There are certain behaviors that degrade our memory, says a renowned memory doctor and author of more than 20 books on mind, Richard Restak. This article will highlight those bad mind habits as well as some useful tips to improve focus and attain clarity of thinking, helping you excel in your work environment.
Let’s hear best memory tips from decades of neurological experience.
Important: These memory improvement tips are taken from Dr. Restak’s book “The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind,” which is talked by The New York Times Author Hope Reese.
Tip # 1: Pay More Attention.
According to Dr Restak, “Inattention is the biggest cause for memory difficulties”. It means your mind couldn’t encode the memory properly, he added.
At the workplace, most memory lapses occur because you don’t pay attention to things when they happen.
For instance, your manager is briefing you on a task, giving you important details about your duties and work. You find it easy and doable and start to lose focus on the details. Later you feel a need to ask for the details again.
Or maybe, on the contrary, you get anxious and find the task challenging, making way for uncomfortable thoughts in mind while skipping even the easy details.
Both attitudes are deceiving. A balanced approach towards such situations could help you focus on the event at hand and build a work strategy later. This will save you time and get you started with work right away.
One way to improve your attention, when you learn new information, is to visualize the words. According to Dr. Restak, having a picture associated with your thinking improves recall.
For example, as I tried to remember Dr. Restak’s name, I noticed it has the word REST in it, and I visualized a doctor suggesting REST to its patients. Hence Dr. Restak remembered!
Tip # 2: Find Regular Everyday Memory Challenges.
Practicing memorizing information is an effective exercise to improve your Working Memory; the one that lies between immediate recall and long-term memory. It’s based on intelligence, concentration and achievement.
Your working memory is the most critical of the three memory types and Restak emphasizes on practicing daily to improve it.
Make a grocery list on paper but don’t see it at the shop unless you pick items by recalling from memory. Once you think you are done, take out the list (if necessary) and check how much you remembered.
During the mid day, probably during a break, recall what activities you did since you woke up. Recall each action, from getting out of bed to having breakfast, the people you met, and the number of times you checked your phone.
Surprisingly, as you recall your activities you would notice that it’s difficult to recall every instant and might feel stuck in a few too. But with time you will become fast in recalling, an indication of improved working memory.
Tip # 3: Play Games.
There are plenty of fun games that can help you improve your working memory (retaining information and manipulating in your mind).
Do you know how many Prime Ministers have been appointed in Pakistan since its independence?
Take a pen and paper and write down the names of 31 Prime Ministers of Pakistan; starting from Liaqat Ali Khan to Mian Shehbaz Sharif. Now, do it in the reverse order; starting from the latest PM to the first PM. Now list down only those who are from PPP, PMLN, and PTI separately.
If you like, you may play this on the players of your favorite sports team, or Ottoman Emperors for example.
Dr. Restak’s favorite mind game is “20 Questions”. In this game, a player thinks of any person, place, or thing, and a questioner asks 20 questions that help them guess it. The answers are just yes-no and the questions could be about anything that helps the questioner reveal the object in thinker’s mind.
Such an exercise allows the questioner to keep all 20 answers in mind to guess properly and helps improve the working memory, stated Restak.
Tip # 4: Read More Novels.
Over the years, Dr Restak observed his patients’ reading interests, which readily revolved around non-fiction. According to Dr Restak, non-fiction is easy to read since it doesn’t connect information throughout the book.
The choice of non-fiction by memory patients was indicative of the fact that it was not challenging for mind.
Fiction, on the other hand, requires an active engagement with the content, says Restak, forcing the reader to hold details starting from the beginning of the story till the end.
“You have to remember what the character did on Page 3 by the time you get to Page 11,” writes Restak.
Novels are a great way to keep your mind active throughout your age. By way of memorizing character’s lives, novels boost visual thinking and aid in improving all kinds of memories.
Some thrilling reading recommendations are: Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak [English] and Halim by Nimra Ahmad [Urdu].
Tip # 5: Beware of Technology.
Ten behaviors can lead to memory decline. These, Dr Restak calls in his book as 10 “sins” of memory. It includes the “sins of omission” such as absent mindedness, “sins of commission”, such as distorted memories, and those related to the technology, such as technological distortion and technological distraction.
Technological distortion comes from storing everything on your phone. When a cell phone camera captures it all, why bother to concentrate and focus on the information?, states Restak.
This behavior erodes your mental abilities very quickly. Instead, a mind-healthy activity would be to note down the information on paper in your own words, working your cognitive ability by thinking of the best words that explain your view of information.
The second memory sin is the Technological distraction. When you use your gadget to focus on your task, you are often distracted by the content it’s keeping with it. For instance, you stream Netflix while checking your email list, or you WhatsApp with a friend while doing that critical and time limited assignment.
“In our day, the greatest impediment of memory is distraction,” Dr. Restak wrote.
All of the above behaviors precariously impede our ability to remain in the present moment, which is a critical element in encoding memories.
Tip # 6: Schedule Worry.
Mood plays a big role in what you remember and don’t remember. A happy mood will feel the moments that caused happiness while a sad mood shall forego these moments and see for only those that caused them sadness.
A good tip to cope with depressive thoughts at the workplace is recalled by Robin Sharma in his book “Who will cry when you die”. Sharma, who’s a world renowned motivational speaker, suggests taking aside one or two hours from your day in which you would just think about your worries and figure something positive out from it.
Following Sharma’s suggestion, whenever depressing thoughts come to you while in a meeting, or with colleagues, just tell yourself, you would have a lot of time to think and feel them out later at the end of the day.
However, admittedly, for some people, coping with depression needs help from a psychotherapist. Feel free to contact one, if the depression persists longer than your normal sadness, and if it interferes with your work and personal life.
Stating the above tips, having a good memory is a fundamental aspect of a successful career. Following these tried-and-true neurologist’s tips, you will attain a sharp memory that’s sustainable for longer term and will offer you help in your job roles.
