her attention. As a creative kid who loved art classes, my mother recognized that as a visual learner, this might be helpful for me. She helped me understand three main techniques and my grades went from C’s and D’s to A’s and B’s. Even in college I used these techniques to study. I even did an exchange to Japan in 1988 and they used mnemonics to help foreign students learn Japanese.


These techniques tend to work best with visual learners; people who have vivid imaginations, maybe like to doodle a lot, remembering things visually. I was one of those kids that could always remember a face, but never the name. I could remember if I read something and it was on the right or left page. As a visual learner mnemonics was a perfect match for me.

If you take your time and remain patient, the benefits will be remarkable. I am now able to memorize lists of information. I would say I can memorize 50 items and recall them in order or tell you what the 32nd item was too. With a little creativity these lists can help you study for quizzes, tests, exams, or even a grocery list. Though numerical problems can be challenging, these too can be done mnemonically with a little patience.

The physical book allows you to write inside the book, this e-version is not equipped to do so, but you can sketch and plan on scrap paper.