Are You Using Your Full Memory Potential?
Your memory like every other muscle can be improved with practice, here are 3 tips to do so.
2.5 petabytes of data… or 3 million hours of TV shows. That’s how much information your memory can retain.
Then, you might ask: “Why do I keep forgetting names, what I read, and even where I left my keys?”
The answer isn’t very straightforward. However, here are a couple of possible causes for the decay in your memory.
Things that might be affecting your memory negatively
Before we can see how to improve our memory, let’s look at some potential culprits that can be hindering your memory power.
Lack of sleep — Sleep is very very important for your cognitive skills and plays a huge role in your focus & memory.
Lately, you might be getting less sleep than you should have. We all know how hard it is to focus when we are sleepy.
In order for your brain to allocate enough resources for memory formation, you need to have a rested body and mind.
Occupied mind — Sometimes we have too many daily troubles. Even if we think that we are focusing on the material in front of us, our minds might wander off. Try practicing relaxation methods like meditation or breathing exercises.
There are a million apps out there to guide you to meditate. If you “don’t have time during the day”, short sessions which can be 3–10 minutes are extremely powerful.
Meditation won’t make your problems go away but will create a window of calmness so you can focus on the material that you are trying to remember.
Taking a 10 minute off of your troubles might boost your attention significantly.
Stress — Some researchers have found that stress can affect the way your neurotransmitters (messengers that carry information in your brain) function.
Moreover, some studies found that stress can cause the neurons in the prefrontal cortex to shrink.
Tip 1 — This one will help you with names:
Focus: This step is often overlooked but very crucial. When we meet someone new and forget their name we might say: “Oh I forgot their name after 2 seconds, I have a bad memory.”
In reality, that is not the case! You don’t have a bad memory, you just weren’t paying attention to their name.
If you are like most people, you were thinking about introducing YOURSELF, instead of listening to the name of the person across you. If you want to increase your memory, you need to focus.
Action 1 — Let them go first: Next time you meet someone, let them go first. Hold off the urge to say your name and wait for the other person to say it first.
The only thing you should be thinking about is the other person’s name. I guarantee you you will increase your memory for names.
Action 2 — Repeat their name: After they tell you their name, repeat it back to them. Say: “Oh, it’s nice to meet you too Mark”.
Keep saying their name when the opportunity presents itself in the conversation (well don’t overdo it.. you don’t want to appear weird).
There are two benefits to repeating the name of the other person.
- First, you clarify any misunderstanding that might occur with the name. In fact, better if you get it wrong… (well not for your ego but for your memory at least. The person across you will repeat their name for you and now you will have heard it again!)
- Second, by repeating as many times possible, you root the name into your memory better. Forging and strengthening your neural connections.
Tip 2 — READ READ READ (Diversify what you read). One day read Science, the other day read about fashion, etc
Do you remember how fast you used to learn a class that you loved? I would guess that because you loved it, you paid close attention and accumulated knowledge about the subjects related to this course. Heck, you even might have read about it in your free time.
The more you learned about the topic it became easier for you to acquire new information to add on to it because there is a base to associate new information with.
Your memory works with associations and your brain absolutely loves them. When you are learning about a topic that you have previous knowledge about, you learn it much faster. You build on that knowledge and keep adding new information to it.
Imagine that you’re trying to build a treehouse:
What do you need? A tree, a bunch of wood, and some tools, right? Well, the information you already have is the tree and the new information is the wood you keep adding for your awesome treehouse.
If you have a thin small tree, your house wouldn’t be so magnificent would it?
Reading and gaining a large array of knowledge about different topics enables you to have many connections for associations to happen.
In other words, you will have a larger tree with more branches to add your information-packed wood pieces.
To increase your memory, read more. Read about different topics. The next time you have to remember something you just learned, you now have a much higher chance of remembering it because you have more branches to build your tree on.
But what if you keep forgetting what you read?
Possible solutions to stop forgetting what you read:
Summarize — This one is my favorite remedy for forgetting material. Whatever you are reading, it is always possible to forget it at some point.
So, do your future self a favor and summarize the pages or chapters which you have just read.
I prefer taking a mini note of “the message of the page or chapter”. When I forget something I can just look at the top of the page and find what I was looking for.
Summarizing the information forces you to think about the information. You distill it and work with it. You identify the important parts and ignore the useless fluff.
Information becomes sticky if your brain thinks it is relevant. When you try to summarize, you are allocating attention and time to this topic. Therefore, your brain thinks it is significant and records it.
Simplify — This one goes with the summarize. Try to keep your summary as simple and understandable as possible.
The simpler you can get, the better it is understood.
“If you can’t explain it simply you don’t understand it well enough”
-Einstein
Talk about it — To stop forgetting what you just read on your new book, find someone, and talk about the book. If it is a novel, tell the story to a friend. If it is a non-fiction, talk about what you think about the subject.
Talking to others about the book is imperative to retention. You not only recall the information while you’re telling the story, but you also make an exchange on the subject, which will support your memory.
Imagine you are a teacher — Imagine that you are a teacher and this chapter is your subject. How would you make it so that, a student who has no idea about the topic would understand exactly what you are trying to teach them? This one goes hand in hand with the summary and simplify solutions.
Tip 3 — General Life-Style tips to increase your memory
- Sleep more — Sleep is very important for increasing your memory and if you are sleep deprived, you will start to show many signs of cognitive fatigue. Here is some further reading on the effects of sleep on memory.
- Eat well — In many cases it has been proven that eating healthy food has a huge impact on your memory. Here is a Harvard article on food for brainpower. With that being said, here is my favorite brain food duo: Blueberries and a lot of water!
- Workout — When you get the blood flowing you also pump a ton of Oxygen to your brain. Running, in general, is an awesome way to improve your memory power! Here is yet another Harvard article on the effects of exercise on your memory.
- Stay away from booze — This one goes without saying but try to keep drinking to the minimum. Maybe a glass of wine a day ;)
That’s it. Improving your memory should not be hard work. However, it does take consistency and a few tweaks to your habits.
