After having a chat with Constantino the other day, he gave several good tips on how to use brain exercises to make improvements in our memory and apply it to our daily lives. Below are three of the most helpful ones:
1. Remembering anything– this could be used to remember a specific thing, such as a list, dates, memories, etc. What you do is you create an elaborate/fun picture in your mind of what you want to remember. For example, if you want to remember your grocery list without having to write it down, you can create the images in your head before going to the store. If your list includes bananas, then you might want to picture a dancing or singing banana. In this way, it’ll pop into your head when you are doing the shopping. Be sure the image is humorous with lots of animation and color.
2. Remembering names– this is very useful because it is very common for people to forget names quickly. This happens because when we are introduced to someone, we are either not paying attention or we are caught off guard. A good way to remember is by creating an association of the name with a certain action or image. Let’s say you are introduced to a guy named George, then you can picture him next to George Washington. In this way, every time you encounter this person, that image will pop in your head and you will know he is a George. Or, if you don’t know anyone else with that name, you can always take the first letter of the name and associate it with an action, picturing the person doing that. For example, if the person is Sara you can picture a ‘shifting Sara’ in your head that will pop up in your mind every time you encounter her. This is a very useful memory game that actually works!
3. Directions– it is very common to panic or stress whenever we are going to a new place and we have to follow directions. Sometimes even when we use the GPS it is difficult for us to follow it or we find ourselves missing the exits, causing us to be late to places. One tip that Costas gave is to go over the directions, picturing ourselves actually going through it before attempting. This helps because once you actually attempt to go to your destination, your brain will be familiar due to the picture created by you. It will diminish the amount of stress and avoid the panic that we usually go through when exposed to the unfamiliar.
If you want to learn more about Costas, click here.