Remembering things the way we used to is always a challenge. Like anything else, maintaining a good memory is only possible if you apply the right techniques and do the proper research. This article contains a number of suggestions on how to improve and maintain your memory for years to come.
Use mnemonic devices to help you remember information. The best mnemonics use humor and positive imagery to help you recall facts, so come up with a song, joke, poem or rhyme to help you memorize important segments of information. The simpler the mnemonic, the easier it will be to remember.
A useful memory tip for anyone needing to recall particular types of information, is to work on minimizing distractions in your surroundings. Competing stimuli can actually impede recollection and prevent easy access to stored information. By seeking peace and quiet, it will be easier to retrieve the desired data from your mind.
Help protect your memory for years to come by making sure you are getting plenty of vitamin B-12 in your diet. Studies have linked low levels of B-12 to dementia and poor cognitive function. Food sources rich in B-12 include liver, eggs, fish, poultry, meat and milk products. If you don’t eat a lot of meat, you may need to take a daily B-12 supplement to help prevent deficiency.
A good way to help you remember things is to keep repeating them outloud. Eventually, this information is going to be embedded into your head if you keep hearing it over and over again. For instance, if you have to clean your room on Saturday, keep saying so outloud.
Try to avoid food high in salt and saturated fats, including fast food. It has been scientifically proven that these foods can lead to carotid artery disease, which cuts off the brain’s oxygen supply. Losing oxygen prevents the part of the brain that holds memory from learning and obtaining information.
Consuming foods that contain flavonoids has been proven to be an effective way to maintain your memory. This is because flavonoids interact with your body to improve the flow of blood to your brain, create new neurons, and benefit enzymes and proteins related to memory. Some examples of foods that include flavonoids are grapes, tea leaves, and cocoa beans. Incorporate some of these into your diet.
When trying to commit information into your long-term memory, make sure you are in a location with zero distractions. It takes real attention to move information from short-term to long-term memory, and a distracting environment can make the task nearly impossible. Steer clear of areas where there are televisions, radios, crowds or lots of visual stimuli.
Build consistent study times into your schedule. To build your long-term memory, you need to fight the urge to cram. Cramming information will place it in your short-term memory, and it will easily fall to the wayside once the information is used. To really commit something to your memory, develop daily sessions where you study it with real focus. Keep it consistent, and you will soon find the information is with you for the long haul!
If you have a large amount of information to commit to memory, a good strategy is to break the information down into many separate pieces. It is much easier to remember things in parts, than to remember them as a whole. As a simple example, when trying to memorize a standard United States phone number, you can memorize it as three separate parts consisting of area code, first three digits, and last four digits, as opposed to all ten digits together.
A good tip that can help you improve your memory is to pay more attention to your surroundings and to what’s being said. You can’t expect to recall something you’ve learned if you didn’t even pay close attention in the first place. Try to be alert at all times to be able to remember things later.
Pay attention to the environments that pop up in your memories. These locations may enhance your learning abilities. Return to these types of locations, or replicate their effects, in order to bring about the memory-enhancing effect of those places. Many people find that a certain level of background noise, for example, is vital to their learning.
Making sure you get enough sleep each night is important. Studies have shown that sleeping allows the brain to process information and form memories. Impaired concentration then means you will have difficulty transferring present events to long-term memory.
As this article has stated, memory is something that is very difficult to maintain, particularly as we age. However, memory maintenance and improvement is much easier for people who have educated themselves and listened to the proper advice regarding memory. Use this article’s advice and be on your way to a better memory.
