How to Retain Knowledge in your Short Term Memory
Everyone hasproblems rememberingthings at some point in their lives. Stress, personal and business problems can cause us to forget important dates, appointments, meetings and more. For women, menopause is one of the times when memory seems to vanish. Hormones can play havoc with the memory, as well as other aspects of your life.
If you’ve talked to your doctor and your memory problems aren’t due to some health problem such as dehydration, lack of restful sleep or something like the onset of Early Onset Alzheimer’s disease “(EAD) then there are things to combat forgetfulness and help youretain your memory.
You could rush out and load up on Ginkgo-biloba, CQ-10 or other vitamin and mineral supplements, but you actually may not even need them. Besides, taking a ton of supplements can cause other health problems if you are not in need of what you are taking. Being sure to get a good, balanced daily diet with plenty of fruits, veggies, nuts and grains can go a long way towards keeping your memory fit.
Consider whether you are getting enough restful sleep; getting a good, solid and uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep every night; having a sleep routine of going to bed and getting up at the same time every day could also improve your memory.
There’s always the old fashioned, method of note taking. Whether this process is made easier with the advent of tablet PCs, palm-sized devices, smart phones or the gold old pen and paper is a matter of individual taste, but whatever you choose to use, note-taking is a valuable way to help your memory along.
Make it a point to pay close attention to what is being said, looking directly at the speaker. Paying closer attention is one of the simplest ways to remember.
Some experts insist that taking notes can be a crutch, causing your memory to become worse; others find that having the notes handy, saves a lot of stress and heartache. You don’t have to actually use the notes; just keep them in case memory fails you. Keying in the notes on a computer later, can help to embed them firmly in your mind; it’s a double lesson for the memory, to first take the notes and organize them with a keypad later.
While taking notes, organize them into a flow chart sketch, a list, something that you can easily put into a framework. Put the notes into a rhyme, free-associate a picture or image with what you hear, whatever it takes to embed the information, firmly in your mind.
Repeating what you hear, to yourself or to the person giving you the information, can instill the information firmly in your memory. It helps you to focus on what you are hearing. When you repeat it aloud, your ears can actually pick up the information and give an added bit of reinforcement to the memory. Just taking time to reflect as you repeat information can help to implant it firmly in your mind.
Work lots of puzzles in your off hours; crossword puzzles, number puzzles like Sudoku and Kakuro can help to build your memory. As you age, you’ll become more forgetful and these types of activities, also called, brain games, can keep your memory active and increase your cognitive skills.
The brain is a muscle and like other muscles of the body, it needs exercise. These memory-enhancing skills help to exerciseboth sidesof the brain; writing, typing, working with letters and numbers; repeating what you hear, drawing to associate what you hear and creating flow charts all work to keep both sides of the brain in peak condition. The right side of the brain gets its exercise when you work with visual methods, while the left side of the brain is exercised when you work with logical methods.
Techniques like relaxation, visualization and meditation can, not only go a long way towards improving your memory, but it can help to create better focus and mental clarity.
