Memory Improvement Techniques and Exercises

Here are methods for improving your memory and concentration skills to boost memory power and methods for remembering things.

The brain is a wonderful thing but like most parts of your body if you don’t exercise or use it enough it will slowly get worse. And the problem with memory is you start to forget things and there are so many items we need to remember these days apart from social interaction such as names and dates but pin numbers and the many passwords we have on our computer accounts.

Exercises to improve memory

As mentioned above the brain need to be continually active to make all parts of it work and continue to develop.

As time goes by we all become a bit lazy so here are some easy exercises to undertake to keep it active so you can remember words, numbers, places and peoples’ names in the longer term and don’t forget them.

1. Read a book – for those that love books and read often then skip to the next exercise but for those of us who just watch TV or read newspapers then perhaps is now the time to pick up a good book of fiction. If you have trouble articulating phrases and explaining to people in-depth either something at work or just simple directions it may be that you are really “lost for words”. Reading will improve your knowledge of words and the ability to describe things in your daily life in more detail. If you have trouble writing and can only think of short one syllable words and need 10 words when really one descriptive one is required then a book is for you. Continue reading and reading and your brain will thank you for it.
2. Play word games – OK now you have words in your head you’ll need to use your brain to search for those words when you are presented with clues so your brain has to work, analyse the question and come up with an answer. Scrabble is the obvious game to play and there are online and computer alternatives especially with the Nintendo DS. For advanced readers have a go at the crosswords that are printed daily in newspapers and again online. For those not so comfortable with words we suggest not going for these as they can be tough and put people off reading and wanting to do more.
3. Play number games – generally people are great with words or great with numbers and never comfortable with both. But no matter which side you are in your should think of some number games also. The very popular Sudoku which tests you on completing blank spaces where rows of numbers add up to a sum are great. There are tons of Sudoku books at the news stands and online versions as well. There are also Nintendo alternatives if you so wish.
4. Play memory games – as the aim of this article is to improve your memory you can play simply games to remember things you have seen. We all remember the kids TV programs and with our parents where there was a tray of assorted objects and we had 30 seconds to remember what was there and write down the answers when taken away ? Well you can do this now at home and play with your own children.

The above are all exercises to mobilize the brain if you are feeling a bit lethargic. Now we come to some techniques to remember things in your daily lives that you can use.

Memory Improvement Techniques – Remembering numbers and dates

Most of these are by association in that if you have to remember numbers or names of people then try to associated that with words or make up a phrase for it. So if you had to remember a birth date of November 24th 1980 you could try some of the following (based on the numbers 112480).

• Turn the number into something different – so rather than trying to remember the whole number as 6 digits remember 112 – 480 as two groups of three digits or three groups of two such as 11 24 80
• If any of these numbers mean anything to you associate them with objects or things that mean a great deal to you. For example 11 could be your house number, 24 could be the age you graduated and 80 could be how many people attended your wedding so you could remember this by saying and remembering “at my house after I graduated I had many guests at my wedding” – it may sound silly but that phrase would be totally unique for you
• Make it rhyme with something – at school we are taught all types of rhymes especially for the number of days in a month “30 days have September, April, June and November….” because of the rhyme we remember it. So for our date would could have a rhyme that “Knock on the door Jack was born on 1124″  – as in reality you don’t really need to know the exact year every time.
• Associate a picture – if the person has something unique about them try to relate the numbers to their life. If Jack as 11 of something or 24 and relate a picture of Jack and have this in your mind as their birthday picture

Hopefully these have given you an overview of some of the memory improvement techniques and exercises that are available to you to improve your memory. If you have some to share please post them below.

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