8 Tips to Improve Your Memory

Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your memory, and the more you work at it, the better it will become!

Memory is the mechanism by which we store, retain, and recall information. As simple as it may sound, the process is complex and involves many different parts of the brain. It serves us in a wide variety of ways.

As with many of our other functions, the saying "use it or lose it" applies as aptly to the brain as anything else. The more you exercise your brain and nurture it with a good diet and healthy habits, the better you'll be able to process and remember information.

Before we get into how to improve your memory, it would be helpful to understand how it works.

For example, here are parts of the brain used for memory:

• The hippocampus is the primitive structure deep in the brain that plays the single largest role in processing information as memory.

• The amygdala is an almond-shaped area near the hippocampus. It processes emotion and helps imprint memories involving emotion.

• The cerebral cortex (the outer layer of the brain) stores most long-term memory in its different zones, depending on what kind of processing the information involves, such as language, sensory input, or problem-solving.

Memory also entails communication among the brain's network of neurons, which are the millions of cells activated by brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Memory can be short-term or long-term. In short-term memory, your brain stores information for a few seconds or a few minutes. On average, it can hold about seven items at a time.

Long-term memory involves the type of information that requires a conscious effort to retain and then recall. This would include studying for tests, factual data, or personal events, such as the first time you were able to ride a bike or recalling your favorite movie.

Another type of long-term memory is procedural memory, which involves skills and routines you perform so frequently that they don't require conscious recall.

The 8 Tips to Improve Your Memory:

1. Exercise your brain. The best way to exercise your brain is to engage in new experiences or expose it to varied sensory stimulation. Breaking with routine or doing something challenging creates new brain pathways. An illustration of this would be writing or dribbling a basketball with your non-dominant hand, taking a different route to work, or doing something contrary to habit.

An example of sensory stimulation would be smelling a particular fragrance while listening to a certain piece of music. To stir up brain activity differently, you can pick something usually done by rote or on automatic pilot and consciously change how you go about it.

It is also well-known that people who engage in activities that exercise the brain, such as reading, writing, and playing card games, can delay the rapid memory decline that occurs as we age.

2. Pay attention. It is very difficult to remember something if you've never learned it in the first place. It takes about eight seconds of intent focus to process a piece of information through the hippocampus and direct it to the proper memory center. If you do not concentrate, get distracted easily, or do several things simultaneously, your chances of retrieving specific information will be non-existent.

3. Incorporate as many senses as possible. While there are many different learning styles, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (touch), no matter which type you are, you can incorporate all of them in trying to remember something.

If you're a visual learner, you can read aloud and recite rhythmically to remember better. If you're an auditory learner, create a mental image or look at pictures as you read out loud. Relating information to colors, textures, smells, and tastes is also helpful.

4. Organize Information. An excellent way to remember new things is to make associations and connect information to what you already know. Building on what you know helps you remember new material. Also, write important things down in notebooks, calendars, and post-it notes, then reorganize the information comprehensively to retain it.

5. Review frequently and over-learn. Go over what you've learned the same day you learned it, and review it frequently. When you review and over-learn information, it becomes embedded in your memory, making it much easier to recall. It is also much more effective than trying to cram.

6. Use Mnemonics. Mnemonics are a memory tool or technique used for remembering complex information. Mnemonics are various clues that help us remember something, usually by associating it with a visual image, a sentence, or a word.

For example, "30 days hath September, April, June and November" is a rhyme for remembering the number of days in each calendar month. Another example of mnemonics would be to "chunk" information. Chunking is when you arrange a long list into smaller units or categories that are easier to remember.

To remember a long number, you could chunk it into groups of 2, 3, or 4 for easier retention. You can also code and structure information by using vivid mental images. When you make the images colorful or even unusual, they are much easier to recall when you need them.

7. Practice good health habits. Exercise regularly. It increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk of disorders like diabetes and heart disease. Poor health of any kind contributes to memory loss. Likewise, get plenty of sleep and eat properly. Sleep is necessary for concentration and clear thinking, while good eating habits supply the nutrients needed to nourish your brain.

8. Stay motivated and maintain a positive attitude. When you are positive about learning and experiencing new things, you automatically improve your memory. On the other hand, if you tell yourself you have a bad memory, you will actually impede your brain's ability to remember. Maintaining a positive attitude sets up expectations of success.

Incorporating the above tips and strategies into your routine will significantly improve your memory. Not only will you learn and retain more in school and at work, you will achieve more satisfaction in your personal and business relationships.