Tips to Enrich Memory

“Oh I forgot.” This is something we say a lot and something we hear others say. If you are young, the reason you forget an answer for a test or anything else is not because you have some sort of memory disorder, it is only because you have not studied it properly or reviewed it enough.

Here’s few ways to help you improve your memory.

1. Review

I used to hate hearing this word. But I’ve come to learn that it actually helps. Review as many times as possible because it will only decrease the chances of you forgetting it. One important thing to remember while reviewing is, don’t keep reading it or saying it out loud if your are not focusing on what you are doing as it will not help you. Every time you review, read it like you are reading it for the first time in your entire life.

2. Multitask

I’m not gonna ask you to do this. Doing other things while you study is not an  effcient method. Do one thing at a time because there is only so much that your brain can do. The reason why they ask you not to use your phone while driving and the reason why your parents might ask you not to use your phone while studying is because our brain cannot multitask. If you try to multitask and study you might be able to remember a small portion of what you studied but if you are not you will be able to remember quite more.

3. Sleep

This is the time when your brain is not collecting any information so it can peaceful do it’s job. Memory undergoes a process of consolidation during sleep, i.e., it transfers information into your long term memory. If you are sleep deprived you could even lose your ability to differentiate from right or wrong. Sleep is thus not only necessary for your memory but also for your health, to help you think clearly, it will help connect distantly related ideas, and so on. Sleep for a minimum of 6 – 8 hours a day.

4. Mnemonics

This is a fancy way of helping us to improve memory. You might have done this before but you would have never known that there is a term associated with it. Following are two such methods-

a)Chunking.

This is where you cut short your information into smaller parts. If you are trying to study a paragraph, instead of memorizing it you can figure out the main idea of the paragraph and find one important word from every sentence and then try to build your answer based on that one word.

b)Acronyms.

This is where you make short forms. Example-

UNICEF – The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.

SCUBA – Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Try following these steps, this will surely help you.