No, while the book claimed it the technique was originally aimed at children with learning difficulties it claimed anyone could learn the methods used. Trouble is they didnt count on my bad memory for losing things... :/

Yeah, there have been Schools in the far east that have taught abacus mathmatics and if you get good at it you can be very fast.

But again it takes time and training, no easy shortcuts for mental agility Im afraid.

I think Carol Vordamen has a book out which aims to train your brain into remembering maths calculations etc.  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Brain-Easy-Ways-Agile/dp/0091917026/sr=8-1/qid=1171458967/ref=pd_ka_1/202-8062630-4517461?ie=UTF8&s=books

Also, she was on BBC Radio 2 promoting another book for training your brain for numbers calculations etc, Type "carol vorderman train your brain" into Google, you can see the top link. (sorry link blocked at work!)

buy a ds, then buy brain training.

problem solved.