Memory is a fickle thing, but this interesting technique, well-known in ancient times, can help you memorize your seed phrase.

First, let me go ahead and add some caveats.

• Brain wallets are mostly a bad idea. Memory is notoriously fallible.
• You shouldn't rely on memorizing your seed phrase for your main stash.
• Instead, rely on memorizing your seed phrase only in extreme situations (for instance, you're a refugee, crossing borders). Or if you just want a small amount of bitcoin (not your main stash) that you always have available to you, without having to mess with multi-sig, or whatever security you have set up for your main stash.

Having said that, here's how you can remember 12 words much more easily. And that is...using the "memory palace" technique^[1].

Memorizing random words is much easier when you put them into a familiar spatial context. For instance, your house and yard. This relies on what worked for us, in our evolutionary past. In our hunter-gatherer days (most of human history), remembering random words wasn't important. However, remembering where resources like food were located in our physical environment was extremely important.

That's why we're much better at memorizing in the context of location.

The first step is to figure out all 12 of the locations. The actual seed phrase words come later.

• Think of a path with 12 locations, going through your house. It's best to group them into 4 areas, each with 3 locations. For instance, the first area could be the front yard. The locations at that spot could be 1) at the mailbox, 2) under the door mat, 3) at the light above the door.
• Do the same with 3 additional areas. You'll get a total of 12 locations.
• Next, generate your BIP39 12 word list. I recommend using a stateless signing device. My favorite is the SeedSigner (https://seedsigner.com/). Using this, get a list of 12 words, and write them down for now.
  You could also start with a 24 word list, and then cross out the ones that are most difficult to think of an image for. You don't want anything abstract. However, if you cross out any words, you'll need to just get 11 words, and calculate the last word, since the last word is a checksum. SeedSigner has a tool for this (under Tools, Create a Seed, Calculate 12th/24th word). Note that if you aggressively cross out many of the words, your entropy will be lowered. And do not just go through the BIP39 word list and pick the words you like best, your entropy will be drastically lower.
• Visualize an image for all of the words. If you can make it graphic or shocking, it'll be easier to remember. If you can link one word's image to the next, that improves recall as well.
• Physically walk through the house, visualizing each word in each location. Do this as many times as you need to.

This is amazingly effective. With a little test wallet I did months ago, I'm still able to remember all of the words, even without regularly reviewing them. Of course, if I did have any more than a test amount in that wallet, I would have scheduled a monthly calendar event to review them.

I previously wrote about the "easy wallet" technique. But that was different - in that setup, you basically used a non-random seed phrase, and then a 7 BIP39 word pass phrase. I got the idea from @EasyWallet here - (#400044), and then wrote up this version of it here The "easy wallet" (repeated seed phrase and memorized 7-word bip39 passphrase).

But here's the thing - I was trying to put it into a simple, straightforward format, as an exercise for my second Bitcoin Hands-On book (my first book is Bitcoin, Hands-On: 28 “learn-by-doing” exercises to master the basics of managing your own Bitcoin, including wallets, transactions, and self custody).

And I decided that it was just too fussy to include. It's a real pain and a hassle to enter first the seed phrase and then a long passphrase on a tiny keypad, on your signing device. I don't think people will regularly do it. Whereas entering a regular 12 word seed phrase is very easy, in a signing device with a good UI. And the UI in SeedSigner is very good, I can do it quickly.

And, when using the memory palace technique, the difference between 7 words and 12 words is just not that significant.

This is something you need to practice regularly, to make it secure. Of course, I'd still write down the seed phrase in some hard-to-access place for safety. But it's liberating to know that you always have some sats "on you", even with no device and no wallet.

And if you or a friend needs some more practical exercises in the basics of self-custody bitcoin, please check out the original Bitcoin, Hands-On!

1. The "memory palace" method came from a disaster around 500 BC. The Greek poet Simonides of Ceos was hired to recite a poem at a nobleman’s banquet. After performing, Simonides was called outside to meet a messenger. The moment he stepped out, the roof of the banquet hall collapsed, crushing the host and all the guests.
   The bodies were so mangled that families couldn't identify their loved ones for burial. Simonides realized that by closing his eyes and visualizing the table, he could remember exactly where everyone had been sitting. He identified every body based on their location. He realized that order + location = perfect recall.
   Also this is the origin of the phrases "In the first place," "In the second place," etc. It's not metaphorical, it literally refers to the first and second location in the memory palace. ↩