A good memory is dependent upon the vitality and health of the brain. Whether you wish to do well in your biology test, or simply recollect where you placed your car keys, there are several steps you can take to boost your memory. This write-up will show you the secret of using your memory more effectively.
Give your brain an exercise.
Memory, like muscular power, requires you to make use of it or you lose it. By exercising your brain regularly, you will be better able to remember and process information. The top brain workout activities break your usual daily habits and also challenge you to develop and use new brain pathways. You can use just about any activity, provided that it meets the 3 criteria presented below:
A. It is a new activity. Even if the activity is highly challenging intellectually, if you already know how to do it very well, it will not give your brain the needed exercise. You should find an activity that you are not familiar with, one that is not within your comfort zone.
B. It is intellectually demanding. Any activity that expands your knowledge and requires some mental effort is good enough. Some examples are tackling a difficult Sudoku or crossword puzzle, learning a new sport, instrument or language.
C. It is exciting. The activity has to be enjoyable and make you happy. If the activity is highly interesting and it engages your mental powers, you are more likely to carry on doing it and you will derive a lot of benefit from it.
Make use of mnemonic devices to simplify memorization
Mnemonics are small memory aids to assist you remember something. It typically does this by helping you associate the information you wish to recollect with a word, sentence, or a visual representation. Examples of mnemonic devices are presented below:
Visual symbol: Link a visual symbol with a name or word to help you recollect them in a better way. You will find it easier remembering pleasant and positive symbols that are 3-dimensional and colorful. For example, to recollect the name Chris Brown and what he is known for, visualize a man standing by the seashore, enjoying the gentle breeze.
Acronyms: An acronym is merely a word formed from the initial letters of a multi word name. For example, the word “SOME” can be used to recollect the names of these lakes Superior, Ontario, Michigan and Erie.
Chunking: Chunking splits a lengthy list of numbers into more manageable, smaller chunks. For example a telephone number sequence of 4448985490 would be chunked into 444-898-5490
Improve your memory through Mediation and Exercise
Meditation is a superb method to enhance your concentration. When you meditate, you do not think of any other thing but focus on your breathing only. This helps you to relax and boost your performance at work or in your studies. You will find that it is a lot easier for you to learn and do things after meditation.
Engaging in physical exercises can also help to boost your memory. When you exercise, oxygen rich blood is pumped to your brain thus making it more alert. The repetitiveness of a routine often makes the mind exhausted, because it is not exposed to anything new. Then this routine becomes part of your daily lifestyle, and affects concentration and memory. To break this repetitiveness, indulge in something totally new, such as a sporting activity that you have never engaged in before. Do some running or any other type of sport to fire up your mind.
Eat a Memory Improving Diet
Your brain requires fuel as your body does. Apart from offering several health benefits, a diet made up of healthy fats, whole grains, vegetables and fruits can also boost memory. To keep your brain healthy, you have to be very careful regarding what you eat as well as what you do not eat. The nutritional tips presented below will help improve your brain power so you can use your memory more effectively.
Drink green tea. Drinking green tea may boost mental alertness and memory and slow aging of the brain. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants which help to protect you from free radicals that may damage brain cells.
Eat more vegetables and fruits. Try eating leafy green vegetables for example lettuce, romaine, broccoli, arugula and spinach, plus fruits such as watermelon, cantaloupe and watermelon. These vegetables and fruits are very good antioxidant sources.
To boost your mental energy, go for complex carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide fuel for your brain, but it is important that you select the right type of carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates such as refined grains, white bread and sugar will boost your energy levels quickly followed by a likewise swift crash. Complex carbohydrates for example high fiber cereal, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread will provide you with energy that lasts.
Hints for improving your capacity to learn and recollect
Concentrate. If you have not learned something then there is no way you can remember it, also, if you have not paid sufficient attention to something, then you cannot get it encoded into your brain. It requires approximately 8 seconds for a piece of detail to be processed into the memory. If you are distracted easily, find a place that is quiet where no one will interrupt you.
Make use of all of your senses. You should try to connect details to tastes, smells, textures, and colors. You can remember information better if you rewrite it. If you learn visually, read out loud anything you wish to recollect.
Relate new details to what you are already aware of. Link new facts to details you can recollect, whether it is an individual’s address who resides in a locality where your friend lives or a recent information that builds on what you know already.
Review information that you have learned in the past. Go through what you have learned the very day you learned it, and at periodic intervals from then on. Rehearsing what you have learned at periodic intervals is a more effective way to retain the information than cramming the material.