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Whether you find yourself forgetting a word mid-sentence or struggling to remember your best friend’s birthday, being forgetful is never fun. Memory is something we all rely on but it often lets us down. Read on to discover 5 ways to improve your memory, so that you can recall both the big things and the little things in life, with more ease.
Sleep and Mindfulness
Tiredness kills brain function. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day. Without enough sleep, our memory takes a hit as sleep plays an important role in helping you consolidate your memories. A lack of sleep also negatively affects focus, making it harder to recall memories. A good night’s sleep helps you pay attention to new information so that memories are more likely to stick. Being mindful is another great way to improve your memory. A study published in Brain Imaging and Behavior found that mindfulness training boosts the density of the hippocampus, which is a region of the brain that plays a key role in both working memory and long-term memory. Mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment without letting worries or other thoughts enter your mind. Practising mindfulness for just 10-20 minutes a day can do your memory the world of good!
Diet
A healthy diet could be as important for your brain as it is for your heart. Eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains and choose low-fat protein sources, such as fish, beans and skinless poultry. A variation of the Mediterranean diet called the MIND diet (Mediterranean diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) was designed with the goal of optimising brain health. It’s big on leafy green vegetables, nuts, berries, fish and poultry, and avoids red meat, butter, cheese and sweets. A study showed that those who consumed the MIND diet were 30-35% less likely to score poorly on cognitive tests. You do need certain vitamins for memory, but taking more than the recommended daily allowance hasn’t been shown to have a beneficial effect. What you drink counts as well. It’s important to stay hydrated and not drink too much alcohol, as this can lead to confusion and memory loss.
Exercise
In several studies, physical activity has been associated not just with higher cognitive function, but with a decreased risk of memory loss over time. The brains of people who exercise regularly shrink less with age than those who don’t exercise often. The hippocampus especially shrinks less and white matter stays healthier. Physical activity increases blood flow to your whole body, so being active could potentially sharpen memory by increasing blood flow to the brain. Exercise encourages the production of growth factors – chemicals that affect the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and the overall health of new brain cells. Exercise can also boost memory indirectly by improving mood and sleep, and by reducing stress and anxiety, which often contribute to memory issues.
Brain Training
As well as physical activity, mentally stimulating activities help to keep your brain in shape and keep memory loss at bay. The brain is always active, even during sleep. However, certain activities can engage the brain in new ways, potentially leading to improvements in memory. Exercising the brain may help to improve brain function and boost connectivity between the different areas of the brain. Brain games such as crossword puzzles and memory card games help to exercise cognitive skills. Learning new skills also helps to boost brain function. Why not learn to play a musical instrument, or learn a language? You can also train your brain to memorise things better by visualising information and creating multiple paths to what you want to remember. Use your imagination to embrace as many details as possible of when, where and why you have to memorise what you need to.
Stay Organised
Accessing memories, writing them down, and sharing them with others helps to solidify their presence in the brain. You’re also more likely to forget things if your home is messy and your notes are disorganised. Noting down tasks, appointments and other events can help you to remember things better – especially when you have a lot on your plate! Using productivity tools like myReach keeps your notes, tasks and plans together and easily accessible. MyReach acts as a second brain for all the things your actual brain might forget! By allowing you to curate your own content on a network database with AI-powered filing mechanisms, sophisticated 3D visualisations and advanced search functions, myReach has created a digital extension to human memory!
Though we can’t entirely prevent the memory loss that comes with ageing, these handy tips will keep your memory as good as can be. If you continue to nurture your body, train your mind and stay organised your memory is bound to improve on a day-to-day basis and will be less likely to let you down when you need it!
