How to improve memory with good habits
Are you’re stressed out because you have a bad memory? Below I will show your how to improve memory with these good habits.
Step 1: Getting enough sleep
We’ve all heard it said a million times and it is the truth. Without a good night’s sleep, you are not able to remember your dreams the next day. You need to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. The 6 to 8 hour window is the most crucial area of sleep, it’s what we call the R.E.M. sleep. If you don’t get that important time of sleep you will not remember what you learned during the day before and you won’t be prepared for the next day in terms of your memory.
Step 2: Drinking plenty of water
A dehydrated brain is a brain that won’t be able to focus. So remember, drinking plenty of water is very important. There are many different opinions of how much water we should drink per day, but the health authorities commonly recommend drinking eight 8 oz glasses of water per day.
Step 3: Exercise
A 2014 Harvard Health Letter said that exercise helps the memory in both direct and indirect ways. It helps directly because exercise reduces inflammation which helps your brain and stimulates the growth of new blood cells. Indirectly exercise is going to help your memory by helping you sleep better and also help to reduce your stress and anxiety.
Step 4: Salt
Salt plays an important part in your memory. A lack of salt will actually hurt your memory. In the brain salt is used as a stimulant to encourage the brain to create new memories. When salt is restricted it can hurt your short term memory, but too much salt can hurt your memory. Too much salt has even been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. According to the American Heart Association and many other highly credited sources we should aim for 1500-2300 mg of sodium a day which amounts to 0.75 teaspoons.
Step 5: Reduce Stress
Stress is without question the worse enemy for your memory. We can’t eliminate all the stress in our lives but there are ways to help reduce our stress. Some people meditate; close your eyes, exhale, clear your mind and have quiet time. Get a massage; a week before the Memory Championship I would get 5 massages just to stay relaxed. Avoid stress whenever possible.
Step 6: Avoid excessive sugar
We all love our desserts but too much can be bad. The hippocampus is a part of your brain that is very sensitive to sugar. Your hippocampus plays an important part of your learning, your memory and your long term memory. Damage to the hippocampus is linked to developing Alzheimer’s or depression.
Step 7: Avoid excessive alcohol
For scientific reasons only I’ve tried to memorize things while being under the influence, I don’t need to tell you how that turned out. Alcohol is going to hurt your memory in the current short term but it also has very damaging effects to your long term memory over time.
Step 8: Moderate consumption of alcohol
Following step 7, studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol like a glass of wine a day is actually good for you memory. So go have some alcohol, in moderation, to improve memory and you can thank me.
Step 9: Turn what you see into pictures
We are all guilty of remembering faces and not the names. This is because we see the face we just don’t see the name. The mind remembers what it sees. If you want to start remembering things you have to turn it into a picture. For example; we you see the number 21 no longer see the number but try to picture a deck of cards for the game Black Jack.
Step 10: THE MIND PALACE
The Mind Palace is essentially when you memorize a map of a house; you stand in the doorway and number 5 pieces of furniture in each room. 12345, 678910 and repeat until you have enough pieces of furniture needed. Next attach what you want to memorize to the furniture in your Mind Palace. For example if you want to memorize the presidents try turning Washington into a picture of a washing machine. Place that picture on the first piece of furniture, it’s that easy.
These are some of the most important tips to improve memory that I have tested out myself. It’s all about how much you consume when it comes to sugars and alcohol, making sure that you get enough sleep and exercise, and lastly to use your memory palace.
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