Do You Have a Very Good Memory?

[Negin]

as in outstanding memory? I recently saw a 60 Minutes episode on this. Don't know if anyone else did. Although my memory is not like some of the subjects on the show. Nowhere near. These are people who remember every. single. day of their adult lives. Wow! Not that I want to remember every single day. But dh thinks (and I somewhat agree) that I have a milder variation of it. I remember many, many things and many details - what people were wearing, what was said, etc - all the way back from the time I was very young.

They pointed out that those with phenomenal memories also tend to have a tendency to be OCD and super-organized. I am a bit of the former and extremely of the latter.

When they showed Marilu Henner (from "Taxi") who has it, it was as if they were interviewing me to some degree. I have lists for everything - clothes, shoes, etc. My hangers have to face the same direction and they have to all be white. Our laundry is done according to a list. Every. single. thing in my life is according to a list, otherwise I start to go a bit :ack2: batty to say the least.

http://www.organizingla.com/organizingla_blog/2011/07/marilu-henner-can-remember-the-date-she-bought-every-item-in-her-organized-closet.html

So, if you have an outstanding memory, I'm curious to know if you're also the super-organized type? I wonder if there is a correlation.

http://www.sure-start.com/marilu-henners-amazing-memory/3672804/

[Lily_Grace]

I wish I did! I have a very hard time recalling faces/names. Last year I had 4 boys in my co-op class and it took me a month to learn all their names.

 

Now anything printed, especially books, I can recall at the drop of a hat. It made it easy to memorize plays and poems as a kid. I see pictures of the pages in my head and can "read" the information back to myself. That's how I eventually learned the kids' names - I made them all name plates in Greek to sit on the table. :lol: Recall picture of name, scroll up, see kid..

[Cassy]

I tend to be fairly organised, although with a very messy DH and four young boys I mostly live in chaos and tolerate it quite well. I have a good memory for people and the trivia of their lives (and the lives of their second cousin's ex-husband's next door neighbour :D). However, I don't have a good memory for learning 'facts' at all. DH, on the other hand, is one of the messiest people I've ever met, and yet remembers every detail of history lessons at age 8 years. His memory is quite phenomenal. I can see how a super-organised person might have a better memory than the average person, as research into memory shows how memory works on principles of categorisation and organisation. In practice, however, I don't think a tendency to over-organise always translates into having a good memory. My mother was verging on OCD, yet her memory wasn't particularly good; it sometimes seemed that she was so obsessed with everything being perfect that there wasn't much processing capacity left for taking much notice of anything else :tongue_smilie:.

 

Cassy

[Pamela H in Texas]

Hmmm, wonder if you could get super organized and get a better memory?

 

I would guess I have a high average memory. I can walk into a different classroom each day (subbing) and learn each student's name within the first many minutes. I'll race the kids saying I can learn their names before they can finish their "morning work" (usually a 5-20 minute assignment, often state testing based). Can you believe that they ALWAYS cover their name plates on their desks? This is actually better for me though! For middle school and high school, I can get most of the names per class though a few will slip through the cracks as classes are pretty short and start running together as you get further into the day.

 

The best part is that I don't have to study as much as the average person to get superb results. That helps as an adult student. It also makes it harder TO study things I'd like to though sometimes. It's helpful as I'm trying to learn a new concept or skill though because I can keep remembering what I read, saw, heard to solidify it some.

 

I think part of the reason is that my head hears and sees things differently. If I look at a picture, I can sense it in many ways. When I tell people of this, I usually use a certain illustration in a book we have of Jesus' baptism. Where other people see a picture, I can hear and smell and feel it what is going on it. The coolness of the water. The sounds of nature and water moving. The same is true of what I read or hear. This can be very problematic because it makes getting certain things out of my head near impossible and I'm very susceptible to bad dreams and obsessive thoughts. But it can be beautiful also. Visualizing God's promises, for example, is nice while certain titles of threads can really be bad. I found out about a family tragedy of the kids I have and there were details I wish I couldn't "see."

 

Anyway, but I wonder if since I tend towards this direction if I focused on getting organized and/or better structured, if I could gain memorization skill. Hmmmm

 

ETA: I have wondered whether "losing" most of my childhood helps make my adult memory a little better.

Edited July 28, 2011 by 2J5M9K

[Margo out of lurking]

..

