In today’s fast-paced times, we all want our tasks to be done super fast. But we tend to forget that our brain is just any other organ that works very hard and needs rest. Overusing it or pushing it too much can cause brain fog, fatigue, reduced focus, memory lapses, and eventually burnout.
Amidst this, here are a few smart habits that can help you protect your brain and improve your memory:
1. Practice the “Mind Palace” Technique
This age-old method involves visualizing and creating a safe space( just like your home)and putting small pieces of information. Later on, whenever you need to recall, you just walk inside your imagined space. It might sound a bit unusual, but this is one of the effective memory improvement tips.
2. Quality Sleep Is No Joke
Sleep plays a great role in memory increment, which is often overlooked. Sleep is actually where your brain creates a room for improvement and reboots itself. Similar to an overloaded laptop that slows down and starts to hang, our brain also gets overloaded and sluggish and needs quality sleep to reboot and revive. Restoring your memory, focus, and clarity can help sharpen your brain.
Tip: Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep daily, and when possible, recharge with 10–15-minute power naps. This simple tip can improve your brain function.
3. Make Your Brain Do Some Running
Improving your memory can be enjoyable when you challenge your brain. When it works harder to read, process, and make sense of information, it learns faster and retains it longer. Fun brain-boosters like puzzles, sudoku, chess, and memory card games not only entertain but also sharpen your mind effectively.
4. Exercise and Meditate Regularly
The key to a good memory goes through a path of regular exercise and meditation. Exercise helps deliver a good amount of blood flow to the brain, which means improved concentration and better learning, thinking, and understanding. Alternatively, according to various studies, meditating regularly for around 10-15 minutes can actually increase your brain’s grey matter (the area responsible for memory and learning) and help your mind calm down.
Tip: Simple activities like yoga and walking can also be helpful and can create a significant impact.
5. Don’t Forget to Take a Break
Your brain hates the concept of unfinished tasks. Starting with a task and leaving it in the middle will create a phenomenon called the “cliffhanger effect”. Your mind keeps working on it in the background, much like an open tab that refuses to close.
6. Input and Retrieval
Improve your memory with this old trick that enhances memory and concentration. Here’s how it works: when you squeeze your right palm while learning, it activates the left hemisphere of your brain, which is key for processing and storing new information. Later, squeezing your left palm while recalling engages the right hemisphere, which aids in retrieving that stored memory, helping you remember it for longer.
7. Quietly Repeat and Recall
While learning something, when you speak it out or when you try to teach it to someone else, you tend to learn it better. Why? Because just like tunes that have a repetitive pattern, the brain’s biggest learning tool is ‘repetition’. This not only activates visual but also auditory learning pathways. This dual-sensory pathway improves your memory retention.
8. Smell and Memory Connection
Our sense of smell is unique among all other senses as they are directly connected to our brain’s limbic system (the part responsible for long-term memory and emotions). Just like a particular aroma or fragrance can bring out some old childhood memories or some loved one’s scent that, when smelled again, reminds you of them. Similarly, if you link a certain smell to what you’re learning, smelling it again later can help you recall the information faster and more easily.
Bringing It All Together
Your memory is something that can be upgraded just like your skills, always ready to be evolved into something better! These tricks may look normal, but when paired with your daily routine habits, they can change your life. Your brain will not give up on you as long as you are giving up on it. So start today and see unbelievable results. Improve your memory at your fingertips.
FAQs
1. How to boost your memory naturally?
You can enhance your memory just by following some tips that include having quality sleep (7-9 hours), a healthy diet, mental exercise (brain booster games or puzzles), as well as physical exercise (yoga, meditation, daily walk). These simple steps work like wonders if followed religiously.
2. How do I sharpen my memory?
To improve your memory, you need to combine mental as well as physical activities. Engaging in active learning, like teaching what you learned to yourself in front of the mirror or to another person, or challenging your brain with different problem-solving tasks, or simply practicing meditation for 15 minutes. Physical activities enhance blood flow while powernaps or short breaks reboot and revive your brain. Consistent use of both of these can bring out good results.
3. What is the best way to memorise what you read/study?
-Repeat it from time to time( slow learning but effective)
-Teach it to somebody or recite it out( this will activate both speech and sight learning)
– Use smell and study for better retrieval.
-Start quickly blinking for 5-10 seconds before studying. Giving your brain a quick refresh.
4. What if I try all these and still feel my memory is getting worse?
If you don’t see improvement, there could be a lot of reasons; it could be due to sleep deprivation, stress, or even an underlying condition. Seeing a doctor can help identify the cause. Seeking help is as important as breathing, so don’t ignore your health.
(The article is reviewed by Dr.Subita Alagh, Senior Executive)
Recommended Reads:
Feeling Spaced Out After Screen Time? 6 Easy Ways to Reduce Brain Fog and Digital Fatigue
Top 5 Ways Meditation Supports Brain Health and Mental Clarity
Reference:
Hölzel BK, Carmody J, Vangel M, et al. Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Res. 2011;191(1):36-43. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21071182/