If you’re one of many individuals who think that they have a poor memory, then this might be because you don’t have such effective ways in which you are able to not only take on the data, but the way in which your brain processes it. All the same, unless you’re suffering from some sort of disease, disorder or injury, then you ought to have the ability to better your memory.
Basic Improvement
Below we’ll view some assorted ways in which you are able to help to improve your memory.
1. Constantly Pay Attention
If you don’t pay enough attention to something that you wish to learn about, then your mind doesn’t have the chance to encode the data and then store it away for future point of reference. It takes approximately 8 seconds of somebody intently centering on a certain piece of data in order for it to be processed through their hippocampus and then in to the suitable section of their memory center. So it’s crucial that you center on one thing only at a time, and try not to multi-task. If you’re like some individuals, and discover that you become distracted really easily, then search out a quiet corner where you know you will not be disrupted.
2. Make certain you acquire the data in a way which suits the way you learn.
Most of us are optic learners, and so find that they learn best once they’re either reading or viewing matters that they have to know about. While other people are auditory learners and find it better to learn matters when they’re listening. These types of individuals might find it much easier to memorize data by recording it and then listening to it till it’s remembered.
3. Get all your senses affected
Don’t simply rely on your eyes, even if you’re somebody who learns and remembers matters visually. Why not read aloud what you have to memorize, and attempt and recite it to yourself rhythmically? You will be amazed at how much better your memory gets. Likewise try and relate the data that you’re trying to memorize to colors, textures, smells as well as tastes. A lot of individuals have discovered that by really physically rewriting the data that they have to imprint on to their brain helps them.
4. Associate the data to be gained to something you already know about.
When collecting any fresh data, associate it to data that you already have stored in your memory and which you’re able to recall.
5. Organize the data
If you have to, write matters down in either an address book or diary, or on a calendar. If you’re dealing with much more complex material or data, then take notes and then regroup these notes in to particular categories later on once you have time. If you have to, utilize both words and pictures to help you learn the data that you want to retain in your memory.
6. Learn to comprehend and translate complex material
When you’re attempting to learn more complex material or subjects, then center on simply understanding the basic ideas of the matter instead of memorizing only isolated parts of it. Consider being able to explain to somebody else in your own words about the subject or matter.
7. Rehearse the data that you’ve received
It’s crucial that you review everything you’ve learned every day on the same day, and then review it every now and then. Likewise, if you are able to, over learn about a certain subject or matter, as you’ll frequently find that you are able to begin to recall the data as if it was second nature to you.
8. Be positive and remain motivated
It’s crucial that you keep telling yourself that you wish to learn the matters that you have to remember. Likewise remind yourself that you are able to learn about matters and then remember them. If you really tell yourself that your memory is bad, then this will really hamper not only you, but also your brain in being able to remember matters.
However by being positive, you’re really helping yourself better your memory.
All the memory devices we are considering help to produce ways of putting data together so it makes it much simpler for us to recall it.
1. Group
If you have to recall big groups of numbers or things, then divide them into much littler units. For instance, if you need a very long number, say your social security number, which might be
569724981, then divide it like this: 569 724 981.
2. Classify data according to type
For instance, why not fix up all thirty-seven of Shakespeare’s plays into logical groupings made up as follows: – Comedy, history and tragedies?
3. Rhymed
Utilize the techniques for producing poetry like rhymed, rhythm and alliteration. For instance, if you wish to recall what happened to all of Henry VIII’s wives then you may do the following:
Died, Beheaded, Died
Died, Beheaded, Survived
4. Rules of grammar
This is, for instance, relating to such things as “I” before “E” except after “C”.
5. Spelling
Always take the 1st letter or syllables in order to form a fresh word which spells out the data that you wish to recall.
So if you’re looking to recall the five great lakes for a geography test, then you may say H.O.M.E.S., which then tells you that they’re Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
6. Narrative
This is a great imaginative procedure, as it helps you to produce a sentence, story, cartoon or visual picture in your brain in order for you to recall some vital data.
7. Map
Utilizing structure helps to bring about a diagrammatic representation of the relationship discovered between major ideas, sub classes and all the supporting detail and data that you have to recall.
8. Arrangement
Put units of data that you need to recall in terms of their location or in chronological order.
9. Going through
Utilizing this device, you’ll either act out, or go through the motions in order to get a feel for an idea.
