Improving memory

[Nathan]

Memorization as a student was always painful for me, somehow I retained enough coursework to do reasonably well in school. Now, being in my late 60s memorization has become an even bigger hurdle. In recent years I've been practicing Taichi & Qigong, and earlier this year began leading practice sessions as part of our fitness business. I'm still finding my way as a teacher / leader, my 'crutch' is my iPad on a tripod, sort of a teleprompter. Someday I'd like to wean myself off having to refer to notes(cheatsheet!). What type of strategies have you all used, to memorize material, and improve your memory?

 

[Chet]

I'm way past the age when I have to memorize anything thank goodness. You may not trust yourself to remember so you try too hard and not remembering becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. How you beat that I have no idea.

 

[asp3]

I've found that practice was the best way for me to remember something I was presenting. I'd run through what I was going to present several times before doing so. When I was giving a presentation with PowerPoint slides I'd run through the main slide titles several times to get the flow down.

It might be helpful to create a deck of 3x5 cards with your sequence and review that guessing what the next thing is before picking it up. If you get that down try cutting the deck of 3x5 cards to try to remember what the next one is when you start in the middle.

I once took a class where we learned that bringing in the creative side of the brain increased memory. You might consider using the technique of building a picture of things that remind you of a series of words but do it by actually making a drawing of your sequence.

 

[Devi]

Me ... well, I've worked in design which involved a lot of sequences of steps. Rather than spending my time trying to remember "first I do this, then I do that" I simply use pads of paper, list what has to be done in logical groups, and check off/strike out what's been done. The extra beauty of this is that I can always refer back ... no spending time trying to re-remember!

 

[Aneeda72]

I’ve always had a bad memory and it is getting worst. I keep misplacing my cell phone. . My husband keeps misplacing his wallet. . Alexa misspells words. . Life is becoming a nightmare.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

No need at this time to memorize anything but challenging my mind to learn new things, like a new line dance, a new word (and use it), or try a new culinary technique/recipe keeps my brain active.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I’ve always had a bad memory and it is getting worst. I keep misplacing my cell phone. . My husband keeps misplacing his wallet. . Alexa misspells words. . Life is becoming a nightmare.

You may be kidding, but when I hear things like this, I wonder.
In school, I had a hard time memorizing anything. I had crummy spelling. I could never remember anybody's name, and it took me a long time to read anything.
Much later, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. It's not just that I spell 'cat' as "tac". But it's everything above. Reading is slow and torturous. You have to reread things multiple times to get the meaning. It's hard to memorize things. Names are especially difficult to remember. The list of symptoms goes on and on.
They didn't know much about dyslexia when I was a kid. They thought I was dim witted. I hope they can diagnose dyslexia in schools, so kids can over come a learning disability.

 

[Aneeda72]

You may be kidding, but when I hear things like this, I wonder.
In school, I had a hard time memorizing anything. I had crummy spelling. I could never remember anybody's name, and it took me a long time to read anything.
Much later, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. It's not just that I spell 'cat' as "tac". But it's everything above. Reading is slow and torturous. You have to reread things multiple times to get the meaning. It's hard to memorize things. Names are especially difficult to remember. The list of symptoms goes on and on.
They didn't know much about dyslexia when I was a kid. They thought I was dim witted. I hope they can diagnose dyslexia in schools, so kids can over come a learning disability.

I am not kidding. I too had undiagnosed dyslexia as a child and I still struggle to spell. Alexa can not spell words that sound the same but are spelled different, therefore have different meanings. We had a spelling book in school with the test section in the back.

Tested every week. Big red fat large F, every dang week. Beating every week for failing spelling. Mother made me practice practice practice, and I did, and I failed failed failed. One day she got so upset she tore my spelling book into shreds. glad to see it go.

Memory not good, never was.

As a side note, I could not tell time either, so glad when digital came out. Imagine my horror when the Medicare test for memory includes drawing time on a clock. . Failed that test as well, for two years, but can do it now. Try again doc says as she ha DS me a new piece of paper.

I never had any problem with reading. But I notice my concentration is slipping and I can’t multi task. I used to read and watch tv and follow both. Now I cannot. It’s one or the other. But I still run the tv as background noise. Multi tasking abilities are not good.