Everyone has experienced forgetting the names of people around them or not remembering where they put their car keys. Everyone has symptoms of forgetfulness, so you don’t have to worry too much, but if it gets too severe, it can lead to a serious situation. Before that, it is a good idea to practice to strengthen your memory. Today we will learn about memory strengthening exercises that you can easily do in your daily life.
Using your five senses to take in information
Use your different senses to strengthen your memory. Making the most of your senses to improve your memory is very effective. Engaging multiple senses activates different parts of the brain, helping you retain memories longer. Practicing this, especially through food and drink, is one very enjoyable way to do this. This time, we will take a closer look at how you can improve your memory through food and drinks.
Aroma and taste of coffee
Savor the unique aroma and taste while drinking coffee. Appreciate the scent of coffee beans and pay attention to what kind of scent each bean has. Coffee can have many different aromas, and it takes careful observation to distinguish and remember them. Also, feel the taste of coffee. Drinking while distinguishing the characteristics of each coffee bean, its bitterness, sweetness, acidity, and rich aroma, provides various stimulation to the brain.
Observe the cooking process
When cooking, carefully observe and remember the cooking process. Touch the ingredients with your hands, feel the texture, and smell the scent of fresh fruit or vegetables. You can improve your memory by carefully observing and recording how food changes during cooking.
Variety of flavors and harmony
Try eating a variety of foods together in one meal. Different flavors and combinations provide different stimulation to the brain. For example, if you eat a sweet dessert and salty chicken together, you experience two completely different flavors at the same time. Experiencing these different flavors and combinations can help strengthen your memory.
Observe your eating environment
Carefully observe the place and environment where you eat. Try to remember the interior of the restaurant or cafe, the seating arrangement of customers, and the surrounding sounds and scents. You can improve your memory by getting into the habit of consciously observing your surroundings.
Engaging multiple senses through food and drink helps stimulate the brain and create new experiences. This sensory approach is useful for improving your memory in everyday life and will help you hone your skills in remembering more information.
Use the information to create a story
Improving your memory by telling a story about information is a powerful tool that helps you remember what you need to remember more easily and retain it longer. Packaging information into stories makes it easier for the brain to process and connect information, which is effective in improving memory. Now let’s take a closer look.
Story Structure
The first thing to consider when converting information into a story is the structure of the story. List each element in order and create a simple plot. For example, if you’re making a story about ‘umbrella, wallet, cell phone’, try mentioning the umbrella first, then the wallet, and then incorporating the connection to the phone into the story.
Use associative techniques
Associative techniques are effective in strengthening memory. Transform each item into a vivid image in your mind. When you think of an umbrella, imagine what kind of umbrella it is and how it feels to see and touch it as if it were real. These vivid images can further strengthen your memory.
Emphasize emotions and sensations
Add emotions and sensations to your story. For example, when you think of an umbrella, think of the pleasant feeling of the umbrella blocking the sound of rain in hot weather, and when you imagine a wallet, think of things that are exciting and rich. And when you think of your cell phone, feel the warm feeling of communicating with Hyehwa. Including these emotional aspects makes the story more vivid and more likely to lead to permanent memory.
Add unique features to your story
Include a unique characteristic or action for each item. For example, when thinking of a wallet, describe it in detail as being blue, with metal trim, and with a keychain. Adding these features makes each item feel independent and distinct, which makes the information easier to remember.
Rethink the story
After you create a story, think about it again. This repeats information to the brain and helps form long-term memories. This is important for improving memory as it provides an opportunity to highlight and review information.
Chunking memorization techniques to improve short-term memory:
Chunking, which improves short-term memory, is a powerful way to remember information by breaking it down into meaningful chunks. This technique can help you more effectively remember and recall long lists, numbers, words, objects, etc. Below we’ll take a closer look at how to use chunking memorization.
Structuring information
The core of chunking memorization is dividing information into meaningful bundles. For example, it can be difficult to memorize an entire long string of numbers, but breaking it down into logical groups makes it easier to remember. For example, the string of numbers “123-456-7890” can be divided into three groups: “123” “456” and “7890”.
Create meaningful bundles
Consider meaningful relevance when creating each bundle. For example, when chunking phone numbers, you can associate the first bunch “123” with your birthday, the second bunch “456” with a friend’s birthday, and the third bunch “7890” with part of your address. . Creating these meaningful chunks makes it easier to remember and recall information.
Emphasize relevance
Improve your memory by emphasizing the relevance between each group. It is helpful to understand the connections between the bundles and connect them like a story. This relevance makes the information more concrete and strengthens memory.
Repetitive learning
After using the chunking memorization technique, recall the information again through repetitive learning. Reviewing information repeatedly makes it easier to transfer it to long-term memory.
Practice
Practice the chunking memorization technique in practice. Applying this technique to a variety of information, including numbers, words, lists, and schedules, can greatly improve your short-term memory.
There is a YouTube video that explains it well so I am sharing it.
https://youtu.be/hydCdGLAh00?si=TQzYlAZg9C_qaf2D
Strengthening Working Memory to Increase Intellectual Ability
Strengthening your working memory to improve your intellectual abilities and use your brain more actively is one of the important tasks. Working memory is one of the brain’s core functions that involves short-term memory of information and the process of manipulating it. To strengthen this, you can apply the following methods:
Decomposition of information
To store information in working memory, it is important to first break it down into small chunks. For example, when listing the names of past British Prime Ministers, break the information down into smaller chunks about each Prime Minister’s name and the time period in which it occurred.
Information organization
Improves the ability to organize and connect information while maintaining short-term memory. After listing the names of the Prime Ministers in chronological order, if you want to organize them alphabetically, keep using your brain to associate each Prime Minister with his or her name and list them in alphabetical order.
Visual imagination
Imagining and associating information visually also helps strengthen working memory. As you think of the names of past prime ministers, imagine what they looked like and try to picture this image.
Practice and repetition
Consistent practice is needed to strengthen working memory. Recall information periodically and practice your working memory as you process new information.
Use a variety of information
You can further improve this by storing and processing a variety of information in your working memory. As your brain handles a variety of information, your intellectual abilities also improve.
Applying these methods will help you strengthen your memory in your daily life. Keep your brain active and develop efficient memory by always taking on new challenges and learning.
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