How to Remember: Sherlock, Shakespeare, and the Mind Palace System
Ever struggle to recall important information right when you need it? Perhaps a client’s name at a networking event or the key points of a presentation slip your mind. What if you could summon facts and figures as effortlessly as Sherlock Holmes solving a mystery? As an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes, I’ve always been fascinated by his "mind palace", that seemingly superhuman memory system. It turns out this technique is a real method anyone can learn and use to remember almost anything. I even used it to memorize all of the United States presidents and all of Shakespeare’s plays in order. In this article, I’ll share how Sherlock’s favorite memory trick ( known as the mind palace or memory palace system) works, how I learned it from memory expert Ed Cooke, and how you can apply it to remember more effectively in your professional and personal life.
What Is a “Mind Palace” and Why Does It Work?
The "mind palace" Sherlock Holmes uses is based on an ancient mnemonic technique called the method of loci. Legend has it that Greek poet Simonides invented this method over 2,000 years ago after a tragic banquet hall collapse. Simonides (the only survivor of the disaster) was able to identify each of the victims by vividly recalling where each person had been sitting. He realized that by linking memory to a physical location, our brains could retrieve information far more reliably. In essence, a mind palace involves imagining a real place you know (like your home or office) and storing pieces of information in specific spots within that mental space. By later “walking through” the imaginary location in your mind, you can recall each piece of information by the vivid cues you left there.
Why does this method work so well? First, humans have exceptional spatial memory; we’re wired to remember places and visual imagery. By turning abstract information (like a name, a list of facts, or a set of ideas) into concrete, zany (the more zany, and “memorable”, the better) visual images placed along a familiar route or in a familiar building, you leverage that built-in spatial memory. Second, the mind palace forces you to make memories distinctive. If you imagine something surprising, colorful, or humorous, it sticks in your mind. (Example: To remember to buy milk, you might picture a giant cow swimming in a vat of milk in your living room, an image too odd to forget). Third, this technique provides an organized framework for structured recall. You’re essentially filing information in an ordered way across locations, so you can retrieve it in sequence by mentally following the path.
This age-old technique has stood the test of time. Ancient Roman orators like Cicero used memory palaces to deliver long speeches without notes. Medieval monks memorized entire religious texts with it. And in modern times, top memory athletes rely on mind palaces to accomplish incredible feats. In fact, the world record for memorizing a shuffled deck of 52 cards is just 21.19 seconds: a feat achieved using the mind palace method. (Yes, you read that right…all 52 random cards in 21 seconds) Memory champions have used this approach to memorize hundreds of names, thousands of digits, and more. If it sounds like a superpower, it kind of is, but it’s one you can learn to use with a bit of practice.
Learning the Memory Palace Method (with a Little Help from Ed Cooke)
I wasn’t born with a Sherlock Holmes memory, but I learned the mind palace system thanks to memory expert Ed Cooke and his book Remember, Remember: Learn the Stuff You Thought You Never Could. Cooke is a Grandmaster of Memory, an elite title meaning he has successfully memorized feats like 1,000 random digits in an hour and 10 shuffled decks of cards in the same timeframe. (He even coached author Joshua Foer from a novice into a U.S. memory champion in one year, as recounted in Moonwalking with Einstein.) In Remember, Remember, Cooke reveals his memory secrets in a fun, approachable way. The book taught me how to build my own memory palaces and populate them with wild mental images so that the knowledge I “store” there actually sticks.
One thing I learned from Cooke is that the sillier and more absurd your mental images, the better. Normal images are forgettable; ridiculous images are unforgettable. For example, Cooke suggests turning abstract history facts into outlandish scenes (for example: he might envision Abraham Lincoln as “a circle of bra-wearing hams linking arms” to remember Lincoln’s name). It sounds crazy, but that bizarre visual pun (bra + hams = Abra-ham) etches Lincoln into memory in a way plain facts never could. By the same token, if you wanted to remember a company’s core values, you might place an exaggerated symbol of each value in different rooms of your house. The key is making it vivid and personal. As Cooke’s book emphasizes, anyone can learn this technique to recall things they once thought they never could. It just takes a bit of creativity.
A Shakespearean Mind Palace: My Morning Commute Example
To see the mind palace in action, let me share how I memorized the (commonly accepted) chronological order of Shakespeare’s plays using my morning commute (this example dates back to when I lived in Brooklyn, over 15 years ago) as the “palace.” I assigned each play to a specific location on my route from home to the office, and came up with a quirky image to represent each one. Here’s a glimpse of how that journey unfolded:
Front Door: The Two Gentlemen of Verona: As I step outside my house, I imagine two gentlemen dressed in suits frantically doing yard work for Veronica (from the Archie comics). Two gentlemen working for Veronica = Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Street: The Taming of the Shrew: Walking down my street, I picture a wild shrew (mouse) that I have to tame by jumping through giant hula-hoops with it. The absurd image of me taming a shrew on the sidewalk cements The Taming of the Shrew.
