Three Top Tips to Help Improve Your Memory

This may be caused by something simple such as lack of sleep, stress, poor diet or even dehydration. 

Unless you are unfortunate enough to suffer severe head trauma, memory loss will probably deteriorate over a period of time.  It may start with small incidents such as misplacing your keys or glasses, but this may then lead to missing important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries or appointments.  There will always be moments in our life where we all suffer from moments of forgetfulness but should things start to get worse it’s best that you find ways to make your memory better.

Not everyone can be blessed with  having a photographic memory, but there are ways to at least improve what we are given and make us a little less forgetful.  As we age, the neurons in our brains also age. Some neurons will die while others perform slower than usual. This is why people who are older tend to have faultier memories than their much younger counterparts, but as previously stated, you do not have to be elderly to have poor memory retention.

So what can you do to help improve your memory?  There are many things that you can do, but the following suggestions are simple and easily adapted:

Memorising Using Visualisation or Sounds

Using visuals or sounds to help aid you to remember things can work amazingly well.  You may have to experiment to see what works best for you , some people can use sounds or visuals on their own, others work better combining the two.  For instance, if you are trying to remember a to-do list, analyse the details so that you are either able to see the list in your mind,  or read the list out, so that you can then hear and recall the list in your mind. To establish which technique will work for best for you, try remembering how you memorize information when you were at school.  Did you learn by recalling pictures in your mind?  Did you learn by recalling information by reading details silently or read them out loud?  Once you have establish the best learning method that works for you, it is then a matter of practice.

Memorising By Association

Our brains do not remember things all by themselves, they also need assistance when it comes to remembering things. The simpler we make the remembering task for the brain, the better it will be able to retain and recall the information. This is where learning by association comes into effect. Associating information with details that we already know or objects/items that we can see is a technique that has been utilized in improving memory. For instance, have you heard of mnemonics? A great example of mnemonics is Roy G. Biv, a made up name to help remember the colours of the rainbow, and the order that they appear within the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). 

Eating Healthily & Drink Plenty of Water

Another important way to help improve your memory is to eat a balanced diet and to ensure that your brain is sufficiently hydrated.. Your diet will factor a lot in your ability to memorize things. Eating nutritious foods will help your brain perform better and faster. This is especially true when eating known brain foods like tofu, milk and fish.   Drinking plenty of water is essential – your brain is comprised of approximately 80% water, and if you are dehydrated, your brain performance can deteriorate by up to 10%.  

By simply introducing these methods into your lifestyle, you should observe a vast improvement in your memory retention.  However, if you are still having difficulty in recalling information, it may be advisable to consult your doctor to ensure there is not a more serious underlying problem.