Simple Strategies to Help Improve Memory

Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

“I’m here in the garage and have no idea why.”

“I can’t remember my new neighbor’s name and I just met him an hour ago.”

“Did I close the garage door when I left home this morning?”

These are only some of the common memory lapses everyone experiences.  We’ve all had the experience of not remembering someone’s name that we should have.

Some people suffer from more complicated cognitive issues which cause memory loss, which could require different kinds of exercises to help stimulate memory.

Fortunately, for most of us, there are some simple strategies and techniques that can help these and other types of minor memory problems. But understanding how memory works is critical to using these strategies effectively.

How Memory Works, Simplified

Three basic stages must take place for a memory to occur.

• Encoding:  Pay attention and process information. Give it meaning.
• Storage:  During the encoding process, the material is held in your brain long enough to be stored for later recall.
• Retrieval:  The brain recalls the information previously encoded and stored.

Most memory problems are related to lack of attention.  When you don’t pay attention, information never gets encoded or stored, so it is not available for recall.  Making a conscious effort to pay attention is the first step to improving memory.  Then you can use simple memory techniques to facilitate storage of the information for later recall.

Five Basic Memory Strategies

There are many techniques you can employ to help improve your memory and recall.  They all generally fall into one of 5 categories.  Play around with all of them to find out what works best for you

Repetition & Rehearsal

This common sense strategy is one of the simplest and we often forget to use it.  Repeat new information over to yourself several times, spaced out over time.  Maybe it’s someone’s name, or a date or something you need to tell your boss.  If a larger amount of material is to be recalled, break it up into smaller parts.  Study new material to be learned over days rather than cramming in one longer session.

Association

It is easier to remember something new if you associate it with something you already know and remember.  For example, my new neighbor’s name is Sam, same as my brother, or Uncle Sam.   You might recall an important date by relating it to your birthday…Oh, that’s only a week before my birthday.  Or by relating it to another well known date…eg:  June 4 is a month before Independence Day.  Associate a forgotten chore with one you always remember to do.  For example, if you forget to water your plants, put your watering can on the kitchen table.  If you forget to take your evening pill, put it by your toothbrush.

Visualization

This means forming a picture in your mind’s eye of what you want to remember.  If trying to recall something from the past, use your imagination to re-live the situation.  For example, if you can’t find your keys, picture the last time you used them.

For something you need to do in the future, picture yourself doing it.  For example, if you need to get coffee at the store, picture yourself buying it and leaving the store with it.

Bizarre or unusual images are easier to recall, so imagine a huge bag of coffee or drinking 100 cups. You can also link items together in your mind’s eye to recall more than one thing.

For example, you have to pick up cleaning and get propane gas for the barbecue.  Imagine gasoline spilling all over your clean clothes.  Humorous, emotional or bizarre images are easier to remember.

For lengthy or more complicated memory challenges, there are four types of more elaborate visualization strategies you can use to help memory.

1. The Link Method

This is a way of recalling a list of items by relating the first one to the second one and the second one to the third, etc, similar to the example above of picking up cleaning and getting propane gas.  However, multiple items or concepts can be used.

For example, suppose you want to recall a list of items to be covered in a speech you are giving to your employees:  re-enrollment in health insurance is coming up next month and there are changes in insurance choices, new phone system, parking lot resurfacing planned, price changes in product, retirement party for Bill Morgan, and new product development.

Visualize in your mind’s eye a doctor talking on a giant phone that is stuck in tar in a parking lot that is covered with money. Bill Morgan is trying to pick it up and he has the new product you’re developing on his head.

For remembering lists of items, visualize them interacting with each other.

For example, suppose you wanted to remember these items to be discussed at the PTA meeting:  get a contractor for painting the fences, order band uniforms, contact city council re: installing new traffic light, candy sale money due in 2 weeks, and set the date of the school carnival.

You could visualize a huge fence that is hot pink being painted by band members in uniform who are also eating candy. There is a huge traffic light on top of the fence and the whole scenario takes place under a carnival tent.

2. The Story Method

This involves weaving the items to be remembered into a story and is similar to the link method above, but items do not necessarily need to be recalled in a particular order.

For example, say you want to remember errands for the day: get gas, go to the cleaners, get milk, take the dog to the vet, get shoes repaired and order flowers for your mother.

Visualize a story in which gas has spilled on your clean clothes and old shoes and they are on fire.  You put out the fire with milk and your dog is drinking the milk.  A bystander feels sorry for you and gives you a huge bouquet of flowers.

3. The Loci Method (p. “low-si”)

The Loci memorization technique, also knows as the memory palace,  can be used for recalling speeches using key words, shopping lists, things to do, names and naturally ordered material such as the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights.

The Method of Loci is the oldest known method of memory compensation.  Its origins date back to a story that goes like this:

There was a poet named Simonides who was at a banquet and was called out for a message.  While he was gone the building collapsed and all occupants were crushed beyond recognition.  He was able to identify them by remembering where they sat. This method is based on the concept that memory can improve with mental images of the locations of items.

Greek orators would remember long speeches without notes by using objects to represent key ideas in their speeches. They would imagine these objects in various locations around a familiar building and retrieve these images as they mentally progressed through their speech. This is said to be the origin of the saying, “In the first place…..”

To use the Method of Loci you need to establish a series of familiar locations, or loci,  in your mental filing system.

For example if you want to use your home, you could use locations such as:  your front porch your living room couch, your dining table, your kitchen sink, your hallway, your bathtub, bedroom, laundry room, main closet.

• Take time to establish these. They will be permanent.
• They should flow in a clear and natural order.
• Avoid two similar loci such as hall closet and bedroom closet.
• Avoid doors, unless very special. There are too many in a building.

