Improve Your Memory Quickly

Many of us have trouble keeping in mind everything we need to remember, whether it's our list of what we need to pick up at the store, or the name of someone we have just met, or facts we need to know for a school quiz. Here are some tips to help you improve your memory fast.

1) When you need to remember something important, find a way to create an image about it in your mind that is very funny or bizarre. Your brain finds it much easier to remember things that are unusual, or funny or scary, while it easily forgets things that don’t stand out in any way.

2) Don’t be afraid to make written lists of what you need to do or to remember. When you keep a written list this will free up your brain to remember other things that are more important.

3) Don’t cut back on your hours of sleep. Your brain needs to use your sleeping hours to put new information into long term memory storage.

4) When you need to remember a long string of letters, or a long string of numbers such as a telephone number, break the information up into small units or chunks of two or three numbers or letters at a time, such as 555 – 216 - 9827. Most people will find it very hard to remember 9 or 10 numbers in a row, but they can easily remember two or three numbers in a row.

5) Repetition and review will help your brain remember the material better. When you need to learn and remember something, give yourself time to review the same material again the next day for a few minutes and then a week later for a few minutes.

6) It’s easier to remember information when you understand it really well. If you are confused by something you are trying to learn, break it down into smaller parts or steps, and ask for help in understanding each part.

7) When you are studying a lot of material, you will remember more of it if you schedule a break every forty minutes to get up and walk and do something completely different. When you sit down to study again, your brain will be more refreshed and better able to pay attention.

8) When you are trying to study something, give yourself plenty of time to learn and review it several times. Cramming at the last minute doesn’t work very well.

9) Give your brain a good workout by practicing memorization as a fun exercise. Every few days, pick a new poem or favorite passage to memorize, and then write it out or speak it out loud.

10) Get a basic children’s arithmetic book with simple number exercises such as 1 + 8 = ___ or 5 X 3 = ___ and commit to doing fifty such calculations every day as quickly as you can. Research has shown that quickly doing very simple arithmetic problems activates a lot of your brain.

11) Avoid eating a diet high in junk food with a lot of sugar, refined carbohydrates and fried, fatty foods. Your brain cells can be easily damaged and undernourished so include a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish in your diet.

12) Reduce the stress in your life by simplifying your schedule, delegating more tasks to others, getting regular physical exercise and practicing daily meditation. Long term stress can interfere with your ability to concentrate and to think clearly, and with your ability to form memories or to recall them later.

13) When you are trying to learn and remember something important, say it out loud either to yourself or to other people. Making the effort to speak the words and hearing yourself say them will get more of your brain cells involved in forming the memory.

14) When you need to learn something new, a good way to understand it and remember it much better is to get a study buddy or a conversation partner, and try teach the other person what you are learning. This is a good way to signal your brain that what you are learning is important.

15) Learn how to create and use mind maps to organize your information. A mind map will show you at a glance how the different parts of what you are learning can fit together, and many people can learn better by using mind maps than by writing out notes the traditional way.

16) If you are having problems with your memory, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether any prescription drugs you are taking might be the cause of your memory difficulties. If any of your prescribed drugs are known to cause memory problems, ask if you can be prescribed a lower dose, or switched to another medication altogether.

17) Being depressed can interfere with your ability to form memories or to recall them later. If you frequently feel sad, or if your life feels blank and empty, have yourself evaluated for depression, and get treated for this condition if necessary.

18) Avoid using drugs and alcohol. These brain altering substances can interfere with your long term ability to think, learn, and remember.

19) Make up little rhymes and songs to help you remember important information. It’s often a lot easier to remember facts that have been made into a song or a rhyme, such as "Thirty days hath September, April, June and November".

20) Your brain will remember things a lot better if you are breathing deeply in a relaxed way. Instead of just breathing shallowly from the upper part of your chest, learn to breathe smoothly from your belly, using your diaphragm muscle to move the air in and out.

21) Practice staying present in the moment and paying attention to the details of each experience. This will help you to better remember all the details later.

22) Include a lot of berries in your diet that have dark red and blue colored skins. In an experiment where aging rats were fed a diet high in blueberries, their memory losses reversed and they grew new brain cells.

23) Your brain will learn and remember better if you involve as many of your senses in your learning as possible. Instead of simply reading about something, also talk about what you are learning, write about it, and even create a drawing, or painting or song, or do some other related activity.

24) Many people destroy their confidence and interest in learning by constantly telling themselves they are not very smart, and that learning is hard and boring. Improve your learning confidence by using affirmations and visualizations to tell yourself that you are smart, that you have a good memory, and that you really enjoy the subject you are learning, and really let yourself feel that it is true.

25) When you need to remember several unrelated items, use the first letter of each word and try to make a word out of it that will help you remember them. For example, if you need to buy bread, milk, apples, ink and bananas, you could use the first letter of each word to create the word "BAMBI" to jog your memory.

26) Focus on doing one task at a time and concentrating on one topic at a time. When you try to do too many things at once, your mind will be distracted and it will be difficult to perform every task as well as you need to, and difficult to remember what you need to remember.

27) If you are a diabetic or if you have high blood pressure, work with your doctor to get these conditions under control. Left untreated, diabetes and high blood pressure can eventually lead to problems with how your brain works.

28) Your brain is about 85 % water, so it is easily dehydrated. Try to avoid drinking too much coffee and too many pop drinks and instead, give your brain the hydration it craves by drinking half a fluid ounce of water for every pound of your body weight each day.

29) Many studies have shown that the brain benefits from regular physical exercise. Find some form of exercise you really enjoy, and make it a regular part of your life.

30) Stay interested in your life. Keep looking for new things in life to learn and to get excited about, no matter how old you are.

These memory improving tips are written by learning expert Royane Real.