It’s not as hard as you’d think!
Want to know how to improve your memory? We all want to boost our ability to remember facts, names, places, and dates, but we have no idea how to do it. Well, here are a few simple tricks for you to try:
- Exercise — Exercise plays a HUGE role in your brain health. Exercise clears your body of the fat cells and cholesterol that could block your arteries, thereby affecting the flow of blood to your brain. Exercise stimulates your brain, boosts circulation to the “thinking box”, and keeps your body in good shape.
- Play brain games –– There are dozens of different brain games that you can play, all of which will help to keep your brain working well. Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, online brain training games, and Word Hunt can all sharpen your brain and help you perform better on certain tasks. The more you exercise your memory and recall, the better.
- Reduce stress and treat depression –– This may be easier said than done, but you’ll be amazed by the difference it can make for your brain health! Stress can lead to anxiety, which causes your brain to enter a low-functioning, high-reacting “panic mode”. Depression increases the production of cortisol, which reduces brain function–particularly in the hippocampus, the part of your brain that stores your short-term memories. Seek help and counseling to deal with depression, and your memory will improve!
- Eat right –– What does it mean to “eat right” to improve your memory and brain power? You need to eat a lot of low-glycemic carbs (with a lot of fiber), such as oatmeal or brown rice. Any food that contains Omega-3 fatty acids are a definite MUST, such as nuts, fish, and legumes. Vitamin B12 can help to boost brain function as well.
- Listen to music –– If you want to remember something, think about it while you are listening to a song. Next time you listen to that song, you’ll have a much easier time remembering it. Music and songs can be a mental “cue” to trigger access to your memories.
READ MORE: The Best Foods For Your Brain
- Focus on one task at a time –– Multi-tasking may seem productive, but you often end up getting a lot less done. For maximum results, do one thing at a time. You’ll remember the instructions and details of the task more clearly.
- Teach someone else –– Want to learn and remember things more easily? Teach it to someone else! You’ll have to explain it in a way that they can understand and remember, and it will reinforce your own understanding and memory of the concept.
- Use visual aids — When trying to learn something new, write it down, create a pie chart or a graph, or learn with a video. You remember more of what you see than what you hear, so using a visual aid (like pictures along with the text) will help your mind to engage with whatever you’re trying to learn.
- Sleep well –– Sleep helps to keep your brain flexible, and that flexibility is vital in order to improve your memory and recall. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep, and consider taking a nap to help you make up for lost sleep.
- Learn something new –– The best way to improve your overall memory and focus is to learn something new. Learning new things stretches and exercises your brain, forcing it to adapt to storing new memories and actions. You’ll find that your brain functions much better the more you learn!
