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Quick Memory Exercises And Techniques

Memory exercises increase brain power because in your conscious mind you can only work with what you can remember. Intelligence without memory is like a builder without tools. What could he build?

The simplest memory exercise is to start telling yourself to remember. If you just learned a person's name, for example, tell yourself, "remember that". This signals the unconscious mind to rank this input higher in importance.

Other good memory exercises involve telling yourself why you want to remember something, and how you will remember it. If you just learned a person's name, think about how that person will be important to you in the future, where you are likely to see them next, and anything you notice about them. Clearly seeing the importance of remembering will motivate the brain to retain the name, and the additional associations in the brain (where you expect to see the person next, for example) fix the name even more firmly in your memory.

Mnemonic Techniques

Memory exercises and techniques involving "peg words" and other mnemonic devices work well if you master them. They really do! Scores of books have been written on the subject. But do you want to study and master a mnemonic technique? Honestly, most of us don't want to take the time and effort to do so. The good news is that not all memory techniques are that complicated or time-consuming.

One memory technique you can learn and use right now starts with a walk around the house. Pick ten locations or permanent objects in your home or office. Memorize these in some logical order (this is the hardest part). Now when you want to remember a list of things, associate each item on the list with with one of your ten locations or objects. Do this with mental imagery and even sounds, always in a ridiculous way. When you need to consult your list, you'll simply walk around your home in your mind, and you will "see" the items on the list.

Make the images very vivid and this technique rarely fails. It was used two thousand years ago by Roman orators who would "place" parts of their speech in locations along a garden path, then mentally walk the garden "picking up" the topics as they gave the speech. I use this one a lot, when I can remember to, and it always works.

An example: My own place-list is a window in the kitchen, the microwave oven, the sink, the stove, the refrigerator, the front door, the television and so on. Now, I can't normally remember a list of three things by the time I get to the grocery store. If, however, I imagine wads of toilet paper hitting the window, dish soap boiling in the microwave, cucumbers dancing in the sink, potato chips burning on the stove, and the refrigerator full of magazines, I can even wait until the next day to go shopping. With a quick mental walk through the house, I'll recall that I need toilet paper, dish soap, cucumbers, potato chips, and a magazine. Try it.

If you want more memory techniques, be sure you subscribe to the Brain Power Newsletter. You can also use the link here to read an article on memory techniques.