Edited November 20, 2012 by Kristine out of lurking

[happypamama]

My short-term memory is not always so great; I suspect that is partly an ADD sort of thing. (I've never been formally diagnosed, and I'm not hyperactive, but I am pretty sure I would qualify for ADD.) I can walk upstairs to get something and forget what it is I wanted. I am organized, but I also have a lot of stuff crowding my mind/house/day/etc., so I lose stuff if it's not perfectly organized. Kind of absent-minded professor sort of stuff -- I'll brush my hair but will put the brush down somewhere instead of in the proper spot, and then I won't be able to find it later, or I'll toss my keys into a random pocket in my bag instead of the same one every time, and then I'll have to hunt for them. I do thrive on specific bins and labels and dividers and files and boxes and whatnot though.

 

However, my long-term memory is quite good. Excellent, even, I would say. It's not quite photographic, but I do recall specific details about days from the past very, very well. My MIL has called me up multiple times to ask, "Do you remember when we went to X? When was that?" And I can almost always recall. Or I'll pull all sorts of random trivia that I've read once, or names of people from the past, or stuff like that out of my head. It worries me a little bit, because I tend to rely on that memory instead of journaling, and someday I am afraid my memory will start to fail.

[Blueridge]

I'm sorry...what was your question again? :D

[Parrothead]

I have a good memory, but not like you described. I'm organized, but not to the extreme you described. But I am the most organized person I know.

[Sophia]

My husband has an amazing memory and is very organized when it comes to work, BUT...every time I open his closet I just want to cry.

[Lolly]

I have an excellent memory. It doesn't include what people wear or what furniture/decorating looks like. I actually do not ever notice those things. I do remember faces, conversations (almost word for word), things I have read, where I last saw certain items (like stuff dh set down somewhere), things like that. I am the queen of the lost becoming found. I have memories that according to my mother I could not possibly remember because I was 2 yo or in one case even younger at the time they occurred. In those very young memories, I even remember clothing people were wearing. My age is messing my memory up terribly right now.:glare: I am not at all organized. I much prefer a slightly messy lifestyle.:D

[Peela]

I had a great memory until I turned around 40. Great eyesight too. Then something happened :glare: My older husband definitely had the last laugh on that one, after all my years of teasing him and getting annoyed at him. I do still have a bizarre memory for our cc number, the phone number of my childhood home that we left when I was 12, and people's star signs even though I barely met them.

But no, no OCD tendencies either. I like being organised but I trained myself to be organised- it didn't come naturally and its not extreme by any means. My coat hangers all face the same way, but they are not all the same style or colour :)

 

That connection does make sense though- as if the brain likes to neatly compartmentalise things- externally, and within its own memory, which is really just an inner filing system :)

[mom2scouts]

I answered "other". I have a very good memory for when things happened. It drives my dh crazy because I'll say, "Oh, that happened in 1995 because we had just brought our baby X home from the hospital and..." Names take me a little longer and I have to ask several times before I have it. I wasn't sure how to answer the question about being organized. Anyone who saw my house would say I wasn't, but people who see me do other things (homeschooling mom or Cub Scout den leader) are amazed at how organized I seem to be. I do tend towards being a little OCD and with a packrat husband and children, I'm overwhelmed with the mess at home so I put my organizing energy into other things.

[abreakfromlife]

I have a really good memory, but I'm not organized at all. I'm trying to be school-wise, but other than that, not really.....why do I need to be super organized, when I remember where everything is? :D

 

 

Mine could be b/c I have synesthesia and I use that a lot for memorizing stuff, so maybe I'm not the typical good memory person???

[elegantlion]

I have a good short term and long term memory. I'm sort of organized, like it some areas it really bothers me, in others not so much. I tend to like things straight, and I have a pretty fined tuned sense of aesthetics. For instance I like decorating and every house we've lived in I know where things need to go before they're in the house. I feel things have a "proper" place.

 

But I also have a pile of clothes on my dresser. :tongue_smilie:

 

I used to tell dh I had a velcro memory, as things stick in there whether I want them to or not. Dh has a lousy memory, mostly short term. He had a head injury in 2009 which only exacerbated the problem. But he is a neat freak, if there is any OCD tendencies in our house, it in him. His thinking has always been that he remember the important stuff, which he does. He can remember phone numbers by seeing them once, but some days can't remember what he ate for lunch.

 

I've been reading up on right-brained learning and styles, and memory seems to play a role in that as well.

[Julie Smith]

I'm sorry...what was your question again? :D

 

You beat me to it.

 

I have a better memory than my dh. But that isn't saying much. Some times he is in a sleep deprived (apena) coma mixed in with possible ADHD.

[Daisy]

I have a great memory and I'm organized. But I don't think I'm hyper-organized. I keep a clean house and I like items to be properly stored, but I remember where everything regardless of where it has been put. LOL. I can tell hubby exactly where he left his wallet even if it is in the most unusual place. A mess house does push up my anxiety levels but mostly because my mental to-do list starts to spiral out of control.

