Whether we are studying for Friday’s spelling test, a doctoral dissertation or a company presentation, there are a number of reliable memory techniques and powerful memory aids that yield the best results:

1. Super
Smart
Ways Improve Your Memory & Boost Brainpower

2. Get plenty of rest. Lack of
sleep will disrupt the
consolidation of memory.

3. Reduce auditory and visual
distractions. The brain can
only accommodate one
dominant sensory entry at
a time.

4. Hydrate your body-brain
system. A 2% decrease in
hydration can lead to a
20% loss in energy.

5. Try to eliminate stress or
any form of emotional
trauma

6. Distribute any practice
across time rather than
attempting to learn
everything at once

7. Review and connect new
content while walking and
discussing that content
with another person.

8. Do not attempt to
memorize information
while in pain, under
medication, under the
influence of recreational
drugs or alcohol.

9. Minimize multitasking. We
cannot perform two similar
tasks simultaneously, unless
one has reached
“automaticity”

10. Rehearse information by
visualizing with the mind’s
eye (the visuospatial sketch
pad) for visual information,
and rote rehearsal
(repetition) for random
verbal information (the
phonological loop).

11. Avoid encoding and
retrieval interference.

12. Add a social aspect to the
learning experience.

13. Use associations to prime
the recall of specific
information

14. Pay attention to what is
important (otherwise it will
be discarded from working
memory within 18-30
seconds); “download” that
information in some way
to preserve it (note-taking,
audio, oral or mind-maps).

15. Repeat important
information within 10-22
minutes, again within 48
hours, and again at the
end of a seven-day period.

16. Take short breaks or naps,
during which the brain can
reflect and connect.

17. Study or read prior to
going to bed.

18. Prepare the body for
learning/testing with
proper nutrition.

19. Practice positive talk (focus
on related prior successes).

20. Play non-lyrical music
(performed at
approximately 60 beats per
minute).

21. Make as many correlations
and connections to
previously learned
information as you can.

22. Process the information as
if you are preparing it to
teach it to another
individual. (“To teach is to
learn twice.”
—Joseph Joubert.)

23. Use a scent or fragrance
during learning (lecture or
studying). Bring that same
fragrance with you during
testing.

24. Use mnemonic devices
(acrostics, mind-maps and
graphic organizers) for
memorizing multiple pieces
of information. For eg,
animal kingdom “FARM-B”
= fish, amphibians, reptiles,
mammals and birds.

25. Relax. It is difficult to
identify pertinent
information when tense or
nervous.

26. Review old information
before reading new
information.

27. Build bridges from what is
known to what is new by
using “10-80-10” rule.
Devote 10% of teaching
time to activating prior
knowledge, 80% to new
information, & 10% to a
preview of next.

28. Study in your most favored
and most comfortable
environment.

29. Replicate the testing
environment while
studying.

30. Pay attention to diet,
nutrition and memory-
boosting vitamins.
Consume salmon, folic
acid, natural sugars and
vitamin B12.

31. Spend time with mentally
stimulating individuals,
particularly mentors and
spouses.

32. Super
By now you're the
By: Kenneth Wesson
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