Memory is an integral part of brain function, and can fade if the brain is not kept in optimum health. Maintaining good overall health will also assist in keeping your memory sharp. The following tips will help you maintain healthy brain function and ensure that your memory remains intact for many years to come.
You can improve your memory by playing brain-challenging games. Much the same way you workout and strengthen muscles, you can do the same for your mind. You can increase your memory skills, focus and concentration by exercising your brain. Try brain teasers, crosswords and word searches, for instance.
Keep a running list of the things you want to accomplish each day. As you finish one item, cross it off and move on to the next. Simultaneously, keep adding items at the bottom of the list as they arise. In this way you will never forget what you need to do next.
To remember things like turning off the water, place some object that will remind you in a place where you are likely to trip over it! If you have left the sprinklers on for half an hour while you go inside to eat, put your garden gloves in the kitchen sink or some other unlikely place. This will remind you to turn off the water!
Developing mnemonic devices so you are able to enhance your mind is a good way to grasp knowledge for a longer duration. Mnemonic devices are prompts that aid you in remembering something, just as shorthand aids a writer. You relate an idea with something common, giving you an easy way to remember it.
In order to improve your memory, it is important that you pay attention. Your mind will never learn how to memorize things if it is distracted by other things. For example, if you are studying or working, do so in a room with no television or other things that could attract you.
Try to stay away from pills that promise to help improve your memory. Most of the time, these pills are not effective and could cause you physical problems. Instead, you may want to look into supplements like Niacin, Thiamine, and Vitamin B-6. They all help to improve the part of the brain that deals with memory.
When trying to memorize new information, take the time and effort to think about how this unfamiliar material relates to something that you already know and understand. By finding a relationship between new concepts and previously learned material, you will increase the likelihood of committing the new information to memory.
Try to avoid food high in salt and saturated fats, including fast food. It has been scientifically proven that these foods can lead to carotid artery disease, which cuts off the brain’s oxygen supply. Losing oxygen prevents the part of the brain that holds memory from learning and obtaining information.
Try to avoid alcohol if you would like to improve your memory. It has been scientifically proven that alcohol kills the cells from the part of the brain that absorbs information. However, most research seems to prove that having one or two glasses of wine a day is okay for the memory.
If you have a large amount of information to commit to memory, a good strategy is to break the information down into many separate pieces. It is much easier to remember things in parts, than to remember them as a whole. As a simple example, when trying to memorize a standard United States phone number, you can memorize it as three separate parts consisting of area code, first three digits, and last four digits, as opposed to all ten digits together.
To improve your memory for the item you are studying, make sure it has the full focus of your attention. Memory works by taking important items from the present and storing them for recall later. If you aren’t focused on what you’re trying to learn, your brain won’t deem those facts important and won’t store them.
A great tip that can help you improve your memory is to start limiting how much alcohol you drink. Drinking too much alcohol can destroy many brain cells over time, which can severely impair your cognitive functions, such as memory. Limit your alcohol to only one or two drinks a day.
Continuous learning is key, even if your days as a student are long behind you. When you don’t learn anything new, the part of your brain that controls memory isn’t being used. So, if a time comes that you are required to remember new things, you may find that it is much harder to do so.
Try to use all five of your sense when trying to remember things. By using as many of your senses that the situation calls for, you will have a better time remembering it. If it is a location you are trying to remember, picture the way it smelled and the sounds associated with the area.
Are you frustrated with your problems learning new things? Whenever you’re presented with something new that you want to recall later, mentally form associations between it and things you already know. When these kinds of links are established between new facts and knowledge already in your possession, then it’s far simpler for you to recall the new knowledge later on.
If you have something you’d like to commit to memory, pick your favorite tune and set to words you’d like to recall to it. Ask anyone who learned their alphabet as a child if it was learned through song, and you will see how effective it is. Because melodies repeat themselves, it’s easy for your mind to remember them. The next time you need to commit something to memory, accompany it with a catchy tune.
There is quite a bit of fear associated with losing one’s memory. Understanding the ways to feed the brain and keep it at a healthy functioning level, will give you more confidence in your ability to maintain your memory. don’t delay to implement as much of the advice that you can.
