10 Smart Habits That Will Improve Your Memory

1. Step To It

What was that name again?

There’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to recall some piece of information you desperately need. How awful when you know you learned it but can’t seem to shake the information loose.

Have you ever considered this might be related in part to something you were doing…or not doing…at the time?

Studies have shown learning and exercise are deeply connected. The trick is to do some moderate to intense cardiovascular exercise either in the minutes before or directly after learning something. Even fifteen minutes of exercise is enough to cement in your mind what you need to remember.

Remember, the key is to pair the activities. Wait more than an hour either way, and the effect is lost!

2. Don’t Be Victimized by Media

If you’re feeling a bit forgetful lately, have you considered your phone might have a clue as to why?

Current studies have shown some alarming trends. People who spend a lot of time on their screens, switching between apps and even devices have been proven to have more short-term memory problems. What’s worse, they’re also causing permanent damage to long-term memory.

So, while you thought you were being efficient when you jumped between email, social media, video streaming services, and news feeds, you could be doing more harm than good.

The solution? Put the brakes on screen time. Start limiting how often you check your phone or read email. Whittle downtime spent in games or social media or use it only at prescribed times. Turn off the TV if you have it running in the background.

Your brain will thank you for it!

3. Get Some Shut-Eye!

When you’re tired, it might seem impossible to remember your own name, much less anything else. But did you know just how important good sleep is to remember things?

Falling into lovely, deep sleep serves a purpose you might not have been aware of. It’s this ‘slow-wave’ sleep that helps you to process new information and prepare for long-term remembering. That’s not everything though! REM sleep has been shown to make your memories stronger or more memorable.

Do you get adequate sleep? Ask yourself if you’re getting enough deep sleep to make a difference. If you’re feeling foggy, it might be time to make some changes in your sleep environment (noise or light reduction for example). If that doesn’t help? Consult your doctor. A sleep study might be needed to discover how better to optimize your sleep time.

4. Everything Adds Up

Have trouble remembering names or other quick bits of information? It might be you’re spending too much time trying to forge neural connections you don’t even need.

When we learn something new, we often make the mistake of trying to force ourselves to remember it through sheer rote memorization. The problem is, while this might work short-term, in the long-term, you usually forget the information you tried so hard to retain.

Next time, try this simple trick. Link the new information to something you already know. By tricking the brain into ‘piggybacking’ the data on top of something else entirely (like linking a new name onto someone else with the same name) you’ll find it much easier to pull the information up when you need it.

5. The Old Familiar Feeling

Stress pretty much guarantees memory problems. Think of the last time you were in a crisis. Chances are you had a lot of trouble remembering what you needed, such as necessary information like an address or phone number.

This is because the hormone cortisol tends to flood the brain when you’re under stress, leading to a dazed and foggy feeling. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t need an absolute end-of-the-world panic to create this response. You’ll start producing cortisol even when you’re mildly stressed. It’s no wonder you sometimes have trouble concentrating!

The trick is to manage the stress in your life right from the start. If you don’t allow yourself to get caught up into the maelstrom, you won’t experience the memory problems that go with these stressful feelings. Some quick suggestions? Try meditation or some breathing exercises to get things under control when you’re feeling the tension rise. You’ll be amazed at the difference, both in how you feel and how you’re able to think.

6. You Can’t Remember…Why?

Memory loss can come from unexpected places sometimes.

We might think we’re doing all the right things, by challenging our brains constantly and making practice to take in new information. What we might not realize is how our own bodies might be working against us.

When we’re not taking care of ourselves physically, even our memory is affected. In fact, numerous studies have shown people who experience a high BMI (Body Mass Index) perform far worse on memory-related tasks compared to those who fall within normal weight parameters. What’s more, a higher BMI also makes you more susceptible to other memory-related problems such as dementia in old age.

So, if you’re interested in helping your memory, don’t forget to address the housing where your memory resides. Take care of yourself. Eat right. Exercise regularly. Get enough sleep. Not only will your memory improve, but so will the rest of your life.

7. What ARE You Eating?

Why must everything that tastes so good…be so bad?

We have such a warped view of food. We think added refined sugars, and carbs are what make food taste good, without realizing the true wonder of the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables upon the palate. There’s a world of spices and sauces to experience, yet somehow, we’ve come to rely almost entirely on salt for seasoning.

The problem is, these easy fixes to flavor really are hurting us, not just in the shapes of our bodies, but in how our brains work, and in our ability to remember what’s important.

Too much sugar, all those carbs, and excess salt will change the shape and function of your brain. These are the things that will actually shrink down brain matter, and collapse the vessels carrying blood and oxygen to where you need it most. A brain fed on a poor diet becomes slow and sluggish.

So, drop the sugar. Eat whole foods, with a focus on what’s best for the health of your whole body. You’ll be amazed at how much better you’re thinking when you do.

8. Good Morning, Sunshine!

With as much as 42% of the population being deficient in Vitamin D you’d think there’d be more talk about the effects this has on your health. The problem is, most people don’t have a clear understanding of Vitamin D and just how important it is.

You probably already know Vitamin D is important to the health of your bones and teeth. After all, that’s why it’s added to milk, using calcium to pair it with for a solid one-two punch for your good health. What you might not realize is just how crucial Vitamin D is to brain health, more specifically to memory function. It’s even been proven in recent studies that adults with consistently low Vitamin D levels could impair their memory function permanently.

Vitamin D is important to maintain. The #1 method of obtaining it is quite simple: you need to expose your skin to sunlight.

9. Those Phone Games Might Actually Be Good For You After All

Never thought you’d read those words? Join the club. The funny thing is, these little addictive games you can find everywhere from your iPhone to Facebook might serve a purpose after all.

The trick is to find games useful in training your brain. Crossword puzzles, word searches, or anything which forces your memory to have a little bit of a workout is quite healthy for you – in moderation. According to several recent studies, you really only need about fifteen minutes of playing to see the benefit. This means if you’re looking to justify a six-hour a day habit of Farmville or Tetris, you might need to look elsewhere. On the other hand, those who took the time to challenge themselves saw improved memory function after just a few weeks of steady playing in small increments. Pretty impressive for a silly game!

10. Have You Considered You Might Be Losing Your Mind?

As we age, it’s normal to lose brain mass, as scary as that sounds. Sadly, this has an impact on both thinking skills and memory.

Good brain health then needs to involve ways to both preserve what you have and to add back what you might have already lost.

The practice of meditation is the answer to this particular question.

When we meditate, we let ourselves relax. We sink into the moment and knock the stress out of our bodies for a time. That’s not all. Studies have shown meditation has a way of increasing the amount of neuron cell bodies in our brains, increasing the gray matter we’ve lost over time.

With so much going for it, meditation becomes an easy choice for improving brain health and by extension, your memory. Even better? It’s so easy to start.

What are you waiting for?

Hope you will find these 10 tips helpful. Until next time! 🙂

-The Beautiful Nerd