4 Easy Steps to a Great Memory

Improve Your Memory

When you forget something important, your confidence can take a serious hit. Taking a few easy actions can quickly provide certainty in your memory, every day.

By: Gillian Eadie

This is really hard to believe so pay close attention; Our brains are actually designed to forget!

And before you ask – No, I haven’t lost my mind – all day our brains are working hard to forget things so we don’t get overloaded and have a brain meltdown. Can you even imagine what our heads would be like if our memory remembered every single detail, from every sense – smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste – from every moment of every day? Let’s not even go there!

So how does your brain know what you want and need to remember?

We need to give our brains clear signals about the things we want to remember, and that is a huge topic to cover, so I’ve outlined 4 easy ways to ensure you never forget again:

1. Downsize – only use ONE diary.

Put everything in there so that you are not looking through several places each time you want to check something.

2. Focus, concentrate, remember

Looking or listening for a second or so isn’t long enough for your brain to remember. You need to concentrate for seven seconds if you want to remember something later. Initially, it will seem a long time but, if you spend this time repeating, connecting or visualizing the data, you will remember it.

3. Organize your surroundings.

Establish places for all of the items that you regularly lose, and use them! Hooks for your keys, drawer for your wallet, mobile, glasses and diary – all need a defined place where you put them. Concentrate while you place them there – this will avoid that all too familiar last minute dash about the house looking for your glasses in the morning!

4. Give your brain some help!

Remembering appointments ahead of time is much easier if you give your brain as many ‘hooks’ as you can. In your mind, embed the details of the appointment in as many ways as you can:

I’m meeting the accountant on Thursday at 9.30 am.
What is his/her name?
Where will I park the car?
Which floor of the building is it on?
What do I need to take?
What questions will I ask?
Where will I go once I have left that appointment at 10.30?

Use as many senses as you can:
Visualize the clock, the building and face of the accountant
Hear the questions you will ask
Feel’ the papers you will need to take, and so on

I bet you are already thinking that you haven’t a spare seven seconds to do this. Well, just think of how many minutes you waste trying to remember the time, day, location and name if you committed them to memory. It’s a no-brainer!

Forgetfulness can ruin your confidence and your life.

When you forget something important, you feel all at sea and your confidence can take a serious hit. This does not have to be the story of life. Taking a few easy actions can quickly provide certainty in your memory, every day.

About the Author:
Gillian Eadie founded the Brain and Memory Foundation in 2008. Gillian is an award-winning educator with more than 20 years as a principal at several prestigious private schools and is a Churchill Fellow.

About the Brain and Memory Foundation:
Memory loss and being taken into care are the Number One fears of Baby Boomers in the USA and UK. The cost of dementia care in the USA is greater than the whole operation of Walmart and Exxon!

Experiencing firsthand the devastating impact Alzheimer’s has on families, motivated Gillian Eadie and Dr. Allison Lamont, sisters, to urge all people aged 50+ to take action to protect their memory skills. Baby boomers themselves, they established The Healthy Memory Company Ltd. to ensure that everyone realizes that brain and memory improvement is possible at any age. Their articles, books and memory programs are scientifically based on Dr. Lamont’s internationally acclaimed research findings, and they focus on the key skills needed to keep brains active, alert and growing, even into old age. Building brain resilience and memory confidence will provide the memory buffer needed to protect against memory loss and enable independent living so important to everyone later on in life.

For more free help and personal advice on diet, exercise, brain food, improving your memory, please visit the Brain and Memory Foundation. You’ll find lots more information and tips like these in the great new book Seven Second Memory by Allison Lamont PhD and Gillian Eadie.

Photo: runran