7 Simple Ways to Improve Your Memory Without Any Training. Boost your memory easily by writing about your problems, looking at a natural scene, predicting your performance and more… You’ll have heard about the usual methods for improving memory, like using imagery, chunking and building associations with other memories. If not Google it and you’ll find millions of websites with the same information. The problem with most of these methods is they involve a fair amount of mental effort. So here are seven easy ways to boost your memory that are backed up by psychological research.
None require you to train hard, spend any money or take illegal drugs. 1. To do complex tasks we rely on our ‘working memory’. One way to increase working memory capacity indirectly is through expressive writing. Psychologists aren’t exactly sure why this works, but it does have a measurable effect. 2. Nature has a magical effect on us. One of nature’s beneficial effects is improving memory. In fact you don’t even need to leave the house. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. More effort? Zeigarnik Effect. What can waiters, the TV series ‘Lost’ and the novelist Charles Dickens teach us about avoiding procrastination?
One of the simplest methods for beating procrastination in almost any task was inspired by busy waiters. It’s called the Zeigarnik effect after a Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik (above left), who noticed an odd thing while sitting in a restaurant in Vienna. The waiters seemed only to remember orders which were in the process of being served. When completed, the orders evaporated from their memory. Zeigarnik went back to the lab to test out a theory about what was going on. She asked participants to do twenty or so simple little tasks in the lab, like solving puzzles and stringing beads (Zeigarnik, 1927). What does this have to do with procrastination? Almost sixty years later Kenneth McGraw and colleagues carried out another test of the Zeigarnik effect (McGraw et al., 1982).
Got it yet? Cliffhanger I’ve started so I’ll finish Image credit: Gestalt Theory. 10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance. Psychological research suggests simple actions can project power, persuade others, increase empathy, boost cognitive performance and more… We tend to think of body language as something that expresses our internal states to the outside world. But it also works the other way around: the position of our body also influences our mind. As the following psychological research shows, how we move can drive both thoughts and feelings and this can boost performance. 1. Pose for power If you want to feel more powerful then adopt a powerful posture. 2.
Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. 3. If you’re stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. 4. If crossing your arms doesn’t work then try lying down. 5. While you’re lying down, why not have a nap? Brooks & Lack (2005) compared 5, 10, 20 and 30 minute naps to find the best length. 6. The way people’s hands cut through the air while they talk is fascinating. 7. 8. 9. 10. Embodied cognition. The End-All Productivity/Meditation Technique. My name is Jordan Lejuwaan and I am an efficiency addict. I am zero days sober thanks to a recent discovery, and you can be too. I love what I do so sometimes I’ll work 4-5 hours straight without stopping. As with anything, the law of diminishing returns applies after about 30 minutes. I gradually slow down and become less enthusiastic, creative and focused with the work at-hand. Epiphany #1 Then I remembered reading about the Pomodoro Technique, which mandates taking 5 minute breaks for every 25 minutes of work.
Desire to Work You’ll find that those 25 minutes roll by way too fast. **Note: Hold on, I have to take a 5 minute break… Okay I’m back and feeling great :) Epiphany #2 This may seem obvious at first, but it’s brilliant in its simplicity. 5 minutes is a perfect amount of time for a quick meditation! Even after 3 years of fairly consistent meditation, I’m not always in the mood for a 20-30 minute session. Once more, the perks: The Power Of The Mind: How To Train Yourself To Be More Successful : Managing.
How can you use the latest discoveries in brain science to improve your life? Here are some techniques. November 02, 2011 Leadership tycoon Warren Bennis once said, “We seem to collect information because we have the ability to do so, but we are so busy collecting it that we haven’t devised a means of using it. The true measure of any society is not what it knows but what it does with what it knows.”
There is a wealth of information at our disposal today on the latest discoveries in brain science. We can either drown in this information or turn it into a lifesaver by extracting its practical knowledge. Use visualization to learn a new skill Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to continuously create new neural pathways. In a Harvard University study, two groups of volunteers were presented with a piece of unfamiliar piano music.
Albert Einstein, who is credited with saying that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” used visualization throughout his entire life. Parker J.