Ten Surprising Ways to Boost your Memory
Being aware of how to boost your memory and sharpen your mind is of the utmost importance. According to the World Health Organization around 50 million people have dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases worldwide every year. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to from 60% to 70% of cases. Even more frightening is the fact that more people are suffering from early-onset dementia than ever before, which can affect people in their 40s, 50s and early 60s.
The good news is that until fairly recently, it was believed that brain function peaked during early adulthood and then slowly declined, leading to lapses in memory and brain fog during your golden years. But brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is now an accepted fact and refers to the brain's ability to reorganise pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.
It's known that our modern lifestyle plays a significant role in contributing to cognitive decline, and so stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, and exposure to toxins and chemicals can actually harm your brain.
On the other hand, a healthy lifestyle can support your brain and even encourage your brain to grow new neurons. It's now known that your hippocampus (the brain’s memory centre) regenerates throughout your entire lifetime, provided you give it the tools to do so.
The answer is lifestyle change. This is wonderful news as it means that you can do something about your brain health.
Start with the following ideas to boost your memory:
1) Forget Multitasking to Boost Your Memory
Many people think that multitasking is a great way to get a lot done. But, while it might seem that you’re accomplishing a huge amount, research has shown that your brain is not nearly as good at handling multiple tasking as you would like to think. In fact, some researchers suggest that multitasking may reduce your productivity by as much as 40 percent!
By trying to do multiple tasks at the same time, you’re merely constantly shifting your attention and focus from one thing to the next. Continually switching from one task to another makes it difficult to tune out distractions and can cause mental blocks that can slow you down.
The problem is that you’re not alone in trying to multitask. Because you live in a frenetic world in which everything is expected to be done yesterday, you never quite get to complete what you’ve started. And you’re hardly ever sufficiently focussed to retain even the important pieces of information.
In addition, doing so many different things at once can actually impair your cognitive functioning. Cognitive functioning is a term which is defined as ‘the ability of an individual to perform the various mental activities most closely associated with learning and problem solving’.
2) Focus to Boost your Memory
Too often people fail to focus on what’s important, and forget information that they should have remembered. But don’t worry. There are several solutions. For example, if you have to meet someone to discuss an important matter then either paraphrase, or repeat to them, the main points of what was discussed. If at all possible, you can make notes of the main facts discussed so you can refer to them later.
There are several ways in which you can improve your ability to remember facts and figures. As an example, if you’re introduced to someone, while you’re shaking hands, make a point of repeating his or her name. This helps to fix it in your memory.
Obviously you can’t shake hands when talking on the telephone, but you can still repeat their name out loud while writing it down. If necessary, you can still take notes of what was said.
During a meeting it’s sometimes very difficult to focus on what is being said, especially if you’re caught up thinking about other related things while others are speaking. Remember it’s very important that you understand precisely any tasks that have been given to you. It’s impossible to know what is required of you if you don’t understand what was said.
3) Sleep Boosts Your Memory
Everyone knows how important sleep is. But does everyone know that it’s equally important that you have a definite sleep routine?
Well, it’s true. You should follow the same routine just before you go to bed. Make your bedtime the same time every night, and get up at the same time every morning. Although it might sometimes be hard to follow, when you’re on holiday force yourself to set your alarm and get up – no matter how much you want to carry on dozing in bed. The act of getting up at your normal time will allow you to maintain your regular sleep pattern.
Your regular sleep patterns will be the first to be affected if you suffer from trauma, disease, memory issues, or mental health problems. If you have difficulty sleeping, you should take whatever measures possible so that you can have a good and restorative night’s sleep. For example, you can try a natural sleep aid, or have a bath before you go to bed.
Having a sleepless night now and again happens to all of us, but if it happens often it will have a negative impact on your physical and mental health.
4) New Ways of Thinking
There’s a well-known expression that goes like this: ‘If you don’t use it, you will lose it’. This is true when dealing with the brain. There are many ways in which you can improve your cognitive ability.
These include crosswords and Sudoku, among many other forms of brain teasers. Remember that the key to a healthy life is having balance in your life, so accept new routines, make new friends and have a range of different conversations.
Even take different routes on your way to work. By doing this you’ll be creating new neural connections that will boost your memory.
5) Reducing Stress
Reducing stress may well be the most difficult task to achieve. It’s common knowledge that stress adversely affects your powers of concentration. Stress also affects your ability to listen, to store information, and to recover it later. The many stresses of life may well be very hard to avoid, but they will help enormously if you learn how to breathe properly.
Being able to control your breathing will allow you to regain control of your brain. Many people do not breathe properly, especially in times of stress. Having control over your breathing gives you a mechanism for lowering your levels of stress.
6) Nutrition to Boost Your Memory
Everyone knows that your diet affects your weight and your health, either positively or negatively. But not everyone knows that your diet also affects your brain. So watch what you eat! If your diet is high in vitamins and minerals, especially Omega 3 fatty acids, it will make all the difference between a healthy you and an unhealthy you.
So consider carefully what you eat. Are you making the correct decisions to ensure that you are eating healthily? A healthy and balanced daily diet of protein, fruits and vegetables is a very good start to a healthy life.
7) Gut Health
Your gut is referred to as your ‘second brain’ as the gastrointestinal tract has its own nervous system, called the enteric nervous system.
In the same way that you have neurons in your brain, you also have neurons in your gut, including neurons that produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which is linked to mood.
Quite simply, your gut health can have an impact on your brain function, psyche, and behaviour, as they are interconnected and interdependent in a number of different ways. In addition to avoiding sugar, one of the best ways to support gut health is to consume beneficial bacteria.
8) Exercise is a Memory Booster
Exercise stimulates chemical changes in the brain that enhance learning, mood and thinking. Exercise improves blood flow and, therefore, memory. It also reduces the odds of developing heart disease, strokes, and diabetes.
You need to build an activity such as dancing, washing your car, walking with a friend, jogging or playing golf or tennis into your daily life.
9) Master a New Skill
Finding an activity that requires your undivided attention and gives you great satisfaction stimulates your neurological system, counters the effects of stress-related diseases, reduces the risk of dementia and enhances health and well-being. The activity should be something that you look forwardto doing, such as playing a musical instrument, gardening, crocheting, knitting etc.
Repetitive tasks help you to completely relax, and are important for forming synapses in the brain, thus improving your ability to learn.
Also, the reward centre of your brain gets stimulated when you have completed a creative project and this will have a positive effect on your self-confidence and your mood.
10) Control Medical Risks
Hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, head trauma, high cholesterol, and smoking all increase your risk of dementia. You can reduce these risks by having your annual check-up, following your doctor’s recommendations and taking medications as prescribed.
Of course, if you’re taking care of your health and have been living a healthy lifestyle, you might very well not have to take any medications. This is wonderful news for you and your brain. Do remember that it’s never too late to start taking care of yourself, and great improvements in physical and cognitive health can be gained by starting a healthy regime.
Hopefully these 10 surprising ways to boost your memory will have helped you, but do remember that there are many more tips available on this site or you could look at Healthline for more ideas.