Maximizing brain power is yet another area of life you can hack. With the right memory hacks, you can remember more, be a better learner, and forget less.
The capacity of our mind is unlimited, especially when it comes to consuming and retaining information. However, due to some of our bad habits, the lack of focus and not boosting our memory with the right techniques, we struggle with remembering what we need.
That makes studying for an exam or learning a new skill harder. We even have a hard time remembering new people’s names, important dates and appointments or even daily chores.
Luckily, you have all it takes to develop your thinking ability. Let’s see what memory hacks can get you there.
Top 8 Memory Hacks to Boost Brain Power
1. Distract yourself strategically.
Let’s face it. Distractions are bound to happen one way or another. We just can’t focus on one activity for too long without getting bored, procrastinating or allowing random thoughts to enter our mind.
But why not make the most of this? Instead of resisting the distractions for a long period of time, accept the fact your brain needs a break and give it to it, but in a productive way and one that will boost your memory.
If you’re studying a subject, spend time learning a slightly different topic for a while. Such a strategic distraction will improve performance and help you memorize the information, according to researchers.
2. Use story-based memory hooks.
The next one of the top memory hacks is about creating connections in the brain that help you memorize better.
This is a strategy that can even get medical students through school. They have to learn important information about hundreds of drugs and symptoms and associations can help them out.
With them, you’re basically creating mental handles that grab the right information whenever you need it. It’s stored in your brain and goes together with a chronological story or one that’s so unusual that there’s no way you can forget it.
You’ll have to use your imagination at first. But over time, this will become your new way of thinking when trying to memorize anything.
3. Stop doing the things that damage your memory.
Ditching the bad behaviors affecting your memory negatively is important in order to use more of your brain’s potential.
To apply the new memory hacks, you should first overcome the barriers preventing you from remembering more. That is too much stress, a bad diet, no form of exercise in your day, not spending time outside, bad social life, not sleeping enough, smoking and drinking.
All these are damaging your overall health, not just your brain functions and memory. You should always be taking action to break one such bad habit.
Instead, replace them with eating nutritious foods, working out, not worrying about things you can’t change, and fixing your sleeping schedule.
4. Connect the new information to what you already know.
There are more memory hacks that require you to create new connections in your brain. One of them is to take whatever it is you’re trying to learn now and see how it’s connected to facts you already know.
Remembering it will suddenly become easier and you’ll store that information for longer in your brain.
5. Repetition.
As simple it might sound to just repeat something after you learn it, it works every time.
Often, we can’t concentrate enough when hearing, reading or seeing what we want to memorize. But repeating it to ourselves, taking notes or sharing it with someone else can make all the difference.
6. Organize your information visually.
One of my favorite memory hacks is creating a mind map.
That’s basically a diagram where you can put the question or the main aspect of the topic in the center, and add all relevant information around it.
Representing something visually helps your brain understand it better and remember it faster.
7. Write to remember.
There are many psychological benefits of writing things down, and one of them is that it helps you remember anything better.
Reading is a more passive process and the information doesn’t always enter our long-term memory. But when actually writing it down, you help your brain internalize it, organize it, and store it.
Also, before and during writing, you’re using your thinking skills, even if you don’t realize that. Due to investing more effort into this, you will also be able to recall what you write later on.
Read also: The Joys of Being an Internalizer and How It Can Lead to Healing and Growth
8. Sketching
Another great way to strengthen memory is through sketching.
Memory Hacks: Infographic
The infographic below by QuidCorner shares some more memory hacks:
These top 8 memory hacks should be enough to help you make the most of your brain power and boost your memory in no time.