Numbers are a part of our everyday life. Whether we’re talking about movie times, phone numbers, addresses and zip codes, or account numbers, we are bombarded with numerical information all day, every day. But sometimes, these numbers can be difficult to remember, especially as they get longer or more complex.
When trying to think of a memory trick to employ to remember numbers, it’s a good idea to use the strategy of clumping. By clumping large numbers into smaller numbers, it makes it a little easier to remember. We do this already with phone numbers and Social Security numbers. Another time you will see it done is with credit card numbers, by clumping the numbers into groups of four.
This is one of the more popular ways to remember numbers—especially larger numbers—by memory. Other ways include linking the numbers to the letters of the alphabet in order to create memorable sentences with the letters to help clue you in to the numbers in the original sequence. This is a great way to help remember phone numbers if the clumping method doesn’t work as well for you and a little imagination works better in your own mind.
No matter how you decide to memorize large numbers, use what works best for you. Just like some people are more audio learners and others are more visual, not every memorization technique will work perfectly for you or be a good match—try some out and see what clicks best with you!