13 Proven Strategies to Improve Your Memory

Do you have trouble remembering things?

Like when you have a list of chores but you always forget to do one or two?

Or you need to give someone a callback, but it completely slips your mind?

Memory issues can be quite troublesome, especially when you forget very important things.

Sometimes even people and names can be hard to remember, putting you in an awkward position at a social gathering.

Have you ever forgotten your keys in the car and locked the door? Or missed out on an important appointment?

Well, if it’s any solace, you’re not the only one.

A lot of us have memory issues, especially as we grow older and our minds grow weaker.

And it’s not just about the mind; as your ages increases, so does your list of responsibilities and priorities.

While we do manage to delegate and organize ourselves, slip-ups are common, and we are human, after all.

As children, we have sharper minds and not much to worry about, giving us the opportunity to remember more and not forget things too easily.

However, growing older comes with its pros and cons.

So, how well our brain functions and the improvement of our memory capacity CAN be controlled by us and the habits that we adopt.

What are some habits that can help in keeping our memory strong, irrespective of age?

Here’s a lowdown:

Brain Exercises

There are a number of brain stimulating exercises that help with remembering and recalling things better.

Many of these exercises are specially designed to train the mind and make it sharper.

These exercises are also called “Neurobic” exercises, just like cardio for your brain.

Some of these exercises are: crossword puzzles, memory games, memorize song lyrics, trying to solve math equations, word games like Scrabble, Sudoku, playing chess and so on.

There are also a number of memory games as mobile applications that are designed to sharpen your brain cells.

These games are actually quite effective, and the great thing is that most of them are suitable for people of all ages!

Diet

What you eat can greatly affect the way your brain functions.

Let’s look at a list of foods that are proven to be brilliant for the cognitive and memory abilities of the brain:

• Avocado
• Fish
• All types of berries
• Eggs
• Dark chocolate
• Walnuts
• Olive oil
• Leafy vegetables
• Almonds and other dry fruits

Most of these food items contain a combination of vitamin A, E and K and some contain Omega-3 essential fatty acids which all considered amazing nutrients for the brain.

Even eating a balanced diet which contains all essential nutrients is a good way to keep your brain’s health in check.

It is important to take note that artificial preservatives, sweeteners, trans fats and oily, fried food are all not just harmful to the body but to the brain as well.

Fast food and junk food are loaded with these substances and are also injected with artificial nutrients which only look good on paper, but have a rather negative effect on the body in the long run.

They inhibit the movement of essential nutrients through the body and to the brain and fill the system with waste products that are hard to filter out.

Inhibited growth eventually leads to the nervous system is adversely affected.

So, keeping a keen check on your diet is inevitable!

Notes and Lists

Making notes is more helpful than it is perceived to be.

Not just notes, even reminders and special notebooks with planners, or calendars with bullet points are useful tools to remember things and not miss out on chores and details.

Even phones have the facility to keep reminders with alarms, to make sure you don’t miss important appointments and events.

Another common way to remember things is keeping post-it notes around places that need you to not forget something.

Post it notes can also be used to make sure someone else doesn’t forget something that you need them to remember for you.

Physical Activity

Exercising is probably one of those all-around solutions that have multiple benefits.

While it keeps your body and health in check, it also refreshes your mind from time to time and keeps your brain young and healthy.

Constant exercising allows continuous blood flow, uninterrupted movement of nerve signals throughout the body and also pumps essential hormones into the bloodstream, making sure there is no deficiency and your brain and body are right on track.

Even as you get older, it’s important to introduce some form of physical activity into your daily routine.

Doctors prescribe 45 minutes of exercise a day to reduce the problems of bad memory and lack of calculative thinking.

Sufficient Sleep

It’s for good reason that a lot of doctors and nutritionists put emphasis on getting ample sleep every day.

A regulated sleep pattern has a lot of benefits both physically and mentally.

The more rest you get, the more your body is rejuvenated and relaxed, ready to take on the following day’s workload.

What happens when you don’t sleep enough?

Your brain and body are tired, you feel restless, and your mood is sour too, which ultimately leads to outbursts, forgetting important details and the whole day gets misplaced in terms of your routine.

This is why you must make sure that you don’t mess with your sleeping schedule and get a good amount of rest.

Cut Down on Intoxication

Yes, alcohol and cigarettes and other such substances can be addictive.

However, there’s a reason they are referred to as “intoxication”.

Alcohol consumption in larger volumes has proven to be devastating for your cognitive abilities and also increases the rate at which your brain ages.

Your brain’s age doesn’t necessarily have to be in sync with your body’s age.

Intoxicating substances only hinder and delay your necessary growth, making your body weaker and more susceptible to cognitive dysfunction.

