4 steps that will tell you the day of the week from just the date and month in 2021

Without looking at a calendar, can you tell on which day of the week Christmas Day falls in 2021? 

Let’s work it out together. By the end of this blog, you’ll have learned a simple 4-step process you can use to surprise people with your newfound superpower.

Step one

Here’s a list of numbers for each month in 2021:

• January: 4
• February: 0
• March: 0
• April: 3
• May: 5
• June: 1
• July: 3
• August: 6
• September: 2
• October: 4
• November: 0
• December: 2

I know you’re wondering why these numbers? That’s a good question. There’s a formula to work them out, and they’re different for each year. Gifted people with super calculation powers can work out the number for any given month and year in their head in a matter of seconds. However, a trained brain can memorise the lists for hundreds of years and perform the same magic.

How to look like a genius

You may be thinking; I’m neither of these people. But you are because with the proper training everyone can remember this list in less than 10 minutes.

I’ll show you how as soon as we’ve worked out the day of the week of this coming Christmas. So let’s move on to the next step.

Step two

To work out on which day of the week 25/12/2021 falls, add the number ‘2’ (associated with December in the list above) to 25 (the date) to get 27.

Step three

Now divide 27 by 7 (the number of days in a week), which is 3 with a remainder of 6. Ignore the 3 and keep 6 in mind.

Step four

The last step is to translate the 6 (the remainder) to the sixth day of the week, which is Saturday: 1 is Monday, 2 is Tuesday, 3 is Wednesday, 4 is Thursday, 5 is Friday and 0 is Sunday.

How to memorise a list

Now, let’s memorise the list of months above: 400351362402.

You’ll probably remember it if you repeat the list a hundred times: 400351362402, 400351362402, 400351362402… . After all the repetition, your brain will finally be convinced this is important to you and store it in your long-term memory.

You may find it’s easier to memorise the list when you break the long string down to chunks of 3 -7 digits: 400 351 362 402 or 4003 5136 2402. 

Why these chunks? Because our short-term memory can only handle 7 (+/-2) pieces of information at one time. That’s why our credit card number is broken into four groups of 4s, and why the early phone numbers had 7 digits.

By looking at the pattern here, some of you will remember the number straight away. It’s all about association. All learning is to associate something we don’t know with something we do know. For example, you may associate 400 with the film 300, and you may know 351 is the country code for Portugal. Then, you can link 362 to 351, and 402 to 400.

How to make memorising things fun – and why you should

If you don’t have any existing ‘information to associate these numbers to, there are fun techniques to help you associate anything you need to learn and remember.

One is the peg system. The idea is to make each month a peg where you can store information related to it. Then you integrate each month’s number into a picture for that month. This is because January, February and so on are very abstract and so hard to remember.

I promise it’s easier than it sounds. Let’s do it together:

First, turn each month into a picture. You can create your own but for now, let’s use mine.

Next, embed the number for the month into an ‘unusual’ image.

• January: the smartest giant gives his jacket to a goat for his boat as a sail (4 looks like a sail).
• February: valentine’s day gift is a diamond ball (0 looks like a ball).
• March: a fish is playing with a beach ball (0 looks like a ball).
• April: a clown is juggling 3 mountain rocks (3 looks like a mountain).
• May: a seahorse is enjoying the sun on a sunflower (5 looks like a seahorse).
• June: a giant pencil standing in a dune, instead of a cactus (1 looks like a pencil).
• July: a towering mountain standing in a jungle (3 looks like a mountain).
• August: an elephant is spraying water onto a barbeque (6 looks like an elephant).
• September: the ugly duckling is going to school (2 looks like a swan).
• October: sailing in a giant pumpkin with a sail made of a pumpkin leaf (4 looks like a sail).
• November: a big green ball bouncing on top of a sea of red poppy flowers (0 looks like a ball).
• December: a swan is sitting on the top of a Christmas tree (2 looks like a swan).

Congratulations!

If you’re still reading, well done! Any new learning needs patience and deliberate practice. Your brain needs the practice to form new connections and get better at what you just learned.

Now, read the list out loud. Then I suggest closing your eyes to go through the images again in your mind. How did you do? If you missed one or two, that’s normal. Just quickly check the image and do it again.

What we can learn from our kids

I hear you: this memory technique seems so CHILDISH! It is, and that’s why it works. We all know children have a powerful ability to learn and an excellent memory. This is how they do it. 

Also, once you remember the list (in your long-term memory), the images and associations will fade away. Your mind will directly bring up 4 when you need to calculate any dates in January, rather than the jacket and sail.

How to make a list stick in your memory

To make a list stick in your memory, review it at the end of the day. If you’re at home, grab something you usually wouldn’t put on your bed and leave it on your pillow. It will remind you that you have to do something and trigger your memory to review the list when you’re ready to go to sleep. Otherwise, go ahead and set the alarm on your phone as a reminder.

Please don’t be disappointed if it takes you a couple of minutes. You’ve learned a lot in the last 5-10 minutes since you started to read this blog. 

You’ve learned the primary method to calculate the day of the week. You’ve also learned how to use a peg system to help you remember information, especially dates. And you’ve become familiar with the numbers in the number shape list, which you can use for all sorts of learning and recall. If you want to learn more about how to tap into your brain power, please check out the Get Better at Learning online course.

What difference does practice make

The last task to help you get faster is to practise. Ask your friends to give you a date or choose a couple of dates yourself and work out the days of the week. Practise for 5 minutes every day, and by the end of a week you’ll be able to tell it instantly.

Shall we work out another date to review what we’ve gone through? How about 24/01/2021: the International Day of Education?

Step one: 4 for January

Step two: 4+24=28

Step three: 28/7=4, the remainder is 0

Step four: 0 is Sunday

I know you can do the calculation now. It’s time to celebrate!

Join my free video workshop

Join my workshop, Five Days to Activate Your Learning Potential. I’ll show you how to get ready to learn fast, remember more and grow your own learning superpower.

You might think this is just for students, but it’s not. We’re all lifelong learners with the potential to gain new skills and knowledge as we become our best selves. So carve out a little bit of time today to listen to this free workshop.