A good memory all depends on the health and vitality of your brain. No matter what age a person is there are a lot of things that one can do to help improve their mental performance and memory. Below are some tips to help with increasing ‘Brainpower’.
Keep stress to a minimum
Stress can cause a huge amount of damage to the brain, so you need to look at this aspect of your life, learn to say No, express your feelings and set a healthy balance between you work and home life.
Brain Work Out
The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be you then process and remember new information. Break away from your routine and test your brain. For example if you play an instrument, learn something difficult that you would not before have attempted, this will challenge your brain.
Sleep
Ensure you are getting regular sleep. A adult needs between 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep every night in order to avoid sleep deprivation. Even skimping on a few hours here and there can make a difference to memory and problem-solving. Avoid all screens for at least an hour before bed and cut back on caffeine.
Laugh
We have all heard that saying numerous times ‘laughter is the best medicine’ will there is a lot of truth in that when it comes to the brain and memory. Unlike with emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the brain, laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain.
Practical steps to support memory
Pay attention, its take us about 8 to 10 seconds of intense concentration to actually process a piece of information into our memory. If you are a person that can be easily distracted, find a quieter place where you won’t be interrupted. If you have learned something new in a day, review it in your head that evening. This is an effective way to retain what you have learned. A good way to remember is to related new information to colours, tastes and smells. Reading out loud also helps the memory process.
3 Simple Tricks to staying sharp
- Repeat
It might sound basic, but it works…. repeat, repeat, repeat. Repeating a name once you’re introduced to someone, or what someone says to you. - Groups
If you find it hard to remember a long list of items, try grouping them. Try this is sets of 3 to 5. For example you’re shopping list, group in categories such as dairy, frozen food, vegetables etc. This approach will also help with organisation and building up associations. - Organise
A phone calendar can help you keep track of any appointments, meeting or actives you might have planned. Writing down information on a wall planner or in a diary can also help reinforce learning.