The magazine tautdanning.no asked if I had any tips to students:
If you were a memory champion – what would you study?
As grand master of memory, I studied many subjects at the university to test the memory as much as possible. Therefore, a lot of people ask me which subjects I recommend them to study. But I would recommend that you don´t think about subjects. Rather think about what you want to work with. Don´t study art history if you don´t want to be an art historian. Most subjects are exciting in the beginning, but when the reading room isn´t tempting, the best motivation is that you actually have a profession to got to.
In college and university, there is no teacher who asks if you have done your homework. In most subjects you´re actually on your own. I think that there are three things that are important to succeed with education:
- Find out what´s most important.
* I know the people with the best memory in the world. None of us can remember absolutely everything. Therefore we have to prioritize. Find out what´s most important, and focus on that.
2. Have a strategy to remember what I have learned
* To read over and over again is not the most effective way to remember. I use a system called Memo. You can read more about that further below.
3. Use what I remember in a sensible way
*When you remember well, it´s tempting to show this on the exam. But watch out so you don´t become a robot who just regurgitate everything you´ve memorized. Consider: Is this reasonable to write in this assignment? We are reasonable people. Use Memo so that the memory don´t set limitations for you.