The Beginner's Guide To Memory Hacking For Forgetful People

Have you ever had something that you had recently learned and then suddenly you realize that you had forgotten it already?

Not everyone is blessed with a good memory, but the good news is that improving your memory is as simple as implementing this series of memory hacks today.

Memory Hacking Techniques

Memory hacking techniques have been studied for centuries, and experts in this field have come up with some very interesting methods.

Hacking your memory is not something that you can accomplish overnight, but with conscious effort and practice, you may notice an improvement in your memory retention in only a matter of weeks.

Below you’ll find a Beginner’s Guide to Memory Hacking for forgetful people.

The Memory Palace Technique

This is perhaps the most interesting memory hack out there and experts believe it can really help when it comes to improving your memory.

The technique starts by having you visualize a building, or “palace”.

This could be your home, your grandmother’s home, or really any other place that has multiple rooms.

Then, once you’ve visualized each room in the palace, you can associate different items in the house with words or important facts or whatever it is you are trying to remember.

For instance, if you are learning the Spanish language and someone tells you the word for “chair”, you are going to be far more likely to remember that word if you visualize yourself physically putting that word on a chair in your memory palace.

Just like you would your house, try to keep your memory palace as organized as possible.

Although it is just a construction in your mind, it is best to keep memories that are related to each other in the same room.

If you are learning Spanish and studying medicine at the same time, it is probably better to keep the Spanish language in one room of your imagined palace and the medicinal science in another room.

If you want to learn more about this memory hacking technique, check out this article.

Clench Your Fist

This may seem like a strange way to hack memory, but a wide range of studies suggest that it could actually help you retain information better.

While you are listening to information you want to remember or thinking about something you don’t want to forget, clench your fist and focus on memorizing the information.

The idea is that the physical act of clenching your fist suggests to your mind that it should do the same: tighten up and concentrate.

Being conscious of clenching your fist while you are trying to digest information propels you from passive absorption to active engagement, and forces you to concentrate with a greater sense of mental effort.

Doodling

While teachers hate when their students are doodling during a lesson, studies have shown that this technique may actually be a fantastic memory hack.

Some people are visual learners, and the act of doodling while you are listening to a lesson helps you associate auditory information with visual information, making it easier to digest and to remember.

It is even better to doodle about the topic that you are learning.

For instance, if you are learning about Greek mythology, try drawing Zeus throwing a thunderbolt instead of something completed unrelated.

Even if you don’t consider yourself artistic, try drawing random lines on a piece of paper next time you listen to a lecture or an instructional video or a podcast.

You may find that you retain much more of the information.

Write Notes in Unique Fonts

This is one of the best memory hacking tips specifically for students who are required to take notes in class.

Why should taking notes have to be boring?

Try experimenting with unique and interesting fonts to write your notes in.

Or, if you take your notes on a laptop, as increasingly more students are, download a bunch of legible fonts to spice up your document.

As you’re taking notes, do your best to make associations between the information you’re writing down and the font that it is written in.

Also, write the most important information the largest.

This technique will help the information pop out in your mind and will give you a visual association to couple with the information.

Get Enough Sleep

This is probably the most widely known and most important way to improve memory.

Getting enough sleep is crucial for moving information from your short-term memory into your long-term memory.

If you are consistently not getting enough sleep, you will find that some information never makes it into your long-term memory, and you will become more forgetful.

At the end of the day, it’s important to do your best to get to bed on time, and avoid lying awake and staring at your phone all night.

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The Beginner’s Guide to Memory Hacking for Forgetful People

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