Write up the word or data that you need to retrieve, and then, utilizing your index finger, go over and trace the shape of the word and see it in your brain.
Our memory works by recalling matters through affiliation. What this means is that each piece of data we have in our memory is connected to a different piece in one way or another. I’ll start out with simple examples.
If you were given the word, suppose, “apple”, and then you might do something like this in order to recall what an apple is: “red, round, sweet, doctor, tree and fruit”.
Which as you are able to see is where such matters as “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” might be a saying that individuals regularly utilize in order to recall that eating great healthy foods, like fruit, will keep them from getting ill.
Likewise, if you were asked by a few what the 7th letter of the alphabet was, then the chances are you’d start off by stating to yourself “a, b, c, d, e, f, g” and then aloud you’d say G.
During this you’ve been utilizing affiliation, as you know that the first letter of the alphabet is A and you’ve kept on going through them till you’ve ended up with the letter that you were seeking.
While many individuals think that they’ve a bad memory, really, they don’t. As a matter of fact, most of us have truly good memories; it’s just that we’re not well practiced in utilizing them to their full effectiveness. Yet, if this is true, then why do a few individuals find it so grueling to recall certain affairs?
Our memory works utilizing affiliation. If there’s no obvious affiliation between particular matters, then it makes it very hard for us to recall them. Suppose, for instance, you need to recall that the plane you’re catching takes off at 2pm. But, as there’s nothing about this certain plan which would suggest the number 2 to you, then it’s easily blanked out, and unfortunately you might find yourself missing your flight.
But, if as mentioned above, our memory works by affiliation, then we should actively work at discovering a way to produce an affiliation between the two bits of data relating to the flight.
So, for instance, you may imagine in your mind that the plane you have to catch at 2pm has 2 wings. There then is your affiliation “2 wings = 2pm”. In that way, we’re ten times more likely to recall the time at which the flight is due to depart, even once it has gone from our short-run memory.
However, you might well discover that when particular pieces of data are not obviously related, you’ll have to be a little more creative with linking matters together in order to form an affiliation.
However it truly isn’t as hard as it might seem at first. When you were at school, you were always being taught rhymes and acronyms at school that helped you recall matters, so why not utilize the same technique now?
These particular techniques work, as they form a simple to recall, but yet clever affiliation between themselves and the data that it is we are attempting to recall.
The whole idea when utilizing affiliation in order to recollect matters is to be creative. There’s no need for you to invent a rhyme or a poem for each time you wish to recall something, in most cases, simply thinking of a few picture in your mind which links pieces of data together, which is either strange or silly, may make it much simpler to call up certain matters.
You have probably heard a similar statement that says, “The most beautiful word an individual can ever hear is his or her own name being called by another person.”
However, this poses a great threat to people who have trouble remembering names, especially those who are frequently attending important business meetings and gatherings. If someone approaches you and called you by your first name, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you don’t reciprocate by saying his or her name back? And of course, it’s more humiliating to directly ask his or her name when that person expects you to know it.
The same thing stands true for remembering faces. Wouldn’t it bother you to have met successful entrepreneurs in a gathering, only to forget how they look like when you get home?
More often than not, the difficulty in remembering names and faces is caused by the fact that names and faces in themselves are uninteresting, and therefore do not pull in or hold attention as do other objects presented to the mind.
Here are effective strategies to help you remember names and faces easily:
1. Instead of merely listening to the faint sound of a name, focus on hearing it clearly and concentrate on firmly implanting it on your memory.
Repeatedly say the name many times over in your mind. If possible, use the name as often as possible. You can tell your friend now, and then your sister later: “I’ve just met Jonathan Nowitzki.” You can also make a comment about his name: “I have a former classmate named Mark Nowitzki who is very good in electronics. Do you know him?”
After hearing the name, write it down several times. By doing this, you are acquiring the benefit of a double sense impression, adding eye impression to ear impression.
When you hear the name of a person being spoken, look purposefully at the person bearing it. By doing this, you are connecting the name and the face together in your mind at the same time. The next time you forget the name, just recall the face and you might have a good chance of remembering it.
Visualize the name as an object in your mind. See the name’s letters in your mind’s eye, as an image or picture. Exaggerate it as much as you can. You can imagine the name “Nowitzki” in your mind as a big hairy object with 3 eyes and with spikes all over it. For a clearer image, visualize Mr. Nowitzki himself lifting the giant word “Nowitzi” over his head, like a weightlifter lifting a barbell. The more exaggerated or humorous, the better chances it will get stuck in your mind.
