BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Build Your Own Mind Palace

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** February 19, 2012 12:46 pm

Article in the Express:

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/303146

The above article is interesting, but doesn't really go into specific detail about HOW to do it, so I googled some more links:

http://litemind.com/memory-palace/
http://www.mostlymaths.net/2011/03/learn-to-remember-everything-memory.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Memory-Palace

This is a really good Sherlock related one:

http://anotherboywholived.tumblr.com/post/16156334049/how-to-build-your-own-mind-palace
http://babygenie.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/thanks-for-the-memory-sherlock-i-now-have-a-mind-palace/

I'm building mine this afternoon!

Last edited by Sherlock Holmes (February 19, 2012 1:24 pm)

**Posted by drummerchickSH** February 24, 2012 12:46 pm

I use these methods for my tests they actually work !

**Posted by Davina** February 24, 2012 3:08 pm

I used the mind palace method to remember my shopping list today. It works!

**Posted by Ceto** February 24, 2012 10:16 pm

I know! I have used it a few times to it really works!
More people should definitely try it.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 2, 2012 12:45 am

Last night I was walking through my Mind Palace whilst in bed, and I fell asleep in one of the rooms...and when I woke up this morning, that room was the first thing I thought of! Kind of weird...

I haven't used it to try and remember anything yet, because I haven't needed to yet...Anyone care to give me something to remember so I can test it out??

**Posted by Ronny Dax** September 1, 2012 12:34 pm

I have a mind palace since a few months. It's like Deep space 9 and it really works. It's amazing; I can still remember the city names from the route we took to Holiday by the car.

**Posted by Mattlocked** September 1, 2012 12:47 pm

Which is the link that gives the best hints? Or do I have to read all 7?
Maybe I can build a relaxing room into mine. Kind of need it right now.........

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** September 2, 2012 9:47 am

Well, they pretty much all say the same thing so once you've read one you've read them all.

Sounds like you kind of already have a mind palace though, and yes you should definitely have a relaxing room. I have a sauna and spa area in mine, it's very relaxing.

**Posted by Mattlocked** September 2, 2012 10:15 am

Sauna! Nice! Massage could be nice, too...
Just started with one of the links and I love the idea of Hogwarts....
But I'd be completely lost quite soon - just imagine all those moving stairs!!
So I would have to start with something like bedroom. Could tidy it up at first. Hm... I wonder if I could just do it in my mind - so much nicer than physically ..........

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** September 6, 2012 7:17 pm

Yeah, I use the house that I grew up in for mine. I lived in that house till I was 17 so it's pretty burnt into my mind already. When I first started I was amazed by how much detail I began to remember about the specifics of each room. The more times I walked through it, the more things I remembered about what it looked like when I was a kid.

I use different rooms to remember different types of things. So one of the rooms is a music room for chilling out and listening to tunes, the other is a map room (for remembering directions etc), there's a chemistry lab, a TV room, a kitchen for making imaginary mind food, a library with a vast collection of books on the shelf, a picture room....etc, you get the general idea.

When I get bored of people's conversations I retreat to my mind palace and I can literally no longer hear their voice, it's very cool!

**Posted by Moriarty** December 24, 2012 4:54 pm

I use my house too, I then realized that there are a lot of little details to remember in my house! I think I'll add on rooms if I need any more, I wonder what Sherlock's palace looks like in his mind?

**Posted by Davina** December 24, 2012 8:20 pm

Pink Barbie Palace!

**Posted by Mnemosyne** December 24, 2012 9:21 pm

Moriarty wrote:
I use my house too, I then realized that there are a lot of little details to remember in my house! I think I'll add on rooms if I need any more, I wonder what Sherlock's palace looks like in his mind?

The oldest parts of it probably feature places from childhood as well as a few abstract spaces.

I used the method of loci to memorise the first three lines of the periodic table for my A Levels... Ten years later that information is still in there. Along with the number on both of my student ID cards from my BA and MA and a series of postcodes and names (for an old job of mine).

This stuff works.

I have 3 rooms, bedroom, rehearsal room and an office space. Not a lot of current useful information but what is in there is not going anywhere.

**Posted by Q.** April 27, 2013 2:34 am

My mind palace is quite disturbing. As you might know, the more bizarre an image is, the easier it is to remember. You have no idea what I've got stored in there.

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
I use different rooms to remember different types of things.

I do this too. It's a lot easier to find your phone if you know which room you lost it in.

**Posted by OneMoreMiracle** June 28, 2013 8:37 pm

I found the 'another boy who lived tumblr' one most useful. I will work on my mind palace tonight!

**Posted by vaticancameos** June 29, 2013 3:28 am

I'm working on building a mind palace using my childhood home, since a beginner should start off with familiar, real-life places. I'm having trouble visualizing a "blank" palace to put things in though. When I go to shelve something, I get confused between my memory of the table or painting or plant that is supposed to be in a particular spot in real life, and the ridiculous trigger image I'm trying to lay over it. Does that make any sense? I almost want to try building my own brand new mind palace from scratch. Can anyone tell me if they've tried this and found it easier?

**Posted by Sherlockspurpleshirt** July 9, 2013 12:45 pm

I used my childhood home and made my path the same. I don't usually "shelve" anything.. more like paint it purple and have it devour my couch... haha
My problem is though that I can't use this unless it's just a list... if I have to remember stuff from class or something that was said that isn't on a list then I cant use this method... does that make sense to anyone?

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** July 9, 2013 2:19 pm

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It's really useful and easy for remembering lists, just put them in each room etc and walk through, but for large chunks of information or quotes it's slightly harder.

I divided my mind palace into themes for this purpose, with every room serving a different theme. For example, there's a map room, for remembering routes and directions. If I've just learnt a new set of directions, for example, the time I finally managed to remember how to walk from the Sherlock Holmes pub to St Barts without using Google maps or getting lost, I store them in the Map Room, and then I can recall them when I need to.

**Posted by Sherlockspurpleshirt** July 10, 2013 4:01 am

If you dont mind my asking- how do you store them? Do you associate it with anything or do you have a specific picture in there?

**Posted by SussexVampire** June 2, 2014 4:50 am

I have been meaning to make my own mind palace for a while now. I have been wanting one since I was a little kid, before I even knew what a mind palace was, interestingly enough.
I used to wish that my mind would be like this giant library where I could go and get information whenever I wanted.
Does anyone know if it is possible to delete stuff from your mind palace? I have been curious about this since that scene in 'The Great Game'.