Three memory tips that will dramatically improve your recall

Think about it. When you’re confronted by someone else, or even yourself, about how you could have forgotten to bring home the memo-pad (for list making, obviously), what is it that you really forgot? Did you stop in the moment and struggle to recall a specific item that you or another had previously reminded you about? Did you think this was so obvious that you couldn’t POSSIBLY forget it?

Or, did you simply forget to remember?

I’m the first to admit that my memory is nowhere near perfect (except for family, friends and bets I win). However, I can generally squeeze a little more out of it with a few simple memory tips much easier than mnemonics or associating a name with something I had for dinner last week.

Here are a few things we know about memory and some memory tips for use:

  • Memory is reconstructive. Rather than attempting to memorize a senseless list of items or data, see if you can roll them up into a ‘chunky’ story. For example, I have a much better chance of getting what I need for dinner if I remember, “Tacos” rather than lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cheese, sour cream, etc. After all, it’s just Tacos. Bonus: You might even wind up ‘remembering’ some special ingredient that you wouldn’t have put on that memo-pad this morning.
  • Memory is willful. This is probably my favorite, low energy memory trick. Simply develop a routine of asking yourself, “Is there anything I’m supposed to remember right now?” Particularly good times to do this are whenever you close a door. Sure, I may get a couple steps into the rain before I realize I left my phone charger on the table, but I don’t make it to the airport.
  • Memory is correlated with burning calories. This one might not seem obvious at first, but becomes so once you burn a few ‘cals’ thinking about it. The more engaged you become with your learning material (literally, the more calories you burn), the more likely you are to remember it. Consider reading something, level 1, hearing it, level 1.5, repeating it, level 2, demonstrating it, level 5 on a ‘likelihood to remember’ scale. Each increase on this scale requires more effort, and effort requires calories. For me, once I write something down, unless it’s a completely random list of numbers, I generally have a good shot at remembering it. (That’s why it’s important to USE the memo pad – even to remember to get a new one).

These three memory tips won’t make your career in entertainment or get you featured on a nightly news magazine show, but they will go a long way toward improving your ability to manage the daily mass of ‘stuff’ we all have to keep in mind in our ‘noisy’ worlds.

I think I’ve remembered all I wanted to say here.

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