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Try This Simple Hack to Remember Dates and Times

Pictures help reinforce special memories

By

Staying Sharp

Updated May 06, 2024

Updated May 06, 2024

A close-up view of an alarm clock laying on fallen autumn leaves

Olga Nikiforova/Getty Images

Quick Win

Creating visualizations to recall birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates and times may improve thinking and memory.

Try This Today

To remember important dates or times, create images. For example, link the picture of a person about to have a birthday with a calendar date or a decorated cake with his or her birth date on top.
To recall anniversaries, picture a date. Imagine your first wedding anniversary and recall the invitation with the date on it.
Let your imagination go a bit wild. Visualize a party with streamers and confetti forming the name, date and time of your upcoming event.

Why

Since we rely on our memory in our day-to-day lives, visual imagery can help improve memory and support our everyday tasks. One example is using this imagery to remember important information like dates and times. Creating nicknames using images or rhyming is one example of a mnemonic, a strategy used for improving recall. Mnemonics that involve visual imagery can improve some aspects of memory, suggests research, including a study of 91 adults ages 61 to 88 published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry in 2020.

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Legal Disclaimer: Staying Sharp, including all content and features, is offered for informational purposes and to educate users on brain health care and medical issues that may affect their daily lives. Staying Sharp is based on a holistic, lifestyle approach to brain health that encourages users to incorporate into their daily lives activities that are associated with general wellness. Nothing in the service should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Features including the Cognitive Assessment and Lifestyle Check-Ins, Additional Tests, exercises, and challenges assess performance at a particular moment in time on certain discrete cognitive tasks. Staying Sharp games are intended for entertainment and recreational purposes only. Various factors may affect performance, including sleep, tiredness, focus, and other social, environmental, or emotional factors. Performance is not indicative of cognitive health and not predictive of future performance or medical conditions.

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