How often have you looked up a phone number and repeated it to yourself until you complete the call? You are using your working memory (short-term), because minutes later, when you don’t need it anymore, you will forget it. You have not committed the number to your long-term memory. Working memory is great for short-term recall, but only for a very short time.
In order to remember things longer you must commit it to your long-term memory. But how do you do that? The answer is to connect the new memory with an old one. By associating you are able to remember it for longer periods of time.
To connect to other memories you can do it by several different methods — but making it fun is the best memory technique — people tend of remember humorous bits of information easier than simple, basic information.
One fun way to commit a memory to long-term is to make up a story including the items or facts you want to remember. Connecting makes it easier to recall a group or series of information, and a story makes it easier to remember.
Begin by making a mental image of events and connect or include the data you want to remember into the image. A mental image solidifies it into memory. Practice this memory technique by laying out about 20 or more items on a table and make up a story by including each object. To make it even more fun, have others help you in coming up with a story to remember.
If the first three objects are an apple, a key and a mobile phone, you could start the story like this:
Person 1: In the orchard, ripe apples were falling from the trees.
Person 2:But the gate to the orchard was locked and John had brought the wrong key.
Person 3: So he called Sue from his mobile phone to see if she could help.
After you have included all the objects into the story, remove the objects from view and see how many of the objects you can remember by retelling the story. Make it a game for your friends by seeing who can remember the most.
This is Ron White, and I am a memory-training expert . This memory improvement technique is a fun way to learn to remember objects, and include others in the process. It could even be a party game, and see who can retain the most. Memorizing doesn’t have to be a chore.
Sources:
Mind Tools — Memory Games, Have Fun While You Improve Your Memory: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTIM_99.htm
Doctor Uses a Deck of Playing Cards to Boost Brain: http://w3.newsmax.com/newsletters/mhr/better_brain.cfm?s=al&promo_code=D076-1
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