So, when you decide to have your next drink, consider going slow!

Memory Supplements

There are a few memory supplements available that are non-harmful to the body and can be taken in regulated doses.

Omega-3 tablets are a great way to supplement your body with essential brain nutrients, and even vitamin A, E and Iron supplements help with better blood circulation and are memory enhancers.

Even multi-vitamin tablets have several benefits and have none to minimal side-effects.

People of all ages can consume these supplements, and of course, taking them in the right dosage and with a subscription from a professional is essential too.

If you’re looking for an extra boost, you can supercharge your cognitive abilities with brain supplements available on the market.

Meditation and Yoga

Keeping the mind calm can make your life so much easier.

With all the different stress and responsibilities on your plate, overthinking and losing track of your thoughts can be quite problematic.

This is where the wonders of meditation and yoga come in, which has become increasingly popular over time for being the easiest way to keep a calm and composed mind.

Meditation doesn’t have to be done professionally or with an elaborate procedure.

Just turn on some pleasing music in the background, sit down in a quiet place and close your eyes.

There are a number of breathing patterns which help with controlling your blood pressure and heart rate.

Yoga, on the other hand, is brilliant for increasing flexibility and stability and gives you more control over your mind and body.

Yoga isn’t restricted to any age or gender.

In fact, the older you get, the more yoga helps your body to cope with the effects of aging and keeps you feeling younger for longer.

Even meditation keeps your brain feeling healthy and less hassled, giving you the peace of mind that you deserve.

Read More

Reading is a habit that should be cultivated right from a young age.

Reading actually works as one of the best, most effective brain exercises.

It helps you remember details better, keeps your mind engaged, tests your imagination and also stimulates your brain into thinking more and reasoning and analyzing better.

All of this and more make reading a very useful tool for ensuring that your cognitive abilities do not diminish with time.

Even writing and creating your own material is a brilliant way to engage your brain cells in productive activity.

Learn a New Language

It is a proven fact that knowing more than one language, at least at the intermediate level, helps with enhancing your brain’s logical and memory abilities.

People who can speak and/or understand more than one language are usually smarter and more analytical because their brain can process information faster than usual.

Even learning a new language is a form of brain training and it is also an essential skill that comes in handy for many situations.

So, go ahead and start learning a language you’ve always wanted to know, and you’ll find yourself feeling sharper and smarter too!

Stimulate the Mind

The best way to stimulate your mind is to engage in activities that make you feel elated and happy.

Happiness is a state of mind that gives your brain positive signals and helps it sort out things better.

Whether it’s singing, dancing, playing a game or going on an adventure, all of these are ways to stimulate your brain into happiness and a state of contentment.

It’s a fact that happy people seldom forget things because their minds are neither stressed nor exhausted.

Get in Touch with Nature

We are mostly surrounded by concrete structures and man-made marvels, which are all great to look at and are a testament to progress; the real question here is, how good are they for our brain development?

Taking a walk in nature, soaking in the greenery and most importantly, breathing in fresh, unadulterated oxygen are sure shot ways of reviving your brain cell and just detoxifying yourself from head to toe.

The more in touch you are with nature, the better your brain functions.

After all, we are creatures of nature too, and it’s important to let ourselves stay in touch with our roots.

Learn to De-Stress

Talk to a therapist or a loved one, take a holiday when you’re stressed, switch off all your device and just rest for a while; basically, do whatever you can to help you de-stress, because stress is the brain’s greatest enemy.

When there’s too much to process with too little time and a sense of awareness that is diminishing, your mind shuts down.

And this is when you start forgetting things.

The memory is almost instantly affected when the brain decides to shut down due to overload.

Can you imagine what happens to a computer or a machine when it overloads its capacity?

It begins to malfunction and isn’t as productive as it should be.

This is very similar to what happens to someone who isn’t de-stressing themselves from time to time; they become less productive, their memory capacity is diminished, and on the whole, it’s just one big heap of trouble.

Which is why, no matter how tight your schedule might be, you must make space for different ways to bust that stress.

Conclusion

The brain is nothing but the engine of the body; as long as the engine works fine and is in good shape, the rest of the body works well too.

The minute you feel that your memory is becoming poor and your mind isn’t working like it used to, make up your mind and take action!

The above-mentioned tips are all tried and tested, which will hopefully help you gain your initial brain health back.

Whatever the situation, there is always a solution.

For someone who is older, memory problems are a given.

With age, the brain’s cells are produced at a slower rate, and dying cells are replaced, but not as fast as they do in a younger person.

So, as you get older, you must make sure to take doubly good care of your mental health and not let age and time catch up with you.

It’s your mind, so go ahead and take charge!