Wouldn’titbenicetojustlookatapageandneverforgetwhatwasonthere?Whatifyoucouldneveragainforgetafriend’sbirthday?Thebadnewsis,noteveryonehasaphotographicmemory,otherwiseknownaseideticmemory.Mostofusrelyonmnemonicdevices.Thegoodnews,however,isthateveryonecantakestepstoimprovetheirmemory,andwithtimeandpracticemostpeoplecangaintheabilitytomemorizeseeminglyimpossibleamountsofinformation.WhetheryouwanttowintheWorldMemoryChampionships,aceyourhistorytest,orsimplyrememberwhereyouputyourkeys.

　　1.Convinceyourselfthatyoudohaveagoodmemorythatwillimprove.Toomanypeoplegetstuckhereandconvincethemselvesthattheirmemoryisbad,thattheyarejustnotgoodwithnames,thatnumbersjustslipoutoftheirmindsforsomereason.Erasethosethoughtsandvowtoimproveyourmemory.Celebrateevenlittleachievementstokeepyourselfmotivated.

　　2.Memoryisbestpracticedthroughassociation.Thereasonthatmostofuscan'trememberourfriend'sphonenumberisbecause535-3473justastringofnumbersthathavenoobviousconnectiontoyourfriend.Inordertouseyourmemoryefficiently,thebestwayistoactivelycreateanassociationforthingsyou'retryingtoremember.Forexample,writeoutyourfriend'sphonenumber:fivethreefivethreefourseventhree.Nowtrytocreateacleverphrasethatstartswiththefirstletterofthosewords:fairytalesfeeltrueforsometime.You'renowmuchmorelikelytorememberthatphonenumber.

　　3.Associationalsoworksifyoucreatedvivid,memorableimages.Yourememberinformationmoreeasilyifyoucanvisualizeit.Ifyouwanttoassociateachildwithabook,trynottovisualizethechildreadingthebook--that'stoosimpleandforgettable.Instead,comeupwithsomethingmorejarring,somethingthatsticks,likethebookchasingthechild,orthechildeatingthebook.It'syourmind-–maketheimagesasshockingandemotionalaspossibletokeeptheassociationsstrong.

　　4.Groupinformationtogethertohelpyourememberthem;thisiscalledchunking.Randomlistsofthings(ashoppinglist,forexample)canbeespeciallydifficulttoremember.Tomakeiteasier,trycategorizingtheindividualthingsfromthelist.Ifyoucanrememberthat,amongotherthings,youwantedtobuyfourdifferentkindsofvegetables,you’llfinditeasiertorememberallfour.

　　5.Repeatinformationyou'retryingtomemorizetoyourselfeveryfewdaysorso.Thisiscalledspacedrepetitionlearning.Wearemorelikelytoremembermorerecentthingsandthingsthatwe'veexperiencedwithgreaterfrequency.

　　6.Organizeyourlife.Keepitemsthatyoufrequentlyneed,suchaskeysandeyeglasses,inthesameplaceeverytime.Useanelectronicorganizerordailyplannertokeeptrackofappointments,duedatesforbills,andothertasks.

　　7.Whenit'stimetostudyorremembersomethingnew,switchyourbreathingpatterntobesloweranddeeper.Deeperandslowerbreathingactuallychangesthewayyourbrainworks,byinducingthebrain'selectricalpulsestoswitchtoThetawaves.

　　8.Sleepwell,reducestress,exerciseyourbrainandbodywillaidtobettermemory.