How to Remember Directions
How many of you have written down directions to somewhere, and then tried to read them…..while driving…..in the dark? Or even worse, left the directions at home? How about being told directions while you are driving? Good, so I’m not alone! How can we use our memory techniques to make directions easier and safer?
Directions are composed of only a few things: streets, directives (left or right, N, S, E, W) and landmarks. All we need to do is change those into images and glue them to files, and we’re off and running! So here’s what you do:
1. Turn the Streets into Images
Think back to the workshop of how to create images for abstracts and use either Rule 1) – Choose a representative picture – or rule 2) Break it down.
2. Turn your Directives into Images
Remember, anything works as long as you create it. Just create pictures for right and left, north, south, east, and west. At least start with right and left.
3. Chain or Link your Streets and your Direction into one Image or a Story
4. Glue your new Images, in the Correct Order, onto your Body Files
Here’s an Example:
Just last week, I called to get directions to a business. I was told to exit and go left onto Towne Road. Turn right onto Industrial. Right onto Mangrove. And Left onto Royal. So here is what I did. First, there are four steps in my directions, so I know I’ll be using toes, knees, muscles, and rear. Then I need images to glue onto those files, so…
The first direction was left on Towne Road. I need a picture for town, which I already have, the town I grew up in. My picture for left is a lift (a fork lift). So I pictured my TOWN being picked up by a fork LIFT and I glue that to my toes. Now my picture is a town being pried off my toes by a forklift.
The next direction is right on Industrial. I use rule #1 and have a great representative picture for industrial, an industrial park. My picture for the direction right is a pen, WRITING all over my object, this case an INDUSTRIAL park. To glue that to my knees, I picture my knees, holding a pen and writing all over an industrial park.
The next direction is Right on Mangrove. I picture a MANGROVE, growing out of my muscles, and being WRITTEN all over.
The last direction is Left onto Royal. With all due respect, I picture the ROYAL family being picked up by a fork LIFT off my rear.
And those are my directions!
You could even take it a step further and add the street address, say 1709. You could use your tree list and change the number into the image of a MAGAZINE about BAGELS and CATS. Or, to use phonetics, your image would be TACKS on SOAP.
Then for the last direction, the royal family would be reading a magazine about bagels and cats while being picked up by a fork lift off my rear. Or, with the phonetic image, the royal family would be throwing tacks at soap while being picked up by a fork lift on my rear.
Try a few and in no time you will be remembering directions automatically.
If you have any questions, post a comment below and I’ll be happy to help.
Be Free!
Leah Simpson
Instructor
I still have trouble with the phonetics for numbers…. how does the tacks on an ape go back to the 1709?
thank you.
Comment by penny saiki — December 1, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
Hey Penny – the way I understand phonetics, this is how 1709 is represented by tacks on an soap.
For phonetics, you use your body list and the sounds that each body file make – so the first file Toes = T, second file Knees = N an so on so you get numbers to represent the sounds:
1= T (or D)
2= N
3= M
4= R
5= L
6= SH
7= K or hard C
8= F (or V)
9= P (or B)
10= S or soft C
So for 1709 you would have the sounds T-K-S-P. Keep the sounds in the same order and then add vowels to make a words. So TKS become TACKS and S and P becomes SOAP.
Basically phonetics is like a secret code that use you use your body files to decode.
Does that make sense?
Comment by Katie Brandt — December 2, 2008 @ 9:07 am
wow, i am glad someone explained the tacks/soap thing. I find that that kind depth of
info for something that seems much simpler in my mind to remember, is overkill….. Why
put myself through coming up with all that stuff when something simpler is available?
But, I’m sure that, even though it does not work for me, it might work for someone……
I would have put the explanation in the article itself…….
Leah, I find that you have good info., but need a proof reader, as some of your
articles have sentences or even paragraphs that don’t make sense. Like one you did
on Goal setting, one of the last paragraphs was not very well written, it made no
sense. But your content is good; so keep doing the good work! thanks!!
Comment by phyllis — May 29, 2009 @ 12:42 am
Thanks Leah
Just one question. How do you ensure that you don’t go to
179 instead of 1709 when using a “magazine about cats”? Do
you assume a zero or am I missing something? Thanks, john.
Comment by John L. DiMarzio — January 8, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
Hi John,
Good catch. I actually would add a bagel to my image to know about the “0.” Thanks for catching it. So my image would be…a Magazine about bagels and cats. A magazine about cats would be 179 to me. Thank you.
Comment by Leah — January 11, 2010 @ 8:34 am
It is MUCH clearer to me; I was picture phonetics as three letter syllables (pho) ! Over complicated.
Just understanding its the first letter of each body file does it !
- thanks, margaret
Comment by margaret — February 19, 2010 @ 3:29 pm