Useful Memory Improvement Exercises

What did you have for breakfast last Thursday?
Yesterday, who was your fellow passenger on the bus on the way back from work?
What were the names of all your subject teachers in the final year of school?
What was the front page headline in last Sunday's newspaper?
What are the cell phone numbers of your three best friends?

Chances are, you would have had difficulty (or even complete failure) in recollecting or remembering the answers to some (if not all) of the above-mentioned questions. If that is indeed the case, then do not worry. There is no reason to panic or get alarmed. Yours is just one among many other similar cases that exist all over the big wide world.

The fundamental principle of most memory improvement techniques and exercises is to efficiently and effectively stimulate your right brain, left brain, brain cells, neurons, etc., to make them perform in an optimum manner with respect to data acquisition, storage, and retention. Our brain has the capacity to store and recollect lots and lots of information.

A common area where we are found wanting, is in the process of information acquisition and information storage. Once you improve the process of information acquisition i.e. learning new information, and storing it intelligently, then recollecting that piece of information in the future is easier. Based on this principle, here are exercises to improve memory.

When you learn a new piece of information and you need to store it in your brain, try reciting it aloud. Repeat this 3 - 4 times or maybe even more. It can help you in remembering things better. This is a method that is commonly followed (with a partial degree of success) by kids, children, etc.

Association is a powerful memory improvement method, and one that works in many situations; for example, when you want to remember a new face, computer code, piece of trivia, historical fact, etc. You can associate a new piece of information (say 'X') with anything that you feel is relevant or suitable.

Many a time, relevancy is not the sole criteria for association. What matters is the outcome, i.e. timely and accurate recollection. Find out what method of association works for you, and use it to your benefit.

This is a method that is commonly used by students for remembering and recollecting lengthy and complicated definitions, formulas, or something similar. Shortening a lengthy sentence into a much easy-to-remember acronym can often make that sentence simpler, from the perspective of remembering and recollecting the original sentence.

Similarly, a variety of other mnemonics are used all around us, and with a fair degree of success as far as remembering things is concerned. You can come up with different combinations or 'keywords' using mnemonic methods based on rhyme, alliteration, sound, song, etc.

In addition to the aforementioned methods, here are a few tips:

• Concentrate. Or to be more precise, concentrate more while acquiring any new piece of information. How well you learn something will inevitably have an impact on how well you recollect it.

• Understand your individual memorization process. Are you a person who remembers things by mugging them up? Or does association work better for you? Do you make use of visuals when storing (or recollecting)? Rather than trying out hundred different techniques and getting confused, simply find out what works for you, focus on that, and improve upon it.

Well, this was a brief introduction to all those exercises that enhance the memory. All the best!