If you could remember something just by taking a look at it could have helped you immensely at different stages of your life, especially during the school and college days. The good news is that you can develop a photographic memory. It is possible to learn how to develop a photographic memory. This is a skill that you can learn.

Method 1- Improve your general memory

If you can improve your general memory, it will help you to develop a photographic memory. Joshua Foer described a specific method which helped him from being a journalist at memory contests to winning them within a few short months.

This is a method which is very effective for remembering anything in general. You don’t have to use any cue cards; you will be able to memorize the order of 32 decks of cards in one hour. It will also help you to have a better memory than most of the people.

This method focuses on pictures because your brain thinks and remembers in pictures. If you can imagine something and attach it to the thing, person, event or anything else, it’ll be easier to remember. If you can think of anything in terms of images, it’ll be easier for you to remember those things.

It is possible to use that in every aspect of your life.

Method 2- The military method

This is a method which is thought to be used by the military to train its operatives. However, there is no proof that military is actually using it right now. Even then, this can be effective for remembering things. You will need to practice it regularly and it may take one month or more to be able to grasp it.

You will need a darkroom and the environment should be free of distraction. You’ll also need a ceiling lamp or a bright lamp in the room. If you have a windowless bathroom, that will also work for you.

Sit in a position where you can easily access the light switch and switch on and off the light from your seat. Take a piece of paper and cut a rectangular hole in that paper. The hole should be of the size of a standard book paragraph.

Get a book and cover it with the piece of paper which should expose only one paragraph. Now we need to adjust the distance from the book so that when you open and close your eyes they only focus on the words instantly. Now you can turn the light off and let your eyes adjust to the dark. Again switch on the light for a split second and then switch off again. When you do that, it will leave a visual imprint in your eyes of the material from the book.

When the imprint fades, you will need to switch the light on again for a split second and stare at the material. This is a process which you will need to continue until you can recall every word in the paragraph.

You will need to practice it every day for a month and then it will become easier for you. Practicing just for 15 minutes will help you to build this skill. It will help you in all aspects of your life where you need to remember something. This is a very unique skill which will provide you with an edge over other people and so doing the little bit of hard work should not deter you from adding this skill to your kitty.

References

1. Awaken Your Photographic Memory
2. Photographic memory
3. Photographic Memory