Strengthening your memory doesn’t have to be a strenuous workout. There are plenty of simple, everyday tasks you can do to improve your memory little by little every day. In this article, you will find a few ways that you can help yourself master your memory skills.
Pay careful attention to what you want to remember to ensure the information is retained in your long-term memory. Distractions, such as music and television, prevent you from paying the required amount of attention to the material. Failure to concentrate will result in the information being lost and not committed to memory.
Your memory is only as good as the effort you put in to maintaining it. If you believe that you have are eventually going to have a poor memory no matter what, then it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Give yourself positive reinforcement when you do recall something correctly and forgive yourself if you make a mistake. Your memory should begin to improve in no time. Of course, you also need to be eating and sleeping well – and go easy on the alcohol!
If you find yourself having difficulty remembering some things, try to use acronyms or tricks called mnemonics to help you remember. An example of this is to use Roy G. Biv to remember the colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These types of tricks can really improve your memory.
When a person is sleep deprived, his brain struggles to be fully functioning. Simple things like problem-solving, creative thinking and remembering, suddenly become difficult. Getting a full night’s rest each and every night will maintain your brain’s ability to function at capacity. Enough sleep also increases your memory since the most important memory enhancing activities occur while you are in your deepest sleep.
When learning a new concept, teaching someone else the concept has been proven to be an effective way to improve your memory. The reason for this is that when you teach someone else the concept, you must first have an understanding of it and then be able to phrase it yourself. It is significantly more effective than simply trying to remember a concept word for word.
Like an actor does before putting on a play, rehearsing what you learn is a great way to improve your memory. If you are attempting to study, recite the problems and answers aloud, and you will absorb the information easier, and ultimately, retain it more efficiently. This is a great way to improve your overall memory.
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.
Writing by hand is a great way to help your memory. Writing with a pen or pencil engages your brain in a different way than typing on a computer. You can either copy out a speech your trying to memorize or keep track of your daily to do list by writing in a calendar. If you’ve written it out, you may be able to remember without even checking your list!
Most of us live in routines. Our lives are centered around having the same routine each day or each week. If we stray from that routine it can keep us from being able to remember things. Your routine is what is holding back your memory. Change how you do things each day to force your brain to develop new ways of remembering and sorting information.
Add a fish oil supplement to your diet to sharpen your memory and concentration. Omega-3, found in fish oil, is a necessary nutrient for memory, yet many of us do not get enough in our regular diet. Adding a supplement can improve overall health while also improving memory and concentration.
Pay attention when you want to memorize something. Clear your mind completely and focus on the subject and avoid outside distractions such as noises and images. Persons with focusing difficulties should find a silent, remote location to improve focusing and speeding up the memorization process. Use pleasant music to enhance your focusing.
When trying to remember something, incorporate as many of your senses as possible. The more sense you use when making a memory, the easier it will be to recall at a later date. You can see this process in action every time a familiar smell reminds you of something from your past.
Take care of any chronic health conditions that you have in order to help with improving your memory. When you do not feel well, you can become depressed. A depressed state of mind adversely affects how your brain retains information because your brain will not be able to focus. So, taking care of your physical health is important in improving your memory.
Carefully focus on what you are trying to memorize. This is especially important when you are studying. Never try to multitask. Turn off the television, turn off the radio. Just focus on what you need to memorize and the knowledge you need to retain. Many things can distract you without you even realizing it.
A great tip that can help you improve your memory is to review information shortly after you’ve learned it. Doing this periodically will help you recall important things. What you don’t want to do is cram. If you cram you won’t retain as much information as you want.
When meeting new people at a meeting, it is okay to cheat a little to spur your memory later. Take a little time after the meeting to take a few notes about the people on the back of the business card so you can prepare for meeting them again in the future. Notes can be about their hair color, where they went to school, kids, or any other conversation starters for the next time you meet.
Trying these new ideas every day may seem like a lot, so try just one or two. Remembering to do them every day will definitely help, though. If you find that it’s hard to remember to do them every day, then you definitely need to be doing them more often.
