Peg events—remember events

Peg events are similar to peg words. Instead of representing numbers, a peg event represents a point in time. Some peg events you might start with are:

Waking up in the morning Before going to bed Arriving at or leaving home Arriving at or leaving work	Arriving at the supermarket Seeing specific people Getting into or out of the car Meeting someone for the first time
Training specific:
Arriving at or leaving the school or training facility	Starting or finishing your activity, such as leaving or docking in a yacht

Let’s look at how you set up and use peg events.

Setting up peg events

The first step is to choose an object that you can associate with each event. It may be a physical object, for example a garden gnome in your front garden could trigger a peg event for arriving at home. Alternatively, you could use an imagined object each time you experience that event.

Once you have chosen the object you want to use, reinforce the peg event via repetition. For example, leave the house and walk back in, noting or visualizing the peg event and its object. Leave a message on your PC at work to remind you of the peg event when you arrive and leave.

Using peg events

When you want to remember an item later, associate the item with the object you have set for the peg event. If, for example, you want to remember to tell your wife about a future business trip when you arrive home, associate the gnome with a business trip. See the gnome traveling in first class in an aircraft, lapping up the luxury and slurping the champagne.

If you need to associate a few items to a peg event, set up ten pegs using peg words. This helps ensure you don’t miss items. Start each peg event at a different number. Associate each new item with both the object and the next available peg word. “Destroy” the peg word in your mind once you don’t need it any more.

For example, let’s say you associate peg words 20-29 with the garden gnome, 30-39 with some other peg event. When you want to associate the business trip with peg number 22, associate the gnome in first class, traveling next to a nun (the peg word for 22).

Sometimes you may forget to recall the peg event when it occurs. When you realize you did forget, close your eyes and visualize yourself recalling the peg event. Note what may have caused you to forget. In your replay, see yourself in the same circumstances, but this time you easily recall the peg event.