To keep myself accountable, I’ve decided to create a training journal where I will publish my wins and obstacles. I am a total newcomer to the subject and am currently pursuing a masters degree in civil engineering. My main goals are to get a broader general knowledge.
This training journal is inspired by @L_N. This way I can look back and see the progress I have made and create motivation to continue with larger and more advanced projects.
Day 1
For my first day, I will try to memorise all of the countries in Europe. Hopefully a simple task since I know most of it already.
While I’m at it I’ve decided to memorise all countries in Africa
Results
Took me 13 minutes to memories Europe. I will review it in 10 minutes and see my level of recall.
Got one mistake, quite good.
I tried two different approaches. For Europe I used a simple memory palace for the countries that I often mix up, mainly those in Eastern Europe. I visualized images that sounded similar to the country I wanted to remember, like a Pole for Poland.
For Africa, I took a different approach: I visualized an image that matched the shape of each country and created a rhyme using the country’s name with the image. Main cons of this approach is that it was much more difficult to relate where each country was located in relation to each other. In the previous approach I put all countries in order in my memory palace which made it easier to go back and see its neighbors.
Progressed to double digits and began checking out Anki! School starts tomorrow, which I believe will actually increase my productivity rather than decrease it.
I’ve realized that without concrete goals, it’s difficult to find the motivation needed to practice memory skills. I need to set clear goals.
Have continued with Major System but I find it quite difficult and not really that intuitive to me. I will try other alternatives and see if they are easier for me.
What I would like to achieve
Memorize all the worlds countries
Memorize significant historical events and their respective dates/years
Get better at utilizing Anki for spaced repetitions
I have memorized all the countries in South America. However, I have noticed that to better create motivation and, in the long run, make use of my memorization, I will start memorizing smaller, more local places. That way, I will find it useful in more contexts. My goals for memorizing all countries in the world still stands.
I’ve utilized Anki for all of my finance courses and will give you guys updates of the perceived effectiveness of it.
Unfortunately, I have been sick and have spent most of my time reading and studying for my courses. I’ve began reading Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, a great read.
I will start creating my Major system in the following weeks when I have time. Will keep you posted of my successes. As for utilizing Anki, so far it has been going great!
I’ve been thinking about a major challenge I’ve faced with learning and memorization. Looking back, I realize that what initially drove me was mostly motivation. I didn’t have a solid routine to rely on, and much of what I learned didn’t really apply to my everyday life. Sure, memorizing all the countries in the world is impressive and good general knowledge, but in reality, I rarely had a chance to use that information.
I think I set my goals too high, which eventually burned out my motivation. At that point, discipline hadn’t kicked in yet. What I’ve come to believe is that real progress comes in small steps, and it’s crucial to integrate what you learn into your daily life.
One of the best memory techniques I’ve picked up, and actually used consistently, is remembering people’s names when I meet them. It’s simple, practical, and really powerful.
Anyway, I’m planning to get back into it. Let’s see how it goes!