3 Ways to Improve Your Memory
The 3 Most Important Ways to Improve Your Memory!
The human brain can be compared to a library. The only difference is that the brain is responsible for storing long and short term memories rather than books. The hippocampus is the area of the brain responsible for storing memories. Think of it as the “master librarian”. These three strategies will allow you to considerably improve your memory skills by integrating the action of the hippocampus with the rest of the brain.
These three techniques will help you to store and retrieve memories easily. No matter if you are a high school student or a retired person. You’ll always have access to the mental “shelves” where your virtual books full of memories are stored.
The three best ways to improve your memory for everyday things are, to use visualization, pay attention to everyday things like where you put your keys down etc. and practice these techniques.
Visualization
Associating words with images can allow you to remember details more easily. For example, if you are one of those people who usually forgets where you’ve put your glasses than it is best to visualize an image just before putting your glasses down. If you’re putting your glasses on the kitchen table you can imagine your glasses eating a variety of foods. A unique image is likely to help you remember better, one that is odd or interesting, opposed to an ordinary image. This technique can be used for memorizing entire lists and can prove to be particularly helpful for students during their exams since visualization helps create stronger memories no matter what is being recalled.
Focus
Focusing on a particular piece of information for eighty seconds can allow you to accurately transfer the memory from short term memory storage to long term storage.
It is useless to visualize and 
associate images with words if you don’t pay sufficient attention. Often, memories that are forgotten tend to be related to information processed while you are absent-minded or not paying attention.
Students who take notes without really listening to the speaker or concentrating on the information are generally unable to remember the underlying concepts, as their attention was not on the lecture even though the words were noted down.
Focusing on the task will allow you to absorb new information with ease and store it in your memory for later recall. Ideally, during the time that you are memorizing lists or items distraction should be minimized. Saying the words out loud will also help you remember the details far more easily.
Practice Remembering Items
The key to improving memory lies in practicing several memory skills and enhance your ability to absorb that information.
Techniques such as visualization and repeating out loud will not be vary effective without practice. The brain needs to be trained in memorizing lists and items. It becomes easier to absorb information, over time.
A study conducted by the Welcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London in 2011 revealed that memorizing extensive lists over a period of time can result in the hippocampus increasing in size. This is largely due to the growth of new nerve cells as a result of extensive memorization.
Memory training skills can start from the simplest items such as memorizing the grocery list, advertisements you pass by, names of the employees in your favorite restaurant, and so on.
You can use a variety of techniques for memorizing these lists including chunking, creating mnemonics, and immediately repeating new information.
Chunking involves remembering information in blocks. Mnemonics refers to remembering a list by creating a word of the initials of the list items. Repeating new information immediately, such as the name of the person that you just met, can allow you to improve the probability of remembering this information by 30% or more.
There are many more ways to improve your memory recall for the things that you need to remember on a daily basis, but if you start with these three (practicing the first two is the third) then you will be well on your way to a better memory.
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