Hello, I finished my PAO list from 00 to 99 but now I don’t know the best way to create my Anki Flashcards to remind me of these 297 things…
I thought about making 3 decks, one for people, another for actions and the last for objects, and all having their double-sided version, However, I think this is very boring and makes me spend more than 30 minutes on each deck or even more…
What is the best way to Memorize?
(00 → 99)x3 = 100x3 = 300
I Learnt mine by writing every number on the back of 2 decks of cards. Then I worked though all 100 cards as fast as I could trying to get a good time. After that I simply used the cards for number memorization practise every now and then throughout the day. I’d say about 30 cards each time (PAO inside memory palace).
Good luck 
The PAO system, like other memory techniques, is a shortcut for memorizing tons of abstract data. Once you are good at it, you can do some amazing things with it. However, there is no shortcut to learning and developing skill with this or other memory technique “shortcuts.” You simply must put the time and the work in to see results. Put in the grind work now to see the benefits of it down the road.
The process of learning a system is also different than the way you apply the system once it’s learned. It’s like a musician practicing scales and arpeggios and getting fluent with sight reading. That is done so that they can approach a new piece of music with effortless confidence and apply those skills in improvisation without having to spend any mental energy thinking about how to do it. Structured “boring” practice allows for skill in unstructured and unpredictable “fun” situations.
If you can’t find a way to embrace the grind of learning, it will be very tough to keep your motivation to see the process through. I like to look at building and learning new systems as a mental exercise, like some people do crosswords or sukodu every day. Practicing a number or card system gives a mental workout. Its also a personal challenge to see if I can do it and how quick I can get. If you can embrace those two “reasons” for practicing, it may be less “boring” for you. “Boredom” ultimately is a state of mind that you decide to accept. Until you change your mindset, it will likely continue to be “boring” for you.
Acquiring a mnemonic system like a PAO and reaching fluency with it involves lots of practice. It will be slow and arduous and sometimes “boring” at first. There is no getting around this. It is simply the cost of entry for developing this skill set. Accept that, and the learning process will be much easier.
The amount of time needed to be spent practicing recognition will decrease in proportion to the fluency gained over time. After a bit, you should be able to get through all 300 elements in a 2-digit PAO list in 5-10 minutes with a recognition speed of a second or two per element, but don’t expect this speed to happen overnight.
I’ve provided a link to a pre-built Anki template deck for PAO, all you need to do is fill in your words and/or images. Keep in mind that the “normal” way of using Anki for spaced repetition and long term retention will need to be modified when drilling a deck with the goal of building recognition speed. You’ll want to cap your maximum review spacing so that you don’t go more than a couple days before Anki shows you the cards again. This way it will still repeat your “difficult” cards more often when learning the associations, but you’ll also still see all of the cards regularly. I think my deck template includes this scheduling spacing saved in its settings but am not positive, so make sure to consider that.
This deck also includes flashcards for a single digit PAO list (for numbers 0-9), which you should really work on as well. It’s only 30 more elements, for a grand total of 330 elements to learn in order to gain one of the most powerful memory techniques that exists.
Here is the deck:
Also, here are some tips on practicing a PAO system so that you can build independent associations of each element directly to it’s number, which is the ultimate goal of learning the system.
And finally, on the topic of setting realistic expectation for the time and effort needed to get good with number and card systems:
man, thank you so much <3
One thing you may consider in order to lessen the workload at first, is to work sets of 10 at a time over the course of two days, then add a new set. This will get you familiar with all 310 elements over the course of 3 weeks and you’ll be gaining speed as you go, so you should never have a really gruelling extended length session (unless you want it.)
So, Day 1: just work on learning the associations for 0-9, single digits. With only 30 elements to review, you could realistically spend 30 minutes reviewing and a get a solid amount of reps in. If you can’t recall an element in 10-15 seconds, just reveal the answer and move on. This way you’re not wasting time racking your brain for something that isn’t in there yet. When that card cycles back around later in the session, it should be a little easier to recall.
Day 2, review those 0-9 associations a few times. They should be a little bit faster and more familiar.
Day 3, start learning the first 30 elements of the 2-digit system, the P’s A’s and O’s for 00-09. CONTINUE to review your 0-9 elements as well. So you’ll have 60 total elements to review, but those 0-9 elements should be getting faster.
Day 4, just review 0-9 and 00-09.
Day 5, add 10-19. (Now you’re up to 90 elememts to review, but the ones that you’ve been working on for 5 days already should be getting much easier.)
