Sharpen Your Mind By Following These Simple Tips
In today’s day, we have begun to rely on smartphones and the internet for information to such a great degree that it has become inessential for us to learn, memorize and retain information which at one time was necessary for us to survive and get things done. Technological advance has helped us reduce our need to commit things to memory. This has in turn reduced our memory power. Possessing a good memory is, however, not only helpful and impressive, it is also a sign of good health. Like all other skills, memory power can also be developed if we consciously try to do so. Here are some of the ways in which you can do it:-
- Focus On What We Are Doing: By giving the task at hand undivided attention and not letting our minds wander, we retain whatever information we learn from doing that piece of work. It calls for paying attention and concentration. In this way, because we are not distracted, we don’t forget what we are trying to learn and we can retrieve the information easily. An extension of this is that we should not multi-task, for instead of making us super efficient, which we think multi-tasking helps us do, it actually defeats the purpose of what we want to achieve. Multi-tasking slows us down, increases our chances of making mistakes, and makes us forget things. The answer lies in not trying to do five things at the same time. Also, while concentrating on one thing, if we find our thoughts wandering, we should try to bring them back again and again to the task at hand and eventually we will learn to focus and remember with ease.
You can control your mind
- Visualization: Visual memory forms a large and integral part of our memories. By activating our visual memory, we can remember things easily and well. If we want to memorize something, we must picture it in our mind. Alternatively, we can create a symbol for it and remember that symbol. When we want to recall what we have committed to our memory, the picture or symbol will emerge. Visualization is a powerful tool used by successful athletes and other achievers.
- Form Associations: Another method that works when we are trying to remember something is the forming of associations. For example, if we want to remember that our friend Sweetie lives on Punchkuin Road, we can associate her name (sweetness) with water from 5 wells (Punchkuin). When we wish to recall her address we will think of 5 wells with sweet water, and so remember Punchkuin Road.
Capture your thoughts
- Use Mnemonics: Long-term memory is created through using the emotional and logical aspects of our brain. Hence, for information recall, we must work with the power of patterns, imagination, and association. Almost every field of study makes use of the traditional mnemonics. Mnemonics in common use are ones such as "I before E except after C," used in order to remember spellings of words like receive, belief etc. and alternatively ‘conceive’, ‘deceive’ etc. Another tool is the use of acronyms, i.e. the first letter of each word in the sentence or sequence we wish to remember. An example of this is VIBGYOR for remembering the colours of the rainbow. One can also use rhymes as another memory device. When we string the words we wish to remember to form a rhyme, it becomes easy to sing them back to us. ‘Chunking’ or the breaking up of information into smaller groups or chunks is another method that helps us remember. This is because short-term memory is unable to deal with large amounts of complex information. By breaking the information down into smaller and simpler units makes recall easier.
- Make a List: Organizing and listing the things we wish to remember is another way to boost your memory.
It is essential that we actively and consciously try to
enhance our memory power. The more we remember, the less we forget.
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