Connect a new person with a well-remembered individual of the same name. Associate a new Mr. Coppenhagen with an old customer of the same name. When you see the new man, you would think of the old one, and the name would flash into your mind. You can even visualize the 2 Coppenhagens attached to each other like Siamese Twins, to trigger the thought that they have the same name.
Reminisce the atmosphere or environment. Recalling what you felt or what you did, when you met a person, could trigger memories of how he or she was introduced to you, how he or she looked like, and other aspects regarding the person.
Analyze the distinctive features of the person’s face. Notice what makes that individual stand out or different from the rest. You may notice the eyes, nose, ears, lips, hair, or other parts of the face. Such notice and recognition tend to induce an interest in the subject of features. It forces you to focus on the person’s face the first time you meet him or her. Right now, you know the importance of having interest to remember things. If you were introduced to a man who would pay you over $500 on your next meeting, you would be very inclined to memorize his name and to study his face carefully to recognize him, as opposed to a man who has nothing to give to you.
Link a name with a visual object. Let’s say you just met Mr. Quinlan. To remember his name, you can visualize a land full of queens (Quinlan). Imagine the queens dressed in elegant dresses and wearing shiny crowns with big jewels. If Mr. Quinlan is interested in basketball and you want to remember that too, then imagine the queens wearing basketball uniforms over their elegant dresses, and shooting hoops. And if Mr. Quinlan is also a doctor, then visualize the queens in basket ball uniforms, having large stethoscopes around their necks, shooting hoops. You can even imagine the queens saying in a bugs bunny-like way, “Nyieh. What’s up doc?” The funnier, the better. Here’s another example, but this time with a longer name. Let’s say you’ve been introduced to Mary Bennetton. Now how do you remember “Bennetton?” You can divide it into “Bend-a-ton.” Imagine a large piece of metal with the words “1 ton” engraved at all its sides bending like a soft pillow. You can exaggerate it a little bit by making that piece of metal cry in agony as the bending is taking place. If Ms. Bennetton is a tennis player, you can imagine the bending piece of metal having tennis rackets stuck on top of its head.
10. Visualize the faces of persons you have met during the day, in the evening. Try to develop the faculty of visualizing their features to practice your ability. Draw them in your mind and see them with your mind’s eye, until you can visualize the features of very old friends. Then do the same with acquaintances, and so on, until you are able to visualize the features of every one you know. Then start to add to your list by recalling the features of strangers whom you meet. By a little practice of this kind you will develop a great interest in faces and your memory of them, and the power to recall them will increase rapidly.
Make a study of names and faces. Start a collection, and you will have no trouble in developing a memory for them. A good idea would be to analyze photographs in detail, not as a whole. If you can incite adequate interest in names and faces, you will be more prone to remember them
Write down your detailed list of “things to do.” Group or arrange your tasks into categories (and subcategories if applicable). Cross off activities that you have done and add new tasks along the way. If possible, stick your notes in objects that are familiar to you (television, refrigerator, entrance door, etc.)
Use your imagination and humor. Let’s say you have an appointment with a potential client, Mr. Anderson, this coming Friday. If you love to watch TV every night, imagine Mr. Anderson acting like a clown on TV. You may even see him coming right out of the boob tube and saying, “See you on Friday!” To remember Friday better, you can visualize Mr. Anderson on your TV screen dressed as a chef and “frying” (Friday) some delicious foods. Come up with funny images that will help you remember your schedule. The funnier and more exaggerated, the better.
Associate a task with a routine activity or with something that you regularly do. Let’s say you always forget to bring your cell phone every time you go to work. See to it that before you brush your teeth or take a shower, you put your cell phone inside your bag. Just make a task that you often forget a part of your daily routine.
Create a visual hint. Let’s say you invited your boss to dinner at your house on Tuesday night, and you must buy some potatoes for the dessert you’ll be cooking. With your very busy schedule, you can easily forget to buy it. To aid you in remembering, you may put a pack of potato chips or a toy potato at the top of your TV or in the middle of your dining table to remind you of the task that needs to be done.
