Memory Tips

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Short term memory presents us with two challenges:  (1) keeping track of 'disposable items' long enough to use them: and (2) transferring 'keeper' items into long term memory.  Disposable items include a phone number on a voice mail or choices in a phone bank.  As we get older, short term working memory gets less efficient.  Some form of note taking is the easiest solution to those 'disposable' items. 

Remembering names has always been a challenge for me.  I'm actually better at it now than ever because I've learned some techniques to give information a nudge into long term memory.  I've reviewed several sources to identify the techniques.  Most come down to some version of what Dr. Gary Small calls Look--Snap--Connect. (Drs Andrew Weil and Gary Small, The Healthy Brain Kit, 2007, Body & Soul Omnimedia).

LOOK.  Pay attention.  Actively observe what you want to remember.  With names, pay attention to the sound of the name, look carefully at the person's face.  Repeat the name.  Ask for further information if possible.  "Is that Irish?  How is it spelled?" 

SNAP.  Take a mental snapshot.  In your imagination write the name in the air over the person's head. 

CONNECT.  Relate your mental snapshot to another image, preferably one suggested by the name or by some quirk that you noticed about the person.  My young nephew recently came up with a good example when he discovered I'd never learned the difference between the muppets Bert and Ernie.  "Here's the deal," he explained.  "Ernie's head is an egg; Bert's a banana."

I use a form of this method whenever I leave the house.  I call it, "Are we ready to go on the b-b-bus."  The corresponding mental image has my badge, billfold, and bus card all on a bus being driven by my mobile phone.