4 Unexpected Ways to Improve Memory and Attention

The brain is an extraordinary organ with many incredible abilities, including the ability to forget. And this is good, because if we remembered everything that we experienced, it would turn into a dump of useless nonsense.

Today we are literally bombarded Information flow emails, news, meaningless meetings, messages from relatives. This is much more than we are able to "process". Evolution has decided that quality is more important than quantity, so we end up with quality memories of something we pay attention to, and often these are serious things. But if we don’t notice something, then we usually don’t remember it.

Memory problems appear at the most inopportune moment: when we are in a hurry and cannot find the keys, when we go into the room and don’t remember why we came when we talk with a friend whose name is always from us escapes. Such "failures" are normal, although annoying. Memory is an active, not a passive process. And it can improve. For example, in the following ways.

1. Pay undivided attention to important events

Every day, many priorities are actively vying for our attention. Think about how often you ended a conversation without really understanding what was being said because distracted to the phone. Our recollection of the events may be rather poor, because it is as if we were not really there.

IN book In The Seven Sins of Memory, psychologist Daniel Schecter writes about the sin of distraction. It's when we don't pay attention to where we put our keys, or are so flippant that we miss a doctor's appointment. Especially often this sin makes itself felt when we are in multitasking mode.

To pay more attention to the important things, try the pause, link, rehearse technique. She help me remember the name of a new acquaintance or remember why you entered the room. For example, you want to hide a birthday present for your child, but you're afraid you'll forget where you put it. Here is how this technique will work.

• Pause: stop and focus on where you plan to put the gift.
• Connection: look at your surroundings and remember the context. Let's say you leave a gift in the nightstand next to the wardrobe or in the drawer, to the right of which there is a flower.
• Rehearsal: imagine how you get a gift from where you hid it. Step back a couple of steps, and then look back at the secret place and imagine exactly where the gift is.

Also, use technology. Write down all appointments in the calendar with all the details, turn on reminders and take photos that will later help you remember the information you need. Try to look at such pictures more often - they will allow you to revive many other things in your memory.

2. Make everyday moments memorable

We remember events better when we are in an acute emotional state, such as fear, joy, anxiety, excitement, or sadness. Therefore, you remember your wedding, and not the tenth in a row date.

To keep more mundane things in mind, like where you put the shoes you wear once a year, or what products need to be bought in the store, make these things extraordinary and try to associate bright images with what you need remember.

For example, if you need to buy cheese in a store, a Hulk, only yellow and made of cheese, who will be waiting for you at the exit and checking your bag, can be a bright image. If you keep forgetting where you leave your keys, you can come up with an unusual phrase and say it every time before putting them somewhere. Or if you want remember the name a guy you met at a party who was wearing a monkey T-shirt, you can imagine him in a gorilla suit.

Don't be afraid to exaggerate. For example, if something smells bad, imagine that it smells even worse, if something is of a regular size, imagine that it is huge. This will help you remember things better.

3. At the end of the day think about what you want to remember

Another sin that Daniel Schecter mentions in his book is ephemeral, which means our memory is fleeting. For example, the more time passes after watching a movie, the more details we forget. But if we study and analyze what we want to remember, the likelihood of reinforcing memories increases.

For example, you spent a wonderful evening in the company of loved ones and want it to remain in your memory. A good way to remember everything is to carefully study the photos and videos that you took then, or make a detailed note in personal diary.

Another great trick is to spend 5 minutes before bed remembering the good times of the day. Maybe you saw a beautiful sunset? Or did your little child say something funny? Perhaps you ate something delicious? Scroll in your head small but joyful events that you would like to enjoy. The more often you do this, the faster you will begin to notice that you remember much more details from everyday life.

4. Be active and avoid forgetfulness

It's hard to predict what you'll forget in the future. But if you begin to understand how memory works and what its shortcomings are, you can save important memories.

For example, if you are subscribing to an app with a free trial period and you know that you always forgot to cancel it before write off money, you can set a reminder of what needs to be done in advance. Perhaps now it seems to you that you will definitely not forget about it. However, past experience suggests that this is not the case, so it is better to play it safe.

Another sin of memory, which Schecter calls blockade, is when the necessary information is spinning on the tongue, but at the last moment slips away. For example, when you are bad at remembering names. In this case, before you go to any event, you can search social networks for people who will be there and repeat their names.

Even if you consider yourself a forgetful person, remember that memory is a skill that can be trained and improved. Try to memorize your shopping list and go shopping without it. Or promise yourself that you will memorize 10 names of new acquaintances when you go to the event. It's easy to say "I have a bad memory" and do nothing. But as soon as you start working on yourself, the snowball effect will work, and your memory will become much better. Of course, if memory failures are associated with an injury or a serious illness, for example Alzheimer's disease, you need to see a doctor.