Why Am I so Forgetful? Tips on How to Improve Your Memory

Everyone wants to improve their memory. For centuries, people who have great memories have been praised, respected, and thought of as generally smarter than the public. The truth is, the reason you're probably not remembering as much as you want to, is probably because you aren't doing the right things. Here are some tips on how to maximize the information stored in your brain.

Make it important.

If you really want to remember something, make a note in your mind to prioritize it as being something important. Something important to you will always make a huge impression in your mind. For example, Bobby just met a girl yesterday, yet he just can't stop thinking about her. Bobby has made his attraction to this girl something important in his mind. From what color shirt she wore, to the way she tied her hair up - Bobby is sure to remember everything he can about her. Likewise, if you have a major test or interview coming up, you most likely won't forget about it anytime soon.

Use your brain.

People always make excuses about forgetting things because they are too old. Granted, age does play its part in the deterioration of brain synapses, but it can be prevented against. There are plenty of people who are 70+ years old that can remember more phone numbers than I can. The key is that they train their brains any time they get. By always challenging yourself with new things such as learning new information, playing educational games, and learning how to play an instrument, your neurons are always forced to be firing. Over time, they become very healthy, spurring the development of other new connections inside of the brain. By keeping your brain active, its function is also improved, hence the ability to retain more information.

Keep your body healthy.

This includes eating right, exercising moderately, sleeping enough, and reducing your amount of stress. Your brain depends on nutrients, rest and blood flow from other parts of your body. Our bodies are machines, and each part needs to be working well for the body to be in great health as a whole. When you severely suffocate your body from something, whether it be air, food, or sleep, your brain doesn't get the amount of nutrients and blood flow it needs to keep the neurons healthy. By not eating enough nutrients or starving yourself, your body suffers drops in blood sugar, something clearly not good for memory. Also, if you're sleepy or hungry, your attention is diverted to other areas of your body; how can you expect to remember what you want?

With large amounts of stress, the body's hormonal glands secrete adrenaline or corticostereoids in order to rectify the chemical imbalances in the brain due to prolonged stress. The effects of this are rather simple - as prolonged stress damages the brain, the memory is affected as well.

Stop being

lazy.

Many people who have poor memories usually have another problem paired with it: They are lazy. Being lazy, these people don't take everything seriously, and they don't make a conscious effort to be more accurate. With poor effort and observations, their brains are caught in a habit of not being sharp, something that severely affects memory performance. Memory is based on someone's ability to recall things. In order to help your memory improve, you must remember a lot of small details, whether it be the color of a shirt or the words on a paper. People who are lazy tend to pass these off as "not important," consciously or subconsciously.

Use helpful methods or devices.

Some people prefer to paint a vivid picture in their minds. The way they remember things is very visual, so they make an effort to remember all of the colors, positions of objects, and movements (a bit like a camcorder). By remembering the placement of objects and the sequences in which they happen, these people tend to perform better than those who just brute force their memories.

In addition to painting a vivid picture, you can also choose to use mnemonic devices to remember things. This works by pairing something that sticks out in your mind with the situation you are trying to remember. For example, if you are trying to remember the definition of a word, use it in a funny sentence, or write a poem with the word in it. By using it in something you are sure to remember, you will remember the word itself. Write a story relating the objects you are trying to remember. Be sure to create one that will stick out in your mind, or you can even utilize a previous childhood memory to help you remember a newer memory.

Categorize.

If you are trying to remember a lot of different things, you can always put 2 and 2 together where it needs to be. For example, if you need to run an errand that requires you to go to 2 different places such as a hardware store and the grocery store. Pair all of the food items up that you need to remember to buy first, followed by the tools that you need to buy (or whatever it is people buy at hardware stores). This way, by remembering something in one category, you increase your chances of remembering all of the other things. By consciously categorizing things together based on your previous perceptions of where they fit, you have already made it easier for you to remember what you need to remember. By establishing the basic categorical connection, now all that needs to be retrieved is the word itself.

Memorizing is simple. Even so, remember that humans are not machines. We will never be able to process memories like a 40GB hard drive, because our brains are not built to store so much information. But by training your brain to be just a little bit sharper than it is right now, you are well on track to giving yourself that little edge that you may need in improving your memory.