How To Improve Memory - Ten Tips

                                                       1.  Use Repetition - Repeating to yourself the thing you want to remember may be simple, but it really does work. Repeat a phone number several times, for example, and you should remember it for a short while. This works even better if you "sing" it in your mind to engage other parts of the brain. To remember things long-term, repeat or review them several times upon learning them, then the next day, the day after that, the the next week and the week after that.

                                2. Write It Down - Let the paper remember for you. The point is to have use of the information later, and if that's more easily done by way of an "external memory device" like pen and paper, why not take advantage of these tools? Also, writing things down is another way to more strongly "fix" something in our minds.

                                 3. Clear Your Mind - Sometimes to recall something you just need to relax and empty your mind of all the other stuff going on in there. Take three deep and slow breaths through your nose and relax your muscles. Pay attention to the air moving in and out of your nostrils. Afterward return to whatever it is you need to recall or work on.  

                                 4. Feed Your Brain - This means feeding your body of course. Your brain needs a lot of energy, and will generally function better if you eat some good proteins and complex carbohydrates. Trail mix, with nuts and dried fruit works well for some. Fish has been shown to immediately speed up brain function, as well as improve memory and other brain functions long-term improvement if eaten regularly. Also, the distraction caused by hunger can interfere with your concentration and ability to recall things.

                                  5. Drink Enough Fluids - Dehydration is not always recognized, and can both distract you in ways that get in the way of clear thinking and memory, as well as more directly impacting the functioning of the brain. You can experiment to see if this is happening in your case. Just drink a glass of water and note whether your mind seems to work better.

                                   6. Exercise - Physical exercise has been shown to improve brain function both immediately (after ten minutes on a treadmill, for example), and long term. The short-term effect is because of the immediate increase in blood flow and therefore oxygen to the brain. The long-term improvement in memory and other brain functions that come from regular exercise may also be due to the physical improvement of the brain and body that comes from this repeated increase in blood flow and oxygen.

                                   7. Learn A Mnemonic Technique - There are many good memory techniques for remembering names, numbers, lists of things and more. A simple list of items can be "fixed" in your memory, for example, by linking them together in a crazy story that you visualize. You can find some of these techniques (as well as other memory tips) covered here on the website and in the Brainpower Newsletter.

                                   8. Imagine The Use - If you think about how you will use information, you're more likely to remember it. For example if after learning a new algorithm in a math class you imagine using it during a test, you'll probably remember it better - particularly when taking a test. Imagine meeting someone again in the future and using his name, and you'll likely recall it when that does happen.

                                                            9.  Avoid Toxins - Smoking is the obvious one here. Although it may actually help a person concentrate in the short-term, the damage smoking does may later hurt brain function in general, including memory. Many prescription drugs and of course illegal drugs can also have a negative effect.

                                    10. Reduce Stress - When you're stressed, your body releases cortisol, which at high levels interferes with the part of the brain that handles recent memories. Chronic stress has even been shown to cause brain shrinkage. Meditate or do other self-work to learn how not to be stressed out. This may be the most important of these tips on how to improve memory, good not only for the brain but for your whole body and life experience.

                     Quick Memory Exercises And Techniques

                             Memory exercises increase brain power because in your conscious mind you can only work with what you can remember. Intelligence without memory is like a builder without tools. What could he build?

                             The simplest memory exercise is to start telling yourself to remember. If you just learned a person's name, for example, tell yourself, "remember that". This signals the unconscious mind to rank this input higher in importance.

                              Other good memory exercises involve telling yourself why you want to remember something, and how you will remember it. If you just learned a person's name, think about how that person will be important to you in the future, where you are likely to see them next, and anything you notice about them. Clearly seeing the importance of remembering will motivate the brain to retain the name, and the additional associations in the brain (where you expect to see the person next, for example) fix the name even more firmly in your memory.

                                     Mnemonic Techniques

                                Memory exercises and techniques involving "peg words" and other mnemonic devices work well if you master them. They really do! Scores of books have been written on the subject. But do you want to study and master a mnemonic technique? Honestly, most of us don't want to take the time and effort to do so. The good news is that not all memory techniques are that complicated or time-consuming.

                                One memory technique you can learn and use right now starts with a walk around the house. Pick ten locations or permanent objects in your home or office. Memorize these in some logical order (this is the hardest part). Now when you want to remember a list of things, associate each item on the list with with one of your ten locations or objects. Do this with mental imagery and even sounds, always in a ridiculous way. When you need to consult your list, you'll simply walk around your home in your mind, and you will "see" the items on the list.

                                Make the images very vivid and this technique rarely fails. It was used two thousand years ago by Roman orators who would "place" parts of their speech in locations along a garden path, then mentally walk the garden "picking up" the topics as they gave the speech. I use this one a lot, when I can remember to, and it always works.

An example: My own place-list is a window in the kitchen, the microwave oven, the sink, the stove, the refrigerator, the front door, the television and so on. Now, I can't normally remember a list of three things by the time I get to the grocery store. If, however, I imagine wads of toilet paper hitting the window, dish soap boiling in the microwave, cucumbers dancing in the sink, potato chips burning on the stove, and the refrigerator full of magazines, I can even wait until the next day to go shopping. With a quick mental walk through the house, I'll recall that I need toilet paper, dish soap, cucumbers, potato chips, and a magazine. Try it.