Bus Stop: Henry VI (Parts 2, 3, 1): At the bus stop, there’s a gigantic hen blocking my way. The hen squawks and lays two eggs, then a third. Oddly, its first egg lands in an egg carton labeled “½ dozen” (half-dozen = six). A giant Hen = Henry, and the sequence 2, 3, 1 of the eggs (with the first landing in a six) clues me that these are Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; and Henry VI, Part 1 (in that order). It’s a wacky scene, but it vividly encodes an unusual sequence of plays.
And so on until I reach…
My Office Desk: Henry VIII: Finally, when I arrive at my desk at work, I’m “greeted” by King Henry VIII himself and he’s trying to set fire to the building! (This image nods to the fact that during a performance of Henry VIII, the Globe Theatre famously burned down.) The shocking sight of a monarch committing arson in my office ensures I never forget Henry VIII as the final play in that particular memory journey.
I continued this imaginative process for every stop and subway transfer on my commute, assigning each location a successive Shakespeare play. The result? Later, when I wanted to recall the chronological list of Shakespeare’s works, I simply mentally retraced my route to work. At each locus (location), the outlandish scene I had planted there popped up in my mind’s eye, and with it, the title of the play. It’s astonishing how well this works. What once seemed like an impossible list (37 plays in order) to memorize became a series of unforgettable mental postcards. And it was fun to do, as well. By gamifying the memorization with a personal story journey, I stayed engaged and actually enjoyed the learning process.
Using the Mind Palace in Everyday Life
The memory palace isn’t just for trivia, parlor tricks, or Shakespearean lore. It’s a versatile tool that any professional can apply to everyday life and work. Here are just a few practical uses for a mind palace system in a modern professional context:
Presentations and Speeches: Have a big presentation and don’t want to rely on note cards? Store each key point or section in order along a mental route (for example, walk through your home and place each talking point in a different room). As you speak, “walk” through your mind palace to retrieve each point in sequence, just like Roman orators did. This can help you speak more freely and confidently, while still covering everything important.
Important Lists or Processes: Need to remember a checklist, a process with multiple steps, or a series of sales figures? Turn the list into vivid images and peg them on a familiar path in your office building or on your drive home. The structure of the location will help ensure you don’t skip a step.
Names and Faces: Memory palaces can even help with remembering names at networking events. For instance, you might mentally associate each person you meet with a location at the event venue (e.g. Alice is by the punch bowl imagining Wonderland, Bob is at the entrance bobbing for apples, etc.). Later, recalling the venue’s layout can cue those creative associations and the names attached.
Learning New Material: Studying for a certification or trying to absorb industry knowledge? Break the material into chunks and assign them to rooms in an imaginary “knowledge mansion” (I would sometimes memorize blueprints and home layouts from Architectural Digest to “build out” more mind palaces to store information in). One room for key terms, another for case studies, another for formulas; decorate each with memorable imagery tied to the content. This method can make dry material more memorable and even enjoyable to review.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of the mind palace technique is how it trains you to think creatively about information. By practicing it, you’ll find you naturally start forming stronger mental connections and noticing visual or spatial cues that help you recall details. While many professionals rely on digital devices as a “second brain” for reminders, cultivating a sharp memory can become a real competitive advantage, not to mention a confidence booster. Imagine walking into a meeting knowing you have a mental vault of prepared facts (facts you don’t have to rely on Google, the internet, or ChatGPT to recall), figures, and names at your disposal, Sherlock-style.
In the final analysis (note: JFK himself checking me into the departure desk at JFK airport serves as my “checkpoint” for remembering he was the 35th president), you don’t need to be a genius detective or a world-class actor to have an amazing memory. Sherlock’s mind palace is a trick anyone can use. It’s rooted in ancient wisdom, yet perfectly suited for our modern information-overloaded lives. I’ve made it a part of my learning toolkit, and it continues to pay dividends in both professional settings and personal pursuits. So the next time you find yourself struggling to remember something important, give the mind palace method a try. As Ed Cooke and countless memory masters have shown, with a bit of imagination, we all have the capacity to remember more than we ever thought possible, and maybe even impress our colleagues and friends in the process. After all, memory is a skill, not a gift, and your mind’s palace is waiting to be built. Why not start unlocking those attic doors in your brain and see what you can store inside?