Focus and say your task out loud. Have you ever experienced coming up to your friend because you want to ask something? Next thing you know, you completely forgot the things you’re going to inquire him. Well, don’t panic. Many people have been in your situation and you’re not alone. With today’s hectic lifestyle, even those with good memory can forget what they’re thinking about in a split second. The solution here is to focus on one task at a time, and repeatedly say out loud what you’re going to do: “I’m going to ask John about the rules in joining his contest.” If in case you still forget about what you’re going to do, try going back to your place of origin where you said the task out loud. Oftentimes, that specific place would help you to recall your task by associating that location with what you have said.
Don’t procrastinate. If you have a certain activity that needs to be done, get it over with as early as you can. When you need to pay your bills, do it now before it becomes overdue and before it starts charging interest. If you really can’t attend to it now, then use your imagination, visual reminders, or other helpful tools to remember it.
Get a companion. Some people living in solidarity can become absentminded and can suffer memory loss. That’s because they don’t have anyone to talk to, so their mental capacity is limited and not utilized well. Having a smart companion to discuss various topics with, and to share your knowledge and experiences with, can sharpen you memory. They can even act as your back-up. Just tell them to remember something and you’ll have another memory working on your behalf. Just be nice to your buddy. J
Before you can expect to remember or memorize a thing, that thing must have been impressed clearly upon the records of your subconscious. And the main factor of the recording of impressions is that quality of the mind that we call Attention, which is the ability to focus and give meaning to a particular data or stimulus.
Our capability to process information is somewhat limited. Therefore, we must constantly select and decide which data are relevant and which are not. Stimuli or sensations that you perceive and organize into meaningful thoughts are selectively analyzed by your brain. If the stimuli or data is relevant or applicable for further use or access, your brain transfers this information to the long-term storage center. However, for this to happen, attention must take place
One of the most common causes of poor attention is the lack of interest. You are more inclined to remember the things in which you have been most interested, because in that emanation of interest there has been a high degree of attention exhibited. A person may have a very poor memory for many things; but when it comes to things in which his interest is involved, he often remembers the most intricate details. This is called involuntary attention. This type of attention does not require special effort or exertion because it follows upon interest, curiosity, or desire.
The other type of attention is called voluntary attention. This form of attention is granted upon objects not necessarily interesting, curious, or attractive. This requires the effort and usage of the will.
Every person has more or less involuntary attention, while only a few possess developed voluntary attention. The former is initiated by instinct, while the latter comes only by practice and training.
For attention to take place, you must diligently practice the art of voluntary attention. Here are some successful strategies to help you acquire this essential skill:
Turn your attention upon some uninteresting thing and study every detail until you are able to describe them. This will seem boring or tiresome at first but you must stick to it. Do not practice too long at a time at first; take a rest and try it again later. You will soon find that it comes easier, and that a new interest is starting to manifest itself in the task. For example, pick a flower. Touch it. Smell it. Feel its texture. How many petals does it have? How long is the stem? What is the color and shape of the petals? By doing this simple task, you will be surprised at the quantity of little things that you will notice. This method, practiced on many things, in spare hours, will develop the power of voluntary attention and perception in anyone, no matter how deficient he or she may have been in these things. Begin to take notice of things about you: the places you visit, the people in the rooms, etc. In this way you will start the habit of “noticing things,” which is the first requisite for memory development.
Eliminate distractions. Even though you may have heard of multi-tasking, it is very difficult for people to do more than one thing at a time. For example, you’re a law student studying for the Bar Exams. You wouldn’t be able to absorb properly into your mind what you are studying if your radio is playing loud rock-and-roll music, or if you’re hearing the video games being played by your kid brother. As much as possible, avoid any possible distractions such as TV, radio, or other people chattering.
Retain focus and concentration in the process of learning or memorization. Let’s say you’re busy preparing for an important presentation tomorrow. A new employee was introduced to you while you are working. In this case, there would be much less chance for you to remember anything about that new employee because you are concentrating on something else which you regard as more urgent or important. If you want to remember something well, shift your focus on that one thing and willfully commit it to memory.
Give your subconscious a mental command to bear in mind what you want to remember. You may say, “Here, you take note of this and remember it for me!” You’ll be astounded by what the subconscious can do for you.
4.Keep track all of your thoughts. Whenever you become aware that your thoughts are losing, yell "STOP!" in your mind. This will bring your drifting to a halt and redirect your attention to what needs to be done. Remember that good concentration breeds good memory. If you find that your thoughts are traveling, be conscious that your attention is drifting.
