10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Memory

Many of the methods for improving memory – like exercise, chunking, building associations or brain training – involve a fair amount of effort. So here are ten ways to improve your memory that are supported by science.

And the good news is that with two or three exceptions, most people can do these with very little effort or expense.

1. Clench your fist

If you squeeze your right hand into a fist during learning, it can aid memory. Afterwards, to aid recall, squeeze your left hand into a fist.

In study by Propper et al. (2013), participants who squeezed their right fist during learning and their left during recall, did better than control groups clenching the other fist or not clenching at all.

2. Fight stereotypes

If you think your memory will get much worse with age, then it probably will. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Older people who are reminded of stereotypes about age and memory perform worse in tests (Hess et al., 2003).

So, suffer fewer memory problems with age by paying no heed to the stereotypes.

3. Chew gum

Chewing gum can help you stay focused on a task and so improve your memory.

A study by Morgan et al. (2013) tested the audio memory of those chewing gum, compared with those who didn’t.

The gum chewers had improved short-term memory compared with non-chewers.

4. Have a nap

One of the many benefits of sleep is that it makes memory stronger. That’s because the brain is surprisingly busy during sleep and one of the things it’s doing is working on our memories.

Not only does sleep make our memories stronger, it also restructures and reorganises them.

Studies have shown, for example, that people are more likely to dream about things with a higher value to them, and are subsequently more likely to recall those things (Oudiette et al., 2013).

And, if what’s important to you is learning to play the piano, you could even try listening to the piece while you nap, as one study has shown this helps cement the memory (Anthony et al., 2012).


5. Stop smoking

Although the physical benefits of quitting smoking are well known, it’s less well known that it will also benefit memory.

That’s because smoking damages the memory, and quitting can almost restore it to normal function (Hefferman et al., 2011).

That’s one more reason to quit or to be happy that you don’t smoke.

6. Go for a walk

Many people suffer memory problems with advancing years. But, walking just six miles a week helps to preserve memory in old age.

One study has found that older people who walked six to nine miles per week had greater gray matter volume nine years later than those who were more sedentary (Erickson et al., 2010).

7. Read Facebook posts

One study has found that people’s memories are much stronger for posts on Facebook than for sentences from books, or even people’s faces.

Mickes et al. (2013) found that Facebook posts were probably easier to remember because they were ‘mind-ready’: they were already in an easily digestible format and written in spontaneous natural speech.

Facebook is also full of juicy gossip, which probably doesn’t hurt!

8. Sniff rosemary

The smell of the essential oil, rosemary, has been shown to improve long-term memory, mental arithmetic and prospective memory–remembering to do things at certain times.

In one study, participants who sat in a room infused with the scent of rosemary performed better on a memory task than a control group (McCready & Moss, 2013).

9. Lose weight

Like smoking, putting on weight is associated with memory problems–but these are also reversible.

Lose some of the weight and memory function is likely to return.

Petterson et al. (2013) found that older, overweight, women whose weight dropped from an average of 85kg (188 pounds) to 77kg (171 pounds), over six months, saw improved memory function.

10. Turn off the computer and sit quietly

Now that you’ve read this, turn off the computer, tablet or phone and sit quietly.

That’s because when we are idle, the brain is actually still performing important memory functions.

Professor Erik Fransén explains:

“The brain is made to go into a less active state, which we might think is wasteful; but is probably when memory consolidation takes place.

When we max out our active states with technology we remove from the brain part of the processing, and it can’t work.”

I hope the tips here help you to be outstanding.

That is all –

David

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Motivational Monday: 12 Mantras To Keep You Inspired

Many career experts and industry leaders have written about the benefits of writing aspirations on Post-it notes and keeping inspirational quotes close to your workspace. Imagine the total awesomeness that occurs when you combine the two ideas and write motivational mantras on Post-its? It will be enough to keep you going no matter what S**t your workday throws at you.

I know that it can be hard - and time-consuming - to find the mantra that perfectly describes where you are right now. So to help you out, here are 12 mantras you can scribble on a sticky note that’ll keep you motivated no matter what.