 

I tend to think my memory just makes me more observant or maybe it makes my observance more productive because I remember it? Anyway the organization may just be a result of good habits.

 

I would tend to think that people with poor memories or with anxiety about forgetting something would be more hyper-organized, but I don't really know.

[Hedgehogs4]

I have a very good auditory memory. I can remember sounds, voices, and the words people say in great detail--if I care.

 

The secret for me is whether or not I am engaged in a situation. I tend to live in my own head much of the time, maintaining a running commentary to myself of my observations, opinions and what other people might be saying or thinking (to amuse myself). When I come out of there and engage, I hear everything in detail. I cannot, however, remember names, I have NO sense of direction, so it is difficult to find places unless I have been there at least 4 times, and I am not particularly observant of small details.

 

I do tend to be organized and tidy.

[Tangerine]

I do not. My DH does. He works for Starbucks, and the other day one of his employees working bar couldn't remember a drink. DH, in the back room, called the drink to the bar person. His employees were teasing him about remembering it, so DH called the last 20 drinks that were ordered in reverse order. :tongue_smilie: He can be infuriating. Especially when I put movies on our Netflix queue, and he reminds me that we watched it already. Together. And then adds on where we were, and other irritating details.

 

He is not super organized.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I've always thought I had a better than average memory for things. I did very well in school because I was good at memorizing. I remember tiny details of times I spend with people. (Sometimes if I bring them up I'm afraid I'll freak out the other person because they might think I'm super focused on them).

 

But then again...I wonder if it's like how everybody thinks they are a better than average driver. I can tell you that I am a total organizer/list person. I write lists all the time, although if I have a good memory you would think that wouldn't be necessary. (I'm not sure that it is necessary to refer back to the lists, I think the act of writing stuff down is what might cement things in my memory).

[Daisy]

I do not. My DH does. He works for Starbucks, and the other day one of his employees working bar couldn't remember a drink. DH, in the back room, called the drink to the bar person. His employees were teasing him about remembering it, so DH called the last 20 drinks that were ordered in reverse order. :tongue_smilie: He can be infuriating. Especially when I put movies on our Netflix queue, and he reminds me that we watched it already. Together. And then adds on where we were, and other irritating details.

 

He is not super organized.

 

When I worked retail 20+ years ago, we still had to manually enter credit card numbers. I could match customers and credit card numbers by memory. I had to really work to void that information out of my head. Good thing I didn't have a criminal mind. LOL. :lol:

[Tangerine]

When I worked retail 20+ years ago, we still had to manually enter credit card numbers. I could match customers and credit card numbers by memory. I had to really work to void that information out of my head. Good thing I didn't have a criminal mind. LOL. :lol:

 

Your customers would be wise not to be big jerks. So much opportunity for revenge...

[justamouse]

Dh has a super, incredible, memory and he's only organized in his own way. :glare:

[Jeannie in NJ]

I don't have a good memory. I have to put things back in the exact same place or I can not find them again. I cannot remember phone numbers nor am I good at directions. I always have trouble driving places no matter how many times I have been there. I usually take dd with me so she can give me directions.

 

I have to write down lots of stuff, for ex. take notes at dr. visits, vet visits, phone calls . I have a large notebook by the phone to write down what I need to know from phone calls. It bothers me sometimes but it is what I have to do or I will not remember things that I need to. I have always been this way.

 

HOwever, when I worked in theatre as a stage manager, I could easily memorize the entire play very quickly and I was always able to memorize for tests in school. So maybe memorizing and memory are not related.

[plain jane]

I'm super organized and likely borderline OCD. I can't remember a thing. :001_huh:

 

Heck, I even bought 4 copies of the same book for hs'ing- twice from the same company. :blink:

 

I don't purposely stay organized so I can remember things, I'm just naturally organized and like things a particular way. :)

 

I have a horrible memory. I'm a huge embarrassment to myself that way and I'm ashamed of how little I can remember about anything- places I've been, people I meet, books I own, toys my kids have, things dh and I have done together, conversations I've had with friends (I tend to repeat myself a lot)... I used to have a decent memory but then I had kids. :tongue_smilie: Oddly enough, I can remember quite a bit from my pre-kid years, just not after my first was born. :001_huh:

[Firefly]

I used to have an excellent memory. Sometime during my first pregnancy the baby ate my brain... or at least some of it. ;) It's only gotten worse as I've grown older. Though I do have a strange savant-ish memory for phone numbers. I can remember random numbers of businesses I've called, all our old phone numbers, and other people's s well. Weird!

 

And yes, I'm pretty organized. I have to be to remember everything!