5.Get interested. To have good memorization skills, you should also like what you are doing. To vividly memorize a visual, an image, or even text, engage yourself into it. You should put your heart in every activity you’re working and doing. If you don’t like to engage in a certain activity, there’s a slim chance for you to remember aspects about it. Let’s say your parents want you to become an engineer, but you dream of becoming a musician. If you studied engineering because your parents forced you to, you won’t have the dedication or desire to retain information from your engineering books. Don’t push yourself to do something that you have no interest in. As Leonardo Da Vinci said: "Just as eating against one's will is injurious to health, so study without a liking for it spoils the memory, and it retains nothing it takes in."
6.Get motivated. Now let’s say you want to become a doctor. Why are you familiarizing and memorizing into such ambiguous medical or biological terms? For one thing, you might want to be on the top of the class. Or you might want to be popular in your school. Or you might want to be a good doctor someday to help your community. Goals and timeframe nourish motivation. And motivation promotes a sharp memory. To further motivate yourself, reward yourself for any tasks that you have accomplished. Set a particular incentive for every objective. For example, treat yourself to your favorite restaurant after finishing a project. When you've accomplished a bigger task, go on a vacation. Just set something gratifying to indulge in after completing a certain undertaking. Remember: Man by nature is a go-getter. He will get whatever he aspires for. In a consumption-based and technologically-driven world, one should have a stake or goal to feed his symbolic ego. By rewarding yourself in every success you account for, you will aspire for more and will develop interest on your activity. In the process, your interest will make you more productive and successful.
Before you can memorize or remember anything, you should be able to perceive well through proper attention. Use the methods above and you’re well on your way to a sharper memory.
The memory is where we store all the ideas, thoughts and experiences in our brain, so we don’t lose them. We are bombarded all day, every day by sights and sounds. But where are these memories stored exactly? Once recorded, a memory is then stored close to the same part of the brain where it entered in the first place. For example, memory of a song will be stored close to the auditory cortex. Memory of a burn, a broken bone or other pain will be stored near the sensory cortex. For multiple types of sensations, such as the birth of a child (for women), where emotions and physiological experiences are involved, the memories are distributed across multiple cortical areas.
One of the most serious dangers to our brains and memories in particular is Alzheimer ’s disease. This begins with short-term memory loss, with simple symptoms like constantly losing your car keys or mislaying your eyeglasses. Patients of Alzheimer’s may find themselves forgetting even a loved one’s name, or forgetting words for ordinary objects. Sad to say, it can become even more serious and life threatening if not treated.
Have you ever experienced the temporary loss of a vital piece of information-information you know you possess? But, what happened, where did it go? Baby Boomers simply laugh and refer to it as a ‘senior moment.’ Many of us suffer from these ‘senior moments.’ These momentary lapses are not to be confused with Alzheimer’s. A word or a name just escapes you for a moment and usually returns a little while later. You should not worry unduly about these temporary lapses, everyone experiences them at one time or another.
You’ve probably heard people use expressions like, “my memory is like a sieve.” Or, maybe the lament that “my memory must be failing.” This attitude that the memory is hopeless only perpetrates the misunderstanding about aging and memory loss. No matter what your age, you can attain any intellectual goal you care to set for yourself and improve your memory. You simply must exercise your brain. You wouldn’t attempt to run a marathon without advanced physical training; why would you expect your brain to perform feats of intellect without advanced mental training? Remember the old saying that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.
So, you have all these wonderful memories stored within this marvelous machine, just waiting for you to tap into them, or access the files, to use a computer analogy. That’s what your brain actually is, an amazing memory bank of information. But how, you ask, can we do that?
In the late 1950s, Dr. Wilder Penfield, at the Montreal Neurological Institute was trying to cure epileptics by applying electrical stimulation to certain areas of his patients’ brains. The slight current the doctor used brought out very precise, very vivid memories. His patients were able to relate certain memories, in great detail. The memory evoked depended on the part of the cortex, or the outer layer of brain cells being stimulated.
Another method of stimulating these deeply buried memories is hypnosis. Hypnosis allows the subject to recall in minute detail every aspect of an experience. Sometimes, a person can recall conversations, recall a scent or sound connected to that experience. Think those old memories are forgotten, lost forever? They’re not lost, just mislaid, filed away in that marvelous machine in your head.
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