Another huge plus: All of these mantras are under 140 characters, so (hint, hint) you can spread your new found wisdom on Twitter, too!

‘No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.’ Robin Williams

‘The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.’ Thomas Jefferson

‘Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.’ Jim Rohn

‘You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.’ George Lucas

‘The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.’ Arthur C. Clarke

‘If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.’ Thomas A. Edison

‘Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.’ Vince Lombardi

‘What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.’ Margaret Cousins

‘There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.’ Edith Wharton

‘Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.’ Sam Levenson

‘You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.’ Albert Einstein

I hope this helps you to be outstanding.

That is all - 

David

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How To Make Your Own Luck

How to make your own luck in life is going to be a title that for some people will push their buttons.

If you feel downtrodden by luck at the moment, it’s probably annoying to hear that you can make your own. Especially when someone like me who for various reasons – birthplace, education, family, etc. has acknowledged his privileged position writes this post.

Just know I know that.

But don’t go shutting off just yet. I am a believer in creating our own luck. And if that’s something you want for yourself ignore that little voice that is calling me a lucky prick and read on. Good luck, a change of circumstances perhaps, is just around the corner for you! Let’s get started with how to make your own luck.

Ready?

Get lucky tip 1: What is lucky?

Know what you want. Or in a broader sense, know what you want your life to look like. Lucky for some would be stumbling over a pot of gold, for others it will be people around them who love them. Decide what your version of a charmed life is. Decide how luck is going to show up for you and to do that, you need to know yourself. Where are you planning to make your own luck? What areas? And importantly, why?

Maybe when you take a look you will find you are already pretty darn lucky. I know I did.

Get lucky tip 2: Preparation

The lucky people you know probably all have one thing in common. Preparation. They prepare for anything and everything they want to arrive. They are ready to get lucky. Maybe you knew that luck is something that gets behind those who are ready for it. Maybe not. But whatever position you are starting from here, it’s time to prepare yourself for good things. Want them. Expect them (this can be a tough) and prepare for them.

Get lucky tip 3: Opportunity

Knock on every door, window and crevice for opportunities. To be lucky you need to have your eyes wide open. To make your own luck, you have to be willing to jump when opportunity shows up. Some would say that an opportunity appearing is lucky.

Looking for opportunity in everything is a habit you can train yourself into. It’s a practice. If you start to see opportunity everywhere, your lucky break is closer than you think. And you know what happens then? When it shows up you have to leap on it, grab hold of it and go for the ride. Opportunity is like that.

Get lucky tip 4: Work

Work. Work and work and work and work until you look up one day and you’re the luckiest son-of-a-bitch there is. When you make your own luck, you find that you are never short of it. Bad luck is something that happens in life and soon is behind you. Good luck is something that actually, you work for most of the time.

You buy the ticket when you want to win the lottery, you send off that proposal or application for the job you want. When you work, there’s something that happens out there in the world, you get lucky. You work so hard that the things you want show up through your sheer will. Scoff if you like, but I feel I am right. Ask anyone who has what you want in life, I’d almost guarantee it didn’t fall from the sky into their laps.

Get lucky tip 5: It’s all about you

What goes up, must come down and around and sideways and whatever, just go with it. Luck is one of those things that is only as powerful as you think it is. So in a nutshell this post has been about nothing but backing yourself, doing the work, looking for opportunities and taking the leap.

Surprise. It’s all about you. You get to make your own luck, you decide, you are the driving force behind your own life. And yes things can happen, a lot of things in this life are out of our immediate control, but you get to say how life goes for you.

I hope this helps you to be outstanding.

That is all - 

David

The Pinocchio Effect Is Real

Your nose knows when you are lying.

But unlike the famous wooden boy, it doesn’t grow — it heats up.

Using thermography, researchers at Spain’s University of Granada found the temperature of your nose (and nearby orbital muscles) rises when you fib.

Here’s why: the insular cortex in your brain, which regulates body temperature and is tied to self-awareness, may also have physiological connections to your nose, the research suggests.

I hope this helps you to be outstanding.

That is all - 

David

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