We rely on our memories every day to accomplish daily tasks, tell stories and stay organized. Despite our memory dependency, those who don’t use it will lose it. Thankfully, there are several ways to keep your memory fresh and retain important information. Here are 10 ways to improve your memory:
- Pay Closer Attention
If we all paid closer attention to the things we were told, our memories would be excellent. But, considering the amount of distractions that surround us, and the little amount of information that we retain everyday, it takes more effort to strengthen your memory. If you have a short attention span or weak listening skills, try adjusting some of your bad habits. For instance, when receiving important information in-person try to keep consistent eye contact, take notes, sit up straight and ask questions. Becoming more engaged in a conversation, lecture, interview and virtually all encounters will help you retain more information and improve your memory. - Take Pictures
If you want to remember the important events of your life, take pictures and label them. Pictures evoke emotions and trigger memories that you may otherwise forget. One way to make memories more clear is to label pictures, noting the place, date and who’s in the picture. - Eat Right
Most people underestimate the role of diet in intelligence and memory. Low blood glucose can cause fatigue, not just physically, but also mentally. A good strategy to avoid this type of fatigue is to eat several small meals throughout the day to maintain a steady blood glucose level and ensure your energy level does not dip between meals. This will help your brain to function at its best throughout the day and improve your memory and deductive skills. - Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Like diet, sleep is an often underestimated part of brain functionality. When we sleep, our brain waves shift and our mind enters a state of rest and recuperation. Deep sleep is particularly helpful because it allows the brain time to form new neuronal connections and organize memories for easy retrieval when awake. Dreaming is also an integral part of the stress-relief process, which will clear your mind and allow for quicker learning and retention. Don’t underestimate the role of a good night’s sleep. Getting an average of seven to eight hours of sleep each night can be crucial when trying to remember vast amounts of information. - Organization
If your desk is cluttered with meaningless junk, chances are your brain is dealing with the same problem. In order to avoid clutter that can interfere with normal cognitive processes, organize the important things around you. Sometimes, even separating things to remember by general subject (i.e. to do or bills) is enough to keep things straight in your mind. Also, organizing will not only help you eliminate clutter, but it can also provide an easy way to save your brain the trouble of remembering tedious and unimportant information. - Repetition
The brain is very efficient at recognizing and categorizing patterns. The best way to reinforce a pattern is through repetition. Repeating the same task or phrase over and over again is one of the most efficient ways to memorize. This happens because the brain registers this information as a top priority and stores it in an accessible part of the brain. Flash cards, questioning and good old-fashioned talking to yourself, remain some of the best methods of memorizing and improving memory. - Sign Posting
One way to improve your brain’s ability to recall information is to attach a sign post to that information, which is easy to recall. What is a sign post? It can be a pneumonic device (an easily remembered phrase which helps to recall information), or a simple image that is attached to a given set of information. When you need to recall that information, simply remember the sign post and your brain will link that sign post with the information you need. Sign posting is a very effective technique and with some practice anyone can use sign posting to recall information quickly and accurately. - Talk and Ask Questions
One of the best ways to improve your memory and keep it fresh is to talk and ask questions. Talking with friends and family about old memories and past events will keep your long-term memory in-check. If you’ve lived a long, full life, share it with children, grandchildren, friends and others through storytelling. Talking about historical events or emotional experiences is beneficial to your memory and state of awareness, as well as the memory and education of those listening. - Brain Exercises
In order to improve your memory, you have got to exercise your brain. Brain exercises can be in the form of reading, playing trivia games, crossword puzzles or writing. - Keep Learning
Whether you take a cooking, painting or world history class, learning is one of the best ways to exercise your memory and store new information. You don’t have to be enrolled in a class to keep learning either; you can take up a new hobby, attend lectures and read instead. - (source:masters in healthcare)
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