[AuntieM]

I am very organized in areas of responsibility - job, committee work, etc. However, around the house, I like to let my hair down and go barefoot, and this theme carries through the organizational approach to my home. That's how I feel, anyway, but I still have people come into my house and comment on my organization.

 

I will say, though, I don't worry about being disorganized at home so much, because I do remember where specific things are - at least, I remember which pile they're underneath!

[BamaTanya]

I remember watching that report with my dh and saying, "Hey, I'm like that!" (Not to the same extent, but still more than most of my peers.)

And then when they mentioned the OCD/organization thing, "Nope. That doesn't apply."

I do have some OCD tendencies, but they have to do with checking locks and the stove or coffee maker -- not keeping things neat.

I set up INCREDIBLE organization systems, but don't follow through. :glare: Maybe my attention span is too short. Or I lack the discipline/motivation/interest after I've spent so much time and energy working out the plan. :tongue_smilie:

[Ellyndria]

I remember things relating to:

 

- numbers (birthdays, and very good at remembering when things happen, and some cc/library card/phone numbers)

- space (can usually visualize if something will or will not fit in another space)

- maps (I always say I have a map in my head and never get lost), and

- conversations, both vocally and in text (as long as I was listening in the first place ;) ) However, conversations tend to get lost over time unless they were meaningful.

 

 

 

I don't remember:

 

- names. However, if I've seen it in print I'll have a better chance of remembering it. At one point it was easier for me to remember people's email addresses than it was their names.

- random trivia facts. I'll never win Trivial Pursuit.

 

 

I am not very organized, although you could perhaps say I am organized in my disorganization. I know where everything is, or at least what pile it's in. ;)

[Maverick_Mom]

I'm sorry...what was your question again? :D

 

I was going to make the same joke. :lol:

 

Great minds think alike. ;)

[Negin]

I love reading all your wonderful responses. :D

 

Hmmm, wonder if you could get super organized and get a better memory?

Pamela, yes, I'm wondering the same thing. Guess it can't hurt to try. :)

 

My short-term memory is not always so great; I suspect that is partly an ADD sort of thing. (I've never been formally diagnosed, and I'm not hyperactive, but I am pretty sure I would qualify for ADD.) I can walk upstairs to get something and forget what it is I wanted. I am organized, but I also have a lot of stuff crowding my mind/house/day/etc., so I lose stuff if it's not perfectly organized. Kind of absent-minded professor sort of stuff -- I'll brush my hair but will put the brush down somewhere instead of in the proper spot, and then I won't be able to find it later, or I'll toss my keys into a random pocket in my bag instead of the same one every time, and then I'll have to hunt for them.

What you describe, seems to me, to be possibly because you have lots to do and/or are under some stress, etc. At least that's how it is for me. When I'm distracted, stressed, etc. - my short-term memory is very much like yours. Not so, when things are under control (seldom ;)).

My long-term memory, however, is very good. My dad used to get a new car every 2 years during my childhood. I remember the license plate of each one since 1976. I remember phone numbers from the early '70s. But I also remember conversations, clothes, people, faces, etc. I'm not perfect by any means, however. There are many who have far better memories than me.

 

I'm sorry...what was your question again? :D

:lol:

 

I have a good memory, but not like you described. I'm organized, but not to the extreme you described. But I am the most organized person I know.

Yes. Also, I'm not organized in every single aspect of my life. I could be a much better housekeeper. I'm not very good with housekeeping. I don't always do well with FlyLady and stuff like that. I dislike cooking. In fact, I loathe cooking. And I'd much rather be here or read than do housework. It gets done, but I dislike it very much. I'm lazy in many areas. :tongue_smilie:

 

I am the queen of the lost becoming found.

I wish, wish, wish I was like this. I would pay $$$ to be like this. I despise losing things and in the past few years, it's happened a bit too often for my liking. :glare:

 

I had a great memory until I turned around 40. Great eyesight too. Then something happened

Peela, love your new avatar. Your hair is gorgeous. :D

My eyesight was never good and once I reached 40, it got even worse.

 

I have a very good memory for when things happened.

Names take me a little longer and I have to ask several times before I have it. I wasn't sure how to answer the question about being organized. Anyone who saw my house would say I wasn't, but people who see me do other things (homeschooling mom or Cub Scout den leader) are amazed at how organized I seem to be. I do tend towards being a little OCD and with a packrat husband and children, I'm overwhelmed with the mess at home so I put my organizing energy into other things.

This is very much me.

Names also take me longer.

I'm also OCD only in certain areas of life. Not in every area.

[Negin]

I was going to make the same joke. :lol:

Great minds think alike. ;)

Your new avatar is the absolute best. My ds would love it. He LOVES Hermione. :D