Improve u'r Memory

Many people who want to improve their memory think that memory is a gift a person is born with. It is more or less true, but like any other innate ability (you don’t have to be a born musician or a painter in order to become a renowned musician or painter) you can improve your memory infinitely by consciously and methodically working on it.

WHY DO WE HAVE MEMORY LOSS?

There can be many reasons of having memory loss. Covering medical reasons of memory loss are beyond the scope (and beyond the abilities of this writer) of this article but some day to day reasons for having a poor memory can be:

• Not paying proper attention
• Being always in a state of distraction
• Mental preoccupation
• The subject being totally alien and unrelated to what you do
• Some medical problem

Here are 10 quick tips to improve your memory and help you remember and recall things easily

1. Be aware of the problem. Every solution begins with sincere recognition and acceptance of the problem. If you are conscious that you tend to forget things and if you want to remember them, you’ll make an extra effort.
2. Pay close attention. Want to remember that name? Pay close attention when you are being told. You will tremendously improve your memory by simply paying close attention to what is being said.
3. Remember by association. Remembering complex information becomes easier if we can associate it with familiar memories and facts. If you want to learn a long string of numbers you can create something like 78 was one year before one of us misplaced Three Musketeers and then went to jail for five years in order to remember your security pin number, for example 781135. The colors of the rainbow are famously remembered as VIBGYOR. This way you can create as many associations and combinations as possible and they don’t always have to make sense.
4. Develop a ritual. Sometimes we find it hard to remember things simply because we are too distracted or preoccupied. Before beginning to learn something perform a small ritual that helps you focus on the task at hand and prepares your mind to absorb things and remember them. This ritual can be anything: in India students pray to the goddess of knowledge and wisdom before beginning to study. Many can focus better if they take a bath before doing something that requires good memory.
5. Create a song or a poem. Something like, “I need to say happy birthday to Caroll on the 15th of this month or I shall be executed.” try singing this song whenever you get chance and you will never forget Carroll’s birthday.
6. Make remembering a daily exercise. It is often very hard to remember because as we grow older we get unaccustomed to remembering and retaining facts. You can even blame your hand held devices and computers because they make saving and retrieving important information so much easier and faster. Do you know your best friend’s phone number? These days we don’t even have to remember phone numbers because these numbers are saved by names in our phone contact books. The same goes for addresses and important anniversaries: you have scores of tools and applications that can remember things for you. You need to develop a habit of remembering things. I’m not suggesting that you altogether stop using your gadgets but try to remember some facts on your own without their help so that you can retain this habit of remembering.
7. Get away from distractions. It is often not possible to physically get away from distractions and noises around you but you can certainly train your mind to do that. Try to block all the noises and activities for at least a couple of seconds every day and then gradually try to increase that time. This will help you when you have to focus on something that is being told to you by another person.
8. Meditate every day. Meditation is a good way of training your mind to focus even among distractions. It basically means quietly sitting somewhere shutting off all external influences and stimulations and just focusing on your inner thoughts and activities. This stabilizes your thought process and helps you improve your memory.
9. Improve your diet. Your brain after all is an organ and like any other organ of the body it requires proper nutrition in order to function well. Are you giving good nutrition to your brain? There are many foods and supplements that can help you improve your memory. For example you should have ample quantity of foods containing Omega-3 fatty acids such as blueberries, broccoli, spinach, berries, walnuts and cold water fish like salmon, tuna and mackerel. You also need plenty of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and beta-carotene.
10. Have regular physical exercise. A healthy body nurtures a healthy mind and a healthy mind helps you improve your memory in a more efficient manner. You don’t need to follow a strict exercise routine if you don’t have the required time but just move around more than what you do now. You can use stairs instead of the elevator. You can park your car at a greater distance so that you have to walk more. Use your bicycle instead of your car as much as possible. Spend more time outside playing with the kids or the dog or both. Have sex whenever you can because this also does good to your body and your mind.

So these are the few things that you can do to improve your memory. Of course there can be hundreds of more things but these can be realistically achieved within a few days. Are you trying to improve your memory following one of these methods or some other technique? Do share your experience in the comments section.