There are various memory techniques and memory systems you can use to develop your memory, some of them more complex than others, but there are countless other memory improvement tips, little ‘add-ons’, that can make the process that bit easier … and much more fun!
This page will introduce some of these ideas, and you can investigate further if you find something that appeals to you. Some things might seem a little strange to your way of thinking, and that’s fine – you only want to use what appeals to you personally – but if you find a particular memory improvement tip that fits the bill, take a closer look at what it involves and see if you can make it a part of the memory system you’re using to develop your memory.
Here’s a rundown of a whole load of ideas that can help you improve your memory in one way or another:
Positive Attitude
Be the odd one out! Stay positive, even when everyone else is wallowing in misery!
First and foremost, keep a positive attitude. If that’s not something that comes naturally, work on it! It’s that important! Just accept the current medical evidence – we are all potentially much smarter than we think.
If you keep doing things the way you always have done, you won’t see an awful lot of real memory improvement. You need to become focussed. You need to develop a positive attitude and see yourself as already having a good memory.
The way you see yourself has a very real effect on the way you act. This is the business of the self image. And you should act as though you had already achieved your aim of having a superb memory. This sends a very strong and positive message to your subconscious.
By the way, you want some great tips on positivity? Then skip on over to this amazing site and take a good look around. It’s jam-packed with positivity, affirmations, inspirational stories and a whole host of other good stuff. Trust me, it’s worth the trip if only to meet Jessica, a little lady who can teach each and every one of us a whole lot about enjoying life, expressing gratitude, and appreciating literally everything! You’ll love it!
Imagination and visualisation
Visualisation is perfectly natural – you’re better at it than you think.
Like a lot of people, you might think you don’t have much of an imagination. In a way, that might be true – but only if you’ve never bothered to exercise it!
It’s worth going through some exercises to increase the effectiveness of your visualisation skills. Start to harness your imagination and watch your effectiveness grow, in all areas, not just memory.
Get organised!
Use an organiser – but don’t forget to use your brain!
It’s not a cop out to use an online organiser, or to carry a notebook or a PDA. It’s important to keep track of things, and to get organised, and you’re right to use whatever works for you. And it will free up your memory to work on more important things. In fact, your brain works in much the same way; it is bombarded with countless items of sensory data every day, coming in as sights, sounds, touch sensations, speech, written material, thoughts, and everything else. There’s no way it could sensibly handle all that, and keep it organised and committed to memory, without resulting in a meaningless chaos. So it has a filtering system. Anything that’s not particularly ‘interesting’ is shelved, ignored, put on hold. Which explains why it’s so easy to drift off to sleep in a boring meeting, or a boring lecture!
This is why, when you’re memorising something, it’s so important to make your mental images really vivid. It wakes your brain up and makes it say, “Hang on, this is important! I’d better make a note of this”.
Exercise and rest
Make time for fitness. A little exercise can make all the difference
If you’re hoping to get the best out of yourself, treat yourself well. A little regular exercise and a decent sleep pattern can go a long way to keeping you in good shape.
You don’t need to undertake a punishing regime of exercise to see the benefits – even five or ten minutes a day can make all the difference. And make sure you’re doing something you enjoy.
As for getting adequate sleep, that’s generally taken care of once you start getting adequate exercise!
If you take regular exercise and sleep well, your memory improvement exercises will pay off all the more.
Maintain a healthy diet
Fresh food generally doesn’t come out of a tin or a sealed box :/
Along with the last point, you can’t hope to see your best performance if you’re living on a diet of fast food. If your diet stinks, change it! Nobody has the power to fix something like this, apart from yourself, so take responsibility for it and start to eat a healthier diet. Forget the fad diets – go for good, healthy food, and give the sweeties a miss!
And here’s a news flash: a good diet can be as tasty and delicious as any other … the difference is it will enhance your life, rather than diminishing it. You’ll feel all the better for it too.
Memory exercises
They can be based on simple things, like checking your observation skills, or on practising memory techniques that you’re studying, to see if you can refine them.
Traumatic memories
Sadly (but inevitably), bad things happen to us all from time to time. As a consequence, we sometimes have really traumatic memories to deal with, and they can very seriously affect a person’s life. But there are ways to deal with memories like this, and the results can be freedom from the stress they cause.
Meditation
Still the mind, feel the life force flowing
To really get your mind settled and relaxed, the ultimate ‘exercise’ is meditation. Imagine your mind as a radio station, but the engineers have had a bad day, resulting in all the incoming signals being distorted and all the stuff you’re transmitting being garbled and messed up with interference.
Now imagine they’ve come back and fixed everything (while you were relaxing), and all the signals are crystal clear again … that’s a pretty good analogy of what meditation can do for your mind. It can silence all that noisy ‘chatter’ that we all tend to put up with.
For the sake of five minutes or so sitting in silence once a day, we really can get back to a peaceful state of mind.
If you’d like to know more about easy meditation techniques please visit this page.
T’ai Chi, Chi Gong and Yoga
Stroke the clouds … embrace the wind
These types of exercise are ideal for stilling the mind and creating harmony between mind and body. The fact that you have to focus completely on the movements, and maintaining the gentle tempo, makes it virtually impossible to be distracted by outside thoughts.
There’s a reason why these exercise systems have been around for hundreds of years (perhaps even thousands) – they are effective! Additionally, they are gentle to your body, and they promote good health. Think of them as ‘moving zen’.
Make use of memory software
There are some very useful pieces of software available, many of them free, and they really are invaluable. Some of them really can help you stay organised, which frees your mind up for more important things. Others can be a great help in learning and memorising things.