Education

10 quick ways to improve memory

By
Phil Kwok
|
2 min read

No matter who you are, or who your child is, we could all do with a better memory. So, before you forget what this article is about, we’ll get right down to the point with 10 quick ways you and your child can improve memory and recall.

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1. Visualize Ideas

Next time you want to remember something, draw it out using a diagram or mind map. This will activate your visual memory, making it easier to recall the material when you need it.

2. Pick the right font

Believe it or not, the font you are using can affect your ability to recall information. So next time you want to remember something, use Times New Roman. No surprise then that this font is the most common for newspapers and journals.

3. Take a walk

Just a 20-minute walk can boost cognitive performance and memory. Remember this next time you, or your child, have an exam to take!

4. Study before you sleep

When you sleep, your brain solidifies and consolidates new information that you have learnt when awake. Just make sure that you are focusing and that you’re not studying when sleepy.

5. Use “spaced repetition”

This technique involves splitting up material into smaller, more digestible pieces and then reviewing them independently. This allows you to remember the information in more memorable pieces, as opposed to all at once.

6. Study in different places

Did you know that simply studying in a different place can improve your recall? New locations and environments force your brain to create new associations which lead to stronger memory.

7. Create acronyms (and acrostics)

This one should come as no surprise. Take the first letter of each word and create a new word out of them. Acrostics can be used to: simply take the first letter of each word and make a sentence using words that begin with those letters.

8. Create narratives

String newly learn information together like in a story. This will make the material more meaningful, in turn making it more memorable.

9. Take frequent breaks

Next time you’re trying to study something new, try taking a 5 minute break every half an hour. You’ll stay focused and make your studying sessions more effective. So next time you or your child has been studying for 30 minutes or more, remind him to switch off for 5 minutes and take a break!

10. Utilize patterns

Much like “spaced repetition”, in order to create patterns, one must first break down the information into smaller pieces. Once this is done, you can then find patterns in the information that link it all together.

We’ll leave you with a video that goes over a few other techniques, in case these don’t help!

Do you or your child use any of these? If so, which have you found to be most effective? If not, what other techniques have you found to be more successful?

If you have anything you'd like us to cover in our next post, let us know here!

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