Generalguidelinestoimprovememory

　　Inadditiontoexercisingyourbrain,therearesomebasicthingsyoucandotoimproveyourabilitytoretainandretrievememories:

　　Payattention.Youcan’tremembersomethingifyouneverlearnedit,andyoucan’tlearnsomething—thatis,encodeitintoyourbrain—ifyoudon’tpayenoughattentiontoit.Ittakesabouteightsecondsofintentfocustoprocessapieceofinformationthroughyourhippocampusandintotheappropriatememorycenter.So,nomultitaskingwhenyouneedtoconcentrate!Ifyoudistracteasily,trytoreceiveinformationinaquietplacewhereyouwon’tbeinterrupted.

　　Tailorinformationacquisitiontoyourlearningstyle.Mostpeoplearevisuallearners;theylearnbestbyreadingorotherwiseseeingwhatitistheyhavetoknow.Butsomeareauditorylearnerswholearnbetterbylistening.Theymightbenefitbyrecordinginformationtheyneedandlisteningtoituntiltheyrememberit.

　　Involveasmanysensesaspossible.Evenifyou’reavisuallearner,readoutloudwhatyouwanttoremember.Ifyoucanreciteitrhythmically,evenbetter.Trytorelateinformationtocolors,textures,smellsandtastes.Thephysicalactofrewritinginformationcanhelpimprintitontoyourbrain.

　　Relateinformationtowhatyoualreadyknow.Connectnewdatatoinformationyoualreadyremember,whetherit’snewmaterialthatbuildsonpreviousknowledge,orsomethingassimpleasanaddressofsomeonewholivesonastreetwhereyoualreadyknowsomeone.

　　Organizeinformation.Writethingsdowninaddressbooksanddatebooksandoncalendars;takenotesonmorecomplexmaterialandreorganizethenotesintocategorieslater.Usebothwordsandpicturesinlearninginformation.

　　Understandandbeabletointerpretcomplexmaterial.Formorecomplexmaterial,focusonunderstandingbasicideasratherthanmemorizingisolateddetails.Beabletoexplainittosomeoneelseinyourownwords.

　　Rehearseinformationfrequentlyand“over-learn”.Reviewwhatyou’velearnedthesamedayyoulearnit,andatintervalsthereafter.Whatresearcherscall“spacedrehearsal”ismoreeffectivethan“cramming.”Ifyou’reableto“over-learn”informationsothatrecallingitbecomessecondnature,somuchthebetter.

　　Bemotivatedandkeepapositiveattitude.Tellyourselfthatyouwanttolearnwhatyouneedtoremember,andthatyoucanlearnandrememberit.Tellingyourselfyouhaveabadmemoryactuallyhamperstheabilityofyourbraintoremember,whilepositivementalfeedbacksetsupanexpectationofsuccess.

　　Convinceyourselfthatyoudohaveagoodmemorythatwillimprove.Toomanypeoplegetstuckhereandconvincethemselvesthattheirmemoryisbad,thattheyarejustnotgoodwithnames,thatnumbersjustslipoutoftheirmindsforsomereason.Erasethosethoughtsandvowtoimproveyourmemory.Commityourselftothetaskandbaskinyourachievements--it'shardtokeepmotivatedifyoubeatyourselfdowneverytimeyoumakealittlebitofprogress.

　　Keepyourbrainactive.Regularly“exercising"thebrainkeepsitgrowingandspursthedevelopmentofnewnerveconnectionsthatcanhelpimprovememory.Bydevelopingnewmentalskills—especiallycomplexonessuchaslearninganewlanguageorlearningtoplayanewmusicalinstrument—andchallengingyourbrainwithpuzzlesandgamesyoucankeepyourbrainactiveandimproveitsphysiolo