The art of memory: Top tips to train your brain

Natasha Legge | 20th May 2019

Do you find yourself struggling to remember what you did last weekend? For many of us, using our phones and devices to recall information means that we’re losing the ability to train our brain.

 

World-leading memory expert, Chester Santos, has developed simple techniques for making the most of your knowledge retention and limiting damage to your memory.

 

1. Visualise – take whatever you are trying to remember and turn it into a simple image or
series of images. We are very good at remembering things that we see.


2. Involve additional senses –
the more senses that you involve, the more of your brain you’ll
be using and the more connections in your mind you’ll be building to the information, so it
will be much easier to remember.


3. Use your imagination –
make what you are seeing in your mind crazy, unusual and
extraordinary so that you can take advantage of the psychological aspect of your memory.


4. Build a story –
Let me show you know I mean by trying to remember this list of words –
monkey, iron, rope, kite, house, paper, shoe, worm, envelope, pencil.

Instead of memorising the list with brute force, try and visualise the story I describe. Picture
a monkey dancing around making monkey noises. The monkey picks up an iron. The iron
starts to fall but a rope attaches itself to the iron. You look up the rope and see the other
end attached to a kite. The kite now crashes into a house which is covered in paper. A shoe
appears and starts to walk on the paper. The shoe smells bad so you look inside to find a
worm crawling around. The worm jumps into an envelope and a pencil starts to write on the
envelope.


Read through the story just one more time whilst visualising everything described. See it like
a movie or cartoon playing in your head. Now, go ahead and recite all of the random words
from memory simple by going through the story in your mind and recalling each major
object that you encounter.


5. Review before you sleep –
review important information just before you go to sleep. You’ll
wake up the next morning knowing the information much better than you did the day
before.


6. Use it or lose it –
using your memory more will strengthen it; your brain is like a muscle that
gets stronger with practice.


7. Prioritise sleep –
lack of sleep is one of the top memory killers. You need to get a regular
seven hours per night if possible.


8. Reduce Stress –
too much stress is also a memory killer. Try and do regular aerobic exercise
as it reduces stress and also increases blood flow to the brain.


9. Avoid excess alcohol –
try and avoid drinking too much alcohol frequently. In the short
term, such as a series of parties during the holiday season, your brain can fully recover
afterwards. However, too much alcohol on a regular basis can have a long-term negative
impact on your memory as your brain takes longer and longer to recover.

 

Chester Santos is a world leading memory skills expert, speaker and author
See http://www.InternationalManofMemory.com for more information.