It can be as mundane as a phone number or as emotionally important as a family trip, but poor memory can make you forget virtually anything. While many people resign themselves to just having a “naturally poor” memory, there are various tips that can be taken to ensure that you help remember the things in your life.
One thing that has been proven to help maintain your memory and brain function over time, is socialization. Having a strong social group and lots of interaction and conversation with family and friends will help to keep your memory flowing freely both now and as you age too.
A key to keeping your memory sharp as a tack is to keep up your social relationships. By surrounding yourself with friends and family, especially those that you consider a great support system, you are helping your memory to stay alive. Research actually shows that those with the most active lifestyle showed the slowest rate of memory loss.
By coming up with mnemonic devices, you will be able to remember things for a longer period of time. Mnemonic devices are a great way to recall something. If you can associate a common item or word with something you want to remember, you create a roadmap in your brain to retrieve the information.
If you are scatterbrained, use post-it notes to your advantage. Keep them in places you’ll see all the time, like beside your computer or on your refrigerator. Using sticky notes will make sure you don’t forget to do something important.
Try to visualize what you are trying to remember. When you see a mental picture of what you want to learn, you can recall it better. Visualize things like images, charts, or special aspects of the material that you are reading. When you remember those characteristics, you can recall the material more effectively.
To help improve how quickly something is stored in your memory, take the time to bucket the information first. Act like an information architect and organize the information you are try to commit to memory based off of similarities. Once they are bucketed, attack them as a group. You will then find they are easier to memorize!
Take the time to relate information you are trying to memorize to information you have already committed to memory. Creating links between old and new information will increase the potential for keeping both in your permanent memory banks. You will likely be able to do so in much less time than it would take otherwise.
If you have a bad memory and you are on certain medications, you may want to get a pill organizer. This way, you will remember to take your medicine at the time you need to. Also, if you have forgotten whether you have taken your medication or not, you can always look at your pill organizer.
Things are easier to remember if they have a special meaning to you. Think about why you need to memorize the information. For example, if you are going shopping, ask your self why. It could be for your child’s birthday, and thinking about that will help you remember what you need to buy.
You need to actively prepare your mind before you start to try to remember something. In the same way a runner needs to stretch first, you need to visualize yourself learning what you are trying to commit to memory. This can also help you to be more prepared and organized as well.
Spend more time on the information you are having trouble remembering. Go over what you need to remember a couple of times and see what was easy to remember for you. Pay more attention to what seems difficult. Rephrase this content in a way that makes it easy to remember.
Staying active will help your memory. With a healthy body, you will have a healthy mind. Exercising also carries oxygen to the brain, decreasing your risk of developing diseases that cause memory loss. Exercising activates the brain chemicals that work to protect the brain cells.
One way to improve your memory is by adding meditation to your daily routine. Meditating helps to relax your mind and body, which in turn can make it easier for your brain to recall memories. Set aside a specific time each day when you know you won’t be interrupted to close your eyes and meditate for as long as you would like.
Did you know that reading out loud can significantly increase your ability to memorize and recall new information? Reading the information as text and also hearing it with your ears exercises multiple pathways for information to get into your brain thus enhancing your chances for recall. In addition; when you read aloud you are more likely to focus on each word and not just quickly skim the text. So when you want to retain the information just speak up!
One of the most effective and easiest ways to remember material is by repeating it until you can easily recall it. If the information you need to remember is written down, just read it over and over until it all sinks in. It also helps to recite the information just before bed.
Your sense of smell can be a powerful memory aide. It is hardwired directly to the brain. Study with something that smells a certain way (a special perfume for instance)in the room. When the big test day comes, reintroduce the smell and you will reintroduce the memory too.
Using acronyms is a great way to help you remember things. Acronyms are formed by using the first letter from a group of words to make a new word. This comes in handy when you are learning something ins a specific order. For example, if you are trying to remember the colors of the rainbow, you can remember ROY G BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet).
A poor memory can really hamper one’s life. You can forget the name of the person you met just last week, or you can even forget some of what would have been cherished memories. While everyone’s capacity for memory is different, this article’s advice gave various tips that will help make sure your memory is working at its own optimal level.
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