How to remember the planets in order

The eight planets in order from the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Put one on each part of your body from your feet up, and walk up your body to say them in order.

Try it: all eight on your body

Eight words, one at a time, each on a part of your body: feet, knees, thighs, hips, stomach, chest, shoulders, neck. For each, type what the word does to that part, in a few words; the first two come with a scene to start you off. Up to 15 seconds a word. Then look away for 15 seconds, and walk up your body from your feet to get them back.

Where does the order slip?

The four rocky planets come in an easy run. The order tends to slip after Jupiter, where Saturn comes before Uranus and Neptune is last. Pluto is no longer on the list: NASA counts it as one of five dwarf planets.

How do you keep it?

Walk up your body again tomorrow and a few days later, and say each item before you look. Recalling something before you look at it again is one of the best-supported ways to learn. If an item doesn’t come back, give it a new scene on the same part of your body.

In a 2022 study, ten parts of the body, typed from feet to head, worked as well as a classical memory palace for recalling a list in order. There’s more in how to memorize a list in order and the body method.

Keep this list with Without Notes

After the free first lesson, paste this list into Without Notes. It puts the items on your places in order, you write each scene, and it checks you at 1, 7 and 30 days, unaided.