I love this article - it's one of the very first ones I had published! What made my day was that it was published in a brand new magazine based in South America called Vida Latina. The goal was to come up with 10 ways to improve your memory and that wasn't as easy as you would think, especially as I am lucky enough to have a very good memory. I researched it by using a mix of searching the internet and interviewing my friends and family on the various methods they implement to ensure they don't forget things. Some rather interesting ones I'd never thought of came up, along with the obvious. Hope this helps any of you who struggle with your memory! Let me know if any of the tips help you or even if you have any of your own.
Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Memory
If you’ve seen the Harry Potter films, the chances are you can identify with Neville, the character who needs a Remembrall to remind him when he’s forgotten something - but he can’t remember what he’s supposed to have forgotten! If this strikes a chord - and we all forget things from time to time - then help is at hand.
1. Mnemonics - This clever trick involves taking the first letters of whatever you need to remember and making a sentence from them. In school, we were taught Richard Of York Gained Battles in Vain - or Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet for the colours of the rainbow.
2. Concentrate - Most things are done on automatic pilot so make a note of what you are doing. Don’t get distracted.
3. Gingko Biloba - This wonder herb helps the flow of blood to the brain, stimulating the cells controlling memory and improving circulation.
4. Identification - Struggling to remember a pin number? Change it to one which means something to you - such as the year of your birth. If you do forget it, DON’T PANIC! It is likely that just as you walk away you’ll remember it again.
5. Exercise body and mind - Exercise is well known to give people the feel good factor which helps combat depression, and memory is badly affected when you are depressed. Brain cells deteriorate as you get older but exercising the mind by playing memory games, learning languages or doing puzzles every day creates NEW cells which, in turn, increases your memory capacity.
6. Buy a diary - This may seem like stating the obvious, but if you reinforce the message that you have a bad memory then you will have one. If you write down everything in your diary immediately and check it regularly, you won’t forget anything. Rather than wander around the shops, write a list through the week so you are less likely to forget anything you need.
7. Eat your greens and plenty of oily fish like Salmon or Tuna - the fish, and the oils they contain, are particularly high in certain nutrients (DHA) which is good for improving your memory.
8. Imaging - Works particularly well for learning a new language. You can vastly increase your vocabulary using this method. For example, the Swedish for bread is ‘vrew’, pronounced brew, so you can imagine bread brewing.
9. Mind Mapping - When making notes in preparation for an essay, say in an exam situation, begin by writing the theme of your essay in the centre, with other ideas branching off. This way you will be able to incorporate all your ideas into your essay, reducing the risk that you’ll forget some crucial element.
10. Ring Yourself! - If you’re at work and you remember you need to do something when you get home, call your answering service and leave a message on it reminding yourself what you have to do! This works brilliantly … providing you remember to check your messages!