I’ve always felt that repetitive writing is one of the more effective methods for quick memorization of information. In reviewing a cooking recipe, I wrote a list of the necessary ingredients. Comparing against the stock in the cupboard, I then made a checkmark next to the items I already had available. There were nineteen ingredients total; twelve were missing. In my haste to go the shop before it closed, I forgot the list. Halfway there, in a moment of decision on whether to push forward or turn back for the list, I quickly typed out the ingredients I could remember into Simplenote on my iPhone. Confident that the list was fairly complete, I continued on.

Returning to my flat afterwards, I compared the two lists fully expecting a few discrepancies. Remarkably, there were none.

I suspect this method is not bulletproof — accuracy would likely drop with larger and more detailed amounts of information over a longer span of time between writing and recall. However, perhaps worth consideration on your next trip to the market.