How to increase your memory power

Do you have a habit of forgetting birthdays, anniversaries, important dates, where you kept your car keys, if you lock the door or not? Do you have problems focusing on things and situations? Do you have problems in concentrating and remembering things? If yes, then this blog post is for you! Memory play a vital role in our day to day lives. Without it we all would like a straw in the storm, knowing not where to go. This significant brain function depends on many factors such as:

• Concentration power
• Span of attention
• Your diet and lifestyle
• Exercise regime
• Brain chemicals
• Cognitive skills

All the above factors boost your memory power to higher levels. Apart from these, there are certain ways through which you can enhance your memory power in your day-to-day lives. Try to fit in the following techniques in your daily life and see your memory power soar high:

1)    Mental Picture:

Have you seen children or teenagers remembering songs and movie dialogs more easily than educational topics? I have seen quite a lot of such phenomena around me on an everyday basis. Do you know why this occurs? It is because memorization of a certain thing or event becomes easier and stronger when you will create a mental picture of it. Therefore, if you wanna remember something, then just close your eyes for a while and create a mental picture for it. The more vivid the picture, the stronger its impression will be in your brain and it will be remembered by you for a longer period of time.

2)    Mnemonics:

Mnemonics (pronounced as nemonics) is nothing but creating acronyms or short-forms of the thing to be remembered. For example the mnemonic “VIBGYOR” can help you remember the colors of the rainbow in the order in which they occur; Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. A creative and interesting mnemonic can go a long way in helping you remember things, learned materials and events in a synchronized manner.

3)    Learning Vs Rehearsal Vs Overlearning:

Learning means to acquire new knowledge about something. When it is memorized again and again and processed deeply then it becomes an elaborative rehearsal. Up to here it is great. Note that simple rote learning will fade off from your head very soon. But if you memorize something again and again, understand its meaning and implications deeply, then it will enter into your long-term memory and will stay there life long. Problems arise when people knowing or unknowingly resort to overlearning. Overlearning is unnecessarily learning what is already remembered and deeply processed. It not only wastes a lot of time, but also wastes your productive energies and space in your mind. So stick to learning and rehearsal. Do not overlearn.

4)    Do not mix eating with memorization:

One of the interesting facts about memory is it captures the environmental cues along with the aspect you want to remember. Have you experienced forgetting something and remembering it again if you go to a similar place or environment? It is because of this memory cue. I have seen moms and dads pestering their children to eat something or drink something while studying. I have also seen teenagers having coffee or tea while studying. Don’t mix eating with memorizing. It’s because the act of eating becomes a memory cue or clue. So if you forget that memorized material you will need a similar situation to recall it again.

5)    Magic of meditation, Exercise and Healthy Lifestyle:

Meditation, exercise, breathing exercises, balanced diet and a good sleep are the best memory boosters so far. The reason behind it is that these boosters maintain a healthy equilibrium in your brain chemicals or neurotransmitters. Exposure to sun, acupressure, acupuncture and Yoga (Particularly the Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation and Pragya Yoga) are also some of the traditional and effective ways to boost memory.

Some Interesting Facts about Memory:

There are three types of memory:

•     Sensory Memory: Memory that remains for only a few seconds.
•     Short-term Memory: Memory that remains for some minutes. When something is deeply processed, it enters into the 3^rd level of memory i.e the Long term Memory.
•     Long-term Memory: Memory that remains intact for days, months, years and life long.

If the memorized material is not processed deeply, then forgetting occurs. Here is the Forgetting Curve by Ebbinghaus that shows the amount of forgetting that occurs:

So folks do not let your memory fade off. Life is for once and each and every event whether good or bad is worth remembering. Sometimes forgetting of some information is also necessary otherwise it add unnecessary stress on your head. But, remembering of important information is undoubtedly important. Hope you will use the above techniques and give your memory a strong buffer for a lifetime!

Best Wishes,

Sareeta