So using the example above of recalling the items to be in your speech to your employees,  visualize a doctor on your front porch and he is demanding health insurance premiums.

Move to your second loci, your living room couch and imagine a huge phone sitting there, about to collapse the couch.

Go on to your third loci, your dining room table and it is covered with black tar.  Move to your next loci your kitchen sink and imagine thousands of $100 dollar bills spilling out.

In the next loci, your hallway, you can’t get through because there are thousands of widgets blocking your way.  You fight your way through to the bathroom and find Bill Morgan taking a bath.  You could add 3 more ideas to your list by using the remaining loci, bedroom, laundry room and main closet.

One advantage of the method of loci is that the items are not necessarily linked together in order so if you forget one item in the link, you can move to your next location.  Then later return to the forgotten item in its location.

Names of people can be recalled by visualizing them in the locations in which you met or know them.  For example, their offices at work or location in the classroom.  Geographical material is learned easier from a map than when just listed.

If this method works well for you, you can use more than one set of loci, such as one for home, one for work, or even your body.

4. The Peg Method

This method is good for recalling items in order. The trick is to associate key words with numbers in the list.

Here’s an example of the peg method of memorization where we rhyme a keyword with the number on the list :

1 – bun

2 –  shoe

3 – tree

4 – door

5 – hive

6 – sticks

7 – heaven

8 – gate

9 – wine

10 – hen

Next, associate the item to be remembered with the key word.  So for a list of errands:

• Cancel the newspaper.  1 bun – Imagine a newspaper sandwiched in between the parts of the bun
• Ask neighbor to pick up mail. 2 shoe – A letter is stuck to your shoe.
• Take car for servicing.  3 tree – Your car is stuck in a tree.
• Call the kennel.  4 – door – Your dog is peeing on your front door.
• Check to see if boss has signed vacation request. 5 – hive.  Imagine boss with a hive on his head.
• Notify the gardener. 6 – sticks.  Gardener with sticks in his ears.
• Make dental appointment for when you return.  7 – heaven.  Imagine your dentist in heaven, maybe with angel wings.
• Cancel your son’s tennis lesson.  8 – gate.  Imagine a gate made of tennis racquets.
• Re-program the sprinkler system.  9 – wine.  Imagine your lawn being watered with wine.
• Return books to the library.  10 – hen.  There is a hen sitting on a 10 foot stack of books.

This method can be used for single items such as a grocery list or for concepts to be presented in a speech.  Remember that bizarre, funny, unusual or emotional images will be easier to recall.

Verbal Elaboration

Verbal elaboration methods involve using verbal rather than visual cues.

• Key word sentences:  This is similar to the link or story method, but all items or concepts are put into one sentence.  Each key word in the sentence represents an item to be remembered.  This is better for shorter lists when the order is not important. For example, to remember the first 5 errands above, your sentence could be  My boss was driving my car and saw my neighbor walking my dog with my paper and mail in his backpack.
• First letter cuing:  This method is good for lists, especially when order is important. 
  • Acronyms:  Each letter stands for a word.  For example, the familiar ROY G BIV for the  colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  Or for a grocery list, MOAN for milk, oranges, apples and (wal)nuts.
  • Acrostics:  Each word stands for the beginning letter of the item to be remembered.  For example,  the lines in the treble clef: Every Good Boy Does Fine for EGBDF.  Or 4 things to remember when you leave your car: Little KIds Like Pickles for lights, keys, lock and (where did I) park.
• Rhyme or rhythm:  Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Or remember the time of your dental appointment:  “I’m blue at two.”  For treating shock:  If the face is red, raise the head.  If the face is pale, raise the tail.
• Chunking or Categorization.  Groups items to be remembered into smaller sets of similar items.  For example to memorize your grocery list you could group the items into meats, daily, fruits, vegetables.  For remembering items to be covered in a speech about gardening, there might be 3 items dealing with soil,  two with growing seeds, 3 items with pruning, etc

Compensation

We can compensate for our imperfect memories by using physical tools at our disposal.

“The faintest ink is stronger than the best memory.” – Confucius

If you want to remember something, write it down!  This is another common sense strategy we often forget to use.  Everyone should have a detailed calendar and list of things to do.  Most people keep this information in their phone, but there is nothing wrong with old fashioned paper and pencil tools.

• A memory notebook:  paper or digital, is very helpful and should contain at least 3 basic sections:
  • Reference material such as names, numbers, addresses, medications.
  • List of things to do, including note when it was completed.
  • Notes or things to remember.  For example:  questions for my doctor, my son’s new job, health information

• An annotated calendar contains more details than most people normally enter.  For example, you might want to remember the name of a restaurant you enjoyed and who accompanied you.  If you watched a movie and want to remember the name of it, you could also enter this on your calendar.  However, don’t clutter your calendar with information you don’t really want to recall.

• Sticky notes posted in conspicuous and appropriate places.

• Write on your hand:  This is helpful if you don’t have a piece of paper.

• Set alarms on your phone or even oven timer to remind you to do something at a certain time.

• Send messages to yourself.  Email yourself or send a phone message to yourself.

• Object cues: This is similar to the string around your finger. Turn your ring or watch around or put it on the opposite hand or arm as a visual and tactile reminder that you need to do something.

• Keep a notepad by your bedside and in your car. There are also a number of apps you can download to your phone that serve as reminder notes with timers. Evernote, Alarmed, are two popular ones.

The Bottom Line

Memory can be improved by first paying attention and deciding to remember.  This includes awareness of the possibility of forgetting.

Once you have acknowledged that you may forget and you have paid attention to the information you want to remember you can use some of these strategies to facilitate recall.  Experiment with varied techniques and use what works for you.  And have fun!