Designate a place for everything. Make
duplicate keys for emergencies, and have a key holder. Remember to replace the
keys every time and you'll have one less area to improve your memory.
To remember to pay your bills and reply to
correspondence, have a mailing sorting system where you attend to your mail as
soon as possible. If you only have a few things in your 'to do' or 'action'
folder, you will not need to rely on your memory to know when the electricity
account is due.
Keep a diary to help you plan the minutiae
of your life. Include your to-do lists for the day, week and month. Your diary
can become a portable filing cabinet for phone numbers, addresses, birthdays,
medical information, phone messages, inspirational thoughts, bridge-playing
strategies etc. The act of writing something down reinforces it in your memory.
Make sure to look at your notebook several times a day.
Understand your own style of learning. Most
people are visual learners, remembering best what they see. They benefit the
most from memory notebooks and signs. Others are auditory learners, remembering
best what they hear. They benefit from talking out loud or using a tape
recorder. A few people are kinaesthetic learners, remembering best what they
experience. They will benefit most from writing things down or acting them out.
Knowing your strength will help your memory run at peak efficiency. To enhance
your memory, try using all three learning modes.
Whether its picture puzzles in books or simple
objects in a tray, you can improve your memory by practicing remembering what
you see. Ask someone to put ten different things on a try. Study it for 30
seconds before removing it and then write down what you saw. Practice until you
get a 100 per cent score. If you neither have the time nor the patience for
such games, pick up a magazine and look at a picture. Close the magazine and
try to remember details such as how many people were in the picture? What kind
of shoes was the woman wearing? Was the car blue or black?
If you are spiritually inclined, memorise
favourite parts of your book of faith otherwise try more secular things such as
the wives of King Henry VIII, the films starring Al Pacino or the lyrics to a
song that you like.
By James Gunaseelan
