Our memory is our greatest strength. Memory is what makes our life the way it is. But we often struggle with memory and we forget many normal things too. Geniuses like Sherlock Holmes, and Sheldon Cooper have extraordinary memories. Although they are fictional characters, having such a good memory isn’t impossible in real life either.
How great would it be if we remember each and everything we know and see! We would be really powerful human beings. We would know how to do and what to do based on the previous encounters we have.
So here are 8 of the best tricks to boost your memory today! –
- REPETITION:
The more you get exposed to certain information, the more defined the memory becomes. So whenever you come across important information, try to repeat seeing or learning the information as many times as you can. The more you repeat the more your brain will work to remember it more. For example – If you want to remember someone’s name after the first meeting, repeat their name in the conversation a couple of times. You will be more likely to remember it correctly the next time you meet.
- TRAIN YOUR BRAIN:
Your memory is like a muscle. The more you train it the stronger it will be. To train your brain, you can solve some fun puzzles and play some brain games.
Sudoku, chess, and many other games help work our mind. Doing this makes our brain functions stronger and makes our memory more powerful.
- USING YOUR NON-DOMINANT HAND:
If you’re a right handed person, try working with your left hand for some work and vice-versa. You can brush your teeth or comb your hair with the non dominant hand, or write with the non dominant hand. This difference is hard for the brain to absorb. So it starts to engage your brain connection and build new networks. Thus the normal functions of your brain starts improving more and more and eventually greatly improves your memory.
- RECALLING YOUR DAY:
At the end of the day, sit down and recall your whole day. Just before going to sleep, try to remember each and everything from the moment you got up that day. When you start recalling information like this you are forcing your brain’s memory recall power.
Try remembering little details of your whole day, this will help your memory power beyond imagination.
- BE MINDFUL:
Nowadays people are becoming more accustomed to easy work. We cannot focus on a specific task for a long period. Like when we go through Facebook newsfeed, we just mindlessly go through each post ,not receiving much information. This affects our focus and concentration. Our attention span is getting worse and worse because of these types of mindless activities. For acquiring more knowledge and clearance on any topic we need to be mindful in all our works.
Meditation is a great way to do this. When we meditate, our mind reaches a deep state of relaxation. Normally our mind is overwhelmed with like millions of random thoughts and stress. But meditation helps us escape from it by being mindful of our thoughts and emotions.
- CHUNKING:
Chunking is when we break down a bigger task into smaller pieces. When we have to read a whole book, there are chapters and paragraphs divided, which is a way of chunking. Or when we remember a long phone number, we divide it into 3-4 parts to recall easily.
When we learn in small chunks, our brain tends to think of it as a very easy task compared to learning it all at once. Thus chunking information helps us gain and retain more information nicely.
- VISUALIZATION:
Visualization is creating a mental image of the information that we’re receiving. When we read a story book, we create an entire world of images and situations in our minds. If we implement this while learning information we can make a seemingly boring task interesting!
While learning something, try creating a mental movie of the information.For example when you learn about motion in physics, try thinking like you are driving a car and then associate the whole concept around that idea. Associating the learning to visual memory will make that information stick to the brain solidly.
- EXERCISE:
Last but not the least, exercise!
Studies have shown that regular exercise enhances our brain power and memory. You have to be consistent in your activities to see the outcome.
Exercise causes our brain to work fast too. Exercise helps form new synapses in our brain, which makes it easier for us to absorb a lot of information and remember it for a long time.
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Writer:
Ramisa Shamrin Chowdhury
Intern, Content Writing Department, YSSE.