Day 6, review 0-9, 00-09, and 10-19.
Etc.
By structuring it this way, you’ll have a kind of sawtooth graph of time needed per day. It will jump when you add a new set, but decrease as you get faster with the old one.
If the first few additions feel like too much, you could always make it 3 days per set. This would lessen the workload each day, but it would add 11 days to your timeframe for seeing all of the elements. If you’re not in a big time crunch to get this thing learned, then you shouldn’t feel rushed. Sometimes looking at the whole thing can be intimidating, but if you break it down and take your progress incrementally instead of trying to get it all at once, you can maintain the effort and enthusiasm for the project since you’ll see consistent progress.
Hi, it’s me again, I was unsure about one thing, is using the mental palace to memorize something valid in relation to this? and as for the list p.a.o I liked yours, especially in relation to the actions… Is it a problem to make my PAO list “bilingual” taking into account that I am Brazilian and speak Portuguese?
I learned my PAO by putting it in a 5 room memory palace. I drew the loci on paper and then wrote out each pao on its location. Took about an hour or so. Then I just mentally walked through it in my mind till I had it memorized. After that I downloaded random pages of numbers from the number generation part of this website and went through them while I worked on developing my recognition speed. Not memorizing anything but just working on speed.
That’s the way I learned mine. Takes a little time and effort but I naturally enjoyed the process so it wasn’t a chore.
I’m sure there’s better or more efficient ways but this was the way I did mine.
Tim, Can I mix the “encode” and “decode” cards all in one? like, people cards, make them one, just like objects and actions??? I was even thinking about leaving everything organized the way you said, making decks from 00-09 10- and leaving the template that way… is it a silly idea or could it be very useful in my case? I have ASD and ADHD and I waste time thinking about so many things that I just get stuck in, I wanted to make this easier for myself… because I have to deal with college and several other matters too 
I wouldn’t combine those decks.
Encode and Decode are two different functions. You use Encode to practice seeing the number and checking whether you visualized the correct element to go along with it. You use Decode to practice simulating recall where you’d have a mental image that you need to convert to it’s number.
By training both ways you’ll strengthen your recall speed.
Have you looked at the structure of how the cards are separated into decks and how they are tagged in Anki yet? You can set up a filtered custom study session to include both Encode and Decode cards if you want without changing any actual deck or tag organization.
I’d recommend starting with the Encode cards. Give the first 10 a go for a couple days, then add the next set in as I outlined previously.
Don’t overthink it.
Just start looking at the numbers and testing yourself to see if you can correctly picture the associated element. For the first 10 digits, you only have 30 elements to learn.
Regarding your question about using multiple languages in your list… Nothing wrong with that at all! As long as the images that you are associating to the numbers make sense to you, then you’ll be just fine! Remember, you’re trying to see the number and not just say or recall the WORD, you’re trying to be able to quickly visualize the IMAGE that the word conjures up.
So if your 16 word is DiSH, you don’t want to simply read and think “dish,” you want to make sure you’re actively visualizing a specific “dish” in your mind. Maybe it’s a porcelain china plate or maybe it’s a satellite dish, whatever it is, make sure you picture it as you read your number/word. Eventually the number will “become” those images and then you’re really getting somewhere!
As for your memory palace question, nothing “wrong” with that either. It can also help lock in the images. I’d recommend 10 distinct areas with 10 unique loci each. That way if you’re trying to recall 73, you move to your 70’s area, and count through loci to 73 to find your image.
The only thing I DON’T like with the memory palace approach to learning a system is that in the time you’re spending navigating to the right loci, you can weaken the direct connection from number to image. So if you see 73, you really want to try to directly make that connect to the image.
“Object: 73 = G-M = GuM. 73’s object is GuM.”
Compare that to:
“Object: 73 = 73rd loci = 70’s Palace + 73rd loci = the scene at that loci CaM CoMbing GuM = the object is GuM.”
By going through all of those links, I’m not sure how well you’d be connecting 73 to GuM. Over time all of that extra will fall away, but it may take quite a bit longer.
I’d try to start learning the direct associations without using a palace at first. If you are only going for 30 every few days, I think you’ll be able to make them stick. At first it will be super frustrating but every time you blank or fail a recall, you’ll be seeing the correct answer and you should use that to reinforce the connection. When Anki shows you the number again later, there will be a better chance you’ll be able to get it because with each active rep, you strengthen that direct connection until it becomes the first thing that springs to mind.
If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a page with some PAO system examples. See also the Major System examples.