Robertson says that people can remember more information if they practice visualizing it. "We could happily remember two dozen passwords using some fairly standard memory methods," he says

He points to one long-standing way to recall numerical-based passwords: visual imagery. First, create an easy-to-recall rhyming word for each number of your password, one through 10. "One is bun, two is shoe, three is tree, four is door, five is hive, six is sticks, seven is heaven, eight is gate, nine is wine and 10 is hen," Robertson suggests. So if, say, your code is 6329, you would first visualize a pile of sticks (for six), spread all around a tree (three), where a shoe (two) is hanging on the tree, and a glass of wine (nine) is pouring over the tree. The same approach works for alphanumeric passwords.

"The first few times will be time consuming," says Robertson. "But if you get into the habit, you could remember two or three dozen visual images."

-Tom Wailgum

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