HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY
Added on: 6th Aug 2015
PLAN
It sounds obvious but in the short term the easiest thing to do is often
the most overlooked – plan things out! Don’t just think you’re going to
remember everything. With smart phones these days it shouldn’t
be that hard.
PLAY
Basically, act like a kid. Whether that means playing tag with your
co-workers or actually hanging out with your own kids, it’s a sure
fire way to break your mental funk and set the stage for a
stronger memory!
READ OUT LOUD
This may not work for everybody, but especially for the auditory
learners among you, reading out loud can be hugely helpful. Psychology
tells us that listening to something being read to you forces deeper
comprehension than reading it yourself and makes things easier to remember.
REHEARSE THE INFORMATION
Don’t wait to go over everything. Review it as soon as you learn it
and then the next day, and the next. If you wait too long, you’ll
have to learn it all over again.
RELATE INFORMATION TO WHAT YOU KNOW
You can connect new information to what you already know, even
if it is a simple one or a new material that requires previous knowledge.
For instance, you can easily remember the address of a person by
associating it with someone that you know who also lives within the
same area. This is why most teachers prompt their students to think
about what they know about a topic before studying them. Relating
their prior knowledge to the texts that they are about to read can
greatly improve their comprehension.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Of course this is more of an “on-the-spot-quick-what’s-the-number”
type thing but it goes along with what we’ve been saying. Take a minute,
chill out, and then see if you can remember anything.
THINK IN PICTURES
This was the technique used by famous scientists Albert Einstein
and Nikola Tesla, who had a poor memory with words. Einstein
visualized scenarios to answer complicated scientific questions,
while Tesla carried out the whole experiment in his mind before
writing the procedures down. You can make visual information fun
by engaging in interesting images such as charts, diagrams, maps,
photos, etc. rather than being a passive observer. This will help you
retrieve the information later rather than just stuffing paragraphs of
text into your mind.
USE MNEMONIC DEVICES
Mnemonics are actually clues that can help you remember a word,
a sentence or a visual image. They may include acronyms, rhymes,
or some sort of memory technique. For example, a method called
chunking can be used to break down a long list of numbers into smaller,
easier to remember bits. Because humans are designed to retain about
7 pieces of distinct information in short term memory at a time, if you
have a long phone number to remember, just split it up into 3 or 4
smaller numbers. In fact, in many parts of the world this is done for you.
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