Best Ways to Improve Your Memory

A good memory is dependent upon the health and liveliness of your brain. As we age, our brains can naturally begin to slow and function at a progressively lower capacity, effecting things like creativity, con concentration, and particularly memory. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways in which you can train and protect your brain to ensure that it continues to function on its highest level.

Avoid multitasking

In many people’s eyes, multitasking is a great skill to master and will help you better manage your workflow and conquer multiple tasks at once. While there may be some truth to that, unfortunately multitasking too much can disrupt your concentration, make you less efficient, increase your proclivity for making errors, and have a negative impact on your memory. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re faced with numerous tasks that need to be completed, but research has shown that when you focus on one task at a time, reading comprehension, focus, memory, and the quality of the work that is produced is all improved. In order to commit a piece of information to memory, you need to focus on it for roughly eight seconds. It doesn’t sound like much, but pausing to focus on just one piece of information can get lost in the shuffle when attempting to balance multiple tasks or projects at once. By dealing with one task as a time, the quality of your work will improve and you’ll retain more information even after the project is complete.

Exercise

There are plenty of reasons that regular exercise is vital to maintaining your overall health, but not many people know that regular aerobic exercise can be substantially beneficial to improving and maintaining a good memory. A study was conducted at the University of British Columbia that found that getting regular aerobic exercise can boost the size of the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is responsible for verbal memory and learning. It is important to note that this just applies to aerobic exercise, such as cardio like walking or running, and no other forms such as weight lifting or resistance training. Additionally, exercise can help train the brain to work at optimum capacity by stimulating nerve cells and strengthening the connection between them, making communication easier. While exercising nerve cells will release what known as neurotrophic factors, which can trigger other chemicals within the brain that will encourage neural health and benefit cognitive functions including memory.

Improve your diet

Learning to eat right will provide you with a wealth of benefits for your body and overall wellness. What you eat also has a profound effect on your brain and its ability to function efficiently. Foods that are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and good fats will protect against potential brain disease while also providing additional cognitive energy. Fruits and vegetables such as avocados, blueberries, broccoli, and celery are high in nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants that protect that brain from stress and deterioration, and keep it functioning healthy even as you age. They can even stimulate the creation of new brain cells. Bone broth is another food that is well-known for its ability to healing and maintaining a healthy brain. It contains collagen and amino acids that will benefit your immune system as well as your memory. The amino acids can function as vasodilators, meaning that blood flow throughout the body is improved and the brain will be sure to receive the nutrients and oxygen it needs to function at its best.

Control your stress levels

Stress can wreak havoc on your body in a variety of ways, and your memory is not exempt. Chronic stress and anxiety can destroy brain cells and have a deteriorative effect on your hippocampus, the area of the brain that handles memory. There have been several studies that have shown stress to be a cause of memory loss. Fortunately, there are several different things you can do to protect your brain from stress and ensure that your memory will stay strong. One important thing you can do to manage stress is to set realistic expectations for yourself. If you are constantly expecting the world from yourself then you consistently come up short and feel inadequate. These feelings will contribute to your stress levels and you’ll find that you’ll never feel satisfied. By setting more realistic goals and being more conscious about what you can and cannot handle, you’ll find that your life will become more manageable and stress will be reduced. Another important step to take is to make sure that you are expressing your feelings rather than leaving them bottled up. Repressed feelings can gnaw away at your self-esteem, leading to stress that will continue to fester until you are able to comfortably express your feelings. Speaking to a therapist can be a very helpful step in expressing and addressing your feelings in a healthy manner.