Memory Improvement Techniques – 3 Ways to Develop Your Memory Skills
If you have been looking for memory improvement techniques, then this article will show you how memories are created and how you can use 3 simple techniques to get rid of your memory problems. You can anchor you memories using by linking them to locations, by repeating what your have learnt out aloud and by regular reviewing of memories.
How Memories Form
In order to get the best out of memory improvement techniques, it is useful to understand how a memory is created. Every time we sense something, electrochemical connections form within our brain. Whether these connections turn into a memory depends to a large extent on whether they are repeated or reactivated.
If this memory is going to ‘stick’ in our minds, however, it has to mean something to us. If the new memory relates to something we are already interested in, then we are more likely to be able to recall it later on.
Emotion is also very important. Strong emotions create certain chemicals in our brain that fix the memory in place. Interestingly, in life-threatening situations the chemicals change as a result of the stress, making it harder to for us to remember.
The general lesson here is that cultivating a degree of interest and emotional involvement in what we want to learn are fundamental to all memory improvement techniques.
Using ‘Place’ to Remember Things
We can often find it easy to remember where we were when important things such as world events took place. The classic example, for older people at least, is when President Kennedy was shot. The reason for this is likely to be a combination of the emotions that were invoked, and the contrast between the ordinariness of the setting and the event itself. The place and the event become connected, ‘anchoring’ them both in our memories.
This effect can be harnessed quite easily as a memory improvement technique. Let’s say you are in a meeting at work and you want to remember what is being said. Have a good look around the room and create a memory of its features. Then consciously affirm to yourself that you are going to remember the meeting within the physical setting of that particular room. If you can attach an emotion (hopefully positive!) to the meeting, that will also enhance this memory improvement technique.
Speaking to Remember
This might seem like an unusual memory improvement technique, but it works. Let’s say you are reading some study course notes. Try reading the main points out aloud. It doesn’t need to be in your normal voice, mumbling or muttering will do. You could start by saying something like “I’m reading through this section and I’ve found 6 important things to remember. These are…etc.” The very act of verbalizing what you have read is a powerful way to anchor your new learnings, serving to reinforce and emphasise them.
Visualisation and Review
This is one of the best memory improvement techniques because it links new memories to visual images, which we are much more likely to remember. At the end of the day, take a few minutes to review what happened. Sit down in a quiet spot, close your eyes, and run through the day’s events in as much detail as you can. If there is something you wan to forget, that’s fine, just skip over it. With practice you will find that you can remember more and more, and there will be very useful ‘flow on’ effects into more important areas of learning.
Conclusion
You have now learnt 3 memory improvement techniques. You can use place to anchor memories, mumbling to reinforce what you have just learnt, and visualisation and review as a daily exercise to tone your memory and concentration skills. With these skills you will be able to amaze yourself and your friends with your new-found memory power!
See original here: Memory Improvement Techniques – 3 Ways to Develop Your Memory Skills
Related posts:
