The capacity of our mind is unlimited, especially when it comes to consuming and retaining information. The problem is many of us do not know how to store that information in a structured manner. Therefore, we tend to be forgetful and struggle to retrieve it from our brain memory.
That hinders our daily activities and makes learning a new skill harder. Sometimes we even have a hard time remembering new people’s names, important dates, and appointments or even daily chores.
With the right memory hacks, you can remember more, be a better learner, and forget less. Let’s see what memory hacks can get you there.
1. Distract yourself strategically.
Distractions are bound to happen one way or another. We just can’t focus on one activity for too long without getting bored, procrastinating or allowing random thoughts to enter our mind.
But why not make the most of this? Instead of resisting the distractions for a long period of time, accept the fact your brain needs a break and give it to it, but in a productive way and one that will boost your memory.
2. Use story-based memory hooks.
Human connects better with the story. The next one of the top memory hacks is about creating connections in the brain that help you memorize better. Once it is stored in your brain and goes together with a chronological story or one that’s so unusual, there’s no way you can forget it.
You’ll have to use your imagination at first. But over time, this will become your new way of thinking when trying to memorize anything.
3. Stop doing the things that damage your memory.
To apply the new memory hacks, you should first overcome the barriers preventing you from remembering more. That is too much stress, a bad diet, no form of exercise in your day, not spending time outside, bad social life, not sleeping enough, smoking and drinking.
All these are damaging your overall health, not just your brain functions and memory. You should always be taking action to break one such bad habit.
Instead, replace them with eating nutritious foods, working out, not worrying about things you can’t change, and fixing your sleeping schedule.
4. Organize your information visually.
90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Mind mapping is another memory hack that helps your brain understand it better and remember it faster. That’s basically a diagram where you can put the question or the main aspect of the topic in the center, and add all relevant information around it.
5. Write to remember.
There are many psychological benefits of writing things down, and one of them is that it helps you remember anything better.
Reading is a more passive process and the information doesn’t always enter our long-term memory.
But when actually writing it down, you help your brain internalize it, organize it, and store it.
Also, before and during writing, you’re using your thinking skills, even if you don’t realize that. Due to investing more effort into this, you will also be able to recall what you write later on.
Conclusion
It is very important that you practice what you have learned. The more you use your memory the more you can remember and recall. The less you use it, the worse it will become. This applies to many other areas of learning, be it acquiring memory skills or learning a foreign language. So let’s make it a point that we learn something new every day. You never know what you can do until you try!
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