Ways to Improve Memory

If you are the kind of person that as soon as somebody introduce to you, you forget his/her name,you can do this. Pay attention. When you’re introduced to someone, really listen to the person’s name. Then, to get a better grasp, picture the spelling. Ask, “Is that Kathy with a K or a C?” Make a remark about the name to help lock it in (“Oh, Carpenter — that was my childhood best friend’s last name”), and use the name a few times during the conversation and when you say goodbye. Visualize the name. For hard-to-remember monikers (Bentavegna, Wobbekind), make the name meaningful. For Bentavegna, maybe you think of a bent weather vane. Picture it. Then look at the person, choose an outstanding feature (bushy eyebrows, green eyes) and tie the name to the face. If Mr. Bentavegna has a big nose, picture a bent weather vane instead of his nose. The sillier the image, the better. Create memorable associations. Picture Joe Everett standing atop Mount Everest. If you forget things like where you left your glasses: Give a play-by-play. Pay attention to what you’re doing as you place your glasses on the end table. Remind yourself, “I’m putting my keys in my coat pocket,” so you have a clear memory of doing it, says Scott. Make it a habit. Put a small basket on a side table. Train yourself to put your keys, glasses, cell phone or any other object you frequently use (or misplace) in the basket — every time.

Is it of any use to drill oneself? I think it's not. There are enough other ways to remember important things. Also, we don't all have the same kind of memory, let's say the same quality of hard disk. To drill oneself to remember important things (but also less important things since that is what we do) is a tough thing, can cause a lot of stress, sleepless nights and be a good reason for a bad health as well. For overloaded brains it's hard to get some rest. It's a good advice to observe, if possible to find some tricks to remember something or someone but facts are we all are different, we are not all able to remember the same things in the same quality and the same amount. So don't have sleepless night or break your brains day and night because you can't remember something or someone at all or not completely. Find a way to remember something and if not just say you did try not to forget but it did happen. Be open and honest instead of pretending you are the one who never forgets anything or is always so busy that's why. We all are not the same and that is a good thing.

Thanks so much for sharing this information with us! I've heard that doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and things of that nature improve the lifespan of our memories. I do a lot of crossword puzzles, so that works out for me! It's so important to focus on taking care of our minds now since Alzheimer's is so prevalent! It's such a sad thing to see someone go through. We'd better start taking care of our minds and memories now before it's too late!

Hi, I think it is important to manage a state of mind that is calm, clear & focused on whatever activity one is doing. This is a matter of sound mental state & health. Some are endowed with such a state of mind in the normal course. In fact, people perhaps are born with such a clear state of mind but what happens subsequently is a result of what people do through their life, starting the early days. Assuming there was indiscretion & lack of focus which has caused difficulty and undue effort seems necessary to manage memory, then it is time to cultivate some disciplined exercises. Deep breathing for a specified duration on a regular basis is one such useful yet simple exercise. One must try to attain harmonized breathing which influences the state of mind profoundly and is directly proportional to the duration one practices it. A clear mind will always be attentive and hence the chances of retention of any activity in the memory get enhanced significantly.