There is a common concern I hear from memory coaching students “ I have so much material to learn, I won’t have enough memory palace locations”.
This blog is an advanced tutorial in using memory palace technique, also known as the method of loci to help you find enough locations. If you are new to the method of loci, it might be worth checking out this Memory Palace blog and this basic Memory Palace video first.
Thankfully, running out of memory palace locations is not really something to worry about.
Here are 5 reasons you will not run out of loci for your memory palace:
- You can put memory palace locations closer than you think.
- You can have multiple pathways through one memory palace.
- Imaginary palaces and the movies can work just as well.
- Each location has a “mini pathway of locations” around it.
- You can basically use anything you know as a memory palace.
Let’s look at each of these in a bit of detail.
1. You can put memory palace locations closer than you think
When you start out using memory palaces it is common to place a few locations in a room. Go in the front door, use the coat rack, the shoes and on into the next room.
But as you get more comfortable using memory training techniques you can actually put locations much closer together without issue. Some of my earlier memory palaces from when I started are 20 or so locations, one I made last week is around 340 locations long.
It’s natural to have to fight being lazy – to want the hard “making the pathway” bit to be over, so we rush over space. Other times it can be hard to think of locations.
What helps me come up with more locations is to use “tasks” to find loci I otherwise would not have naturally found.
Think about your kitchen.
If you are making a pathway there and you are struggling for locations, give yourself an imaginary task first, like to make toast. It is likely this thought process will give you many more locations you would not have thought about otherwise. Want more? Coffee and toast. And a glass of water. All the places your eyes and hand would go to in those processes are potential locations. Now make your pathway through the kitchen.
This is especially true of places you know well. Places from long ago are harder as detail does fade over time if you are no longer visiting that place.
Walking around the physical place (or taking a video of the palace for when you create the path) tends to help find more effective loci for memory retention as well.
2. You can have multiple pathways through one memory palace
Much like the “task” to find path method above, this is something that I do in places I know well to get “alternate journeys”
Normally in a palace I first have my “standard pathway journey”. But once that is solid, I create other pathways based on a task.
For example, a classic alternate journey would be to imagine I have someone coming over to dinner tonight.
What are the things I have to do? Mow the lawn, take the bin out, put the laundry in baskets and away in my bedroom, vacuum, mop, blow the leaves from the front and back porch, and wipe down the tables and re arrange the chairs.
Making a task-oriented pathway like this tends to lead to a very different journey and personally works for me.
Even if the paths cross, I tend to choose different locations from original pathway and can do this consciously when needs be. Sometimes there are some locations are nearly the same from the two pathways. Just as long as the first pathway is well known first, they don’t get confused for me.
I have a feeling that when I first started out multiple pathways may have caused me issues, but if you are confident with how memory palaces work, give it a go for yourself.
3. Imaginary palaces and the movies can work just as well
If you have watched a favorite movie 5 times, or spent 30 hours binging the Bridgerton series, you can use those places as well. I always feel like my time has been less wasted if I convert a good binge into a palace.
Imaginary palaces can also work well. This could be a world in Minecraft, Clash of Clans, or by using software specifically for the purpose. In fact, I find when working with memory coaching students they often describe their pathway and for the lesson we are both using it…I have never been there, just listened to their description and imagined it while they described it.
4. Each location has a “mini pathway of locations” around it
This is often an “ah ha!” moment for advanced memory enthusiasts. Let’s say you have 50 key topics, each with up to 10 points you need to learn. You don’t need 500 locations only 50.
It is why often students ask “can I use the memory palace technique for complex information?” I can tell you it is a skill well worth attaining.
This is an advanced topic and needs it’s own blog and videos. I will aim to do a series on it but I’ll briefly, you can practice by:
At each location, start by putting the key topic as an image. Then link the 10 points.
This takes a bit of practice and there are some things to get used to. The 10 points are not all on top of each other but in a little pathway from the original location. They need to be sequential to be remembered.
Sometimes I link them all in a story, sometimes not, it depends a bit on the information. They don’t each need to have “clear” locations (just the first main one), but they come away from the first location in a pattern that makes sense to the “story” the words create for you.
This memory palace strategy is something I often teach in 1-on-1 memory coaching sessions.
Sometimes it helps me to remember the key image first and then come back and add the other detail. I.e. put all 50 key points each in a location on a pathway in a memory palace. Once they are solid, go back and add the other detail to each point. If it is really complex information, I might do the learning in multi tranches.
5. You can basically use anything you know as a memory palace
Often this is for shorter pathways, but this seriously is anything you know.
It could be a work of art, a book cover, how you organize your wardrobe. I find the front cover of a book is a great place to “store” the 10 facts about that book you want to remember.
Look at the cover and use locations on the picture/words etc. to attach what you want to recall about the book. When you want to bring back the info of the book, in your mind can just look at the cover.
This also works if you are studying something like anatomy. Some students I have coached use the pictures of the body as the palace as they can visualize it from the study notes. There is no set rule that applies here, see for yourself how it goes.
I hope that helps allay your memory palace fears! You can check out my YouTube video on these advanced memory palace methods, or book a memory coaching session with me to master advanced memory techniques.
