Even important and serious material can be given a humorous twist in your imagination. Make your imagery exciting, weird and wonderful, and you've got a much better chance of remembering it.

Be playful and mischievous. It's no coincidence that rude rhymes are very difficult to forget! To remember an important idea that comes up in a meeting, highlight what's most exciting about it — or challenging, surprising or funny. When you meet someone new, spend a moment thinking about whether their name seems to "match" their character.

You give information a pattern when you use rhymes and rhythms, or turn sets of letters into mnemonic words or phrases. Examples of this are the SMART Goals acronym, which is a mnemonic for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound; and the phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Football, for remembering the notes on the lines of the treble clef, EGBDF.

As you'll see below, some memory techniques use spatial patterns to store vast amounts of information. To remember a telephone number for a short time, you could repeat it to yourself rhythmically.

Or, when you're taking notes, experiment with different ways of organizing and arranging your words on the page. As you start inventing mnemonics of your own, keep in mind three more principles: imagination , association and location.

Imagination : create images that are vivid, engaging, and rich enough to jog your memory. You could be visualizing a real situation in order to remember and re-use it, or inventing one that will help you write, say or do something in the future.

Association : make the most of your brain's habit of linking ideas. Separate pieces of information can be linked so that you remember them all. That might help you remember all the items to pack for a trip, for example. Or, two ideas can be paired, so that one thing reminds you of another.

Using that strategy, you might think of your colleague holding a microphone to recall his name is Mike. Location : use your memories of real-world places to help you remember new material. Since you can easily remember the layout of your home, why not use the rooms to "hold" items from the list you're trying to learn?

The three principles above have been developed into a number of specific memory techniques. They can be divided into three main categories:. Image clues: these are memory tools in which ideas are represented by pictures.

Just like logos or icons, image clues can trigger your brain to think about complex ideas. Memorable, multi-sensory images are associated with others in pairs or sequences, or arranged in your "mind's eye" around familiar places.

Specific systems have been developed to "peg" new information onto ready-made images. Storytelling strategies: these are tools that capitalize on the fact that well-told stories are automatically memorable. Storytelling strategies allow you to link individual image clues into long chains, in order to remember lists, processes, and all the points you want to make in essays or presentations.

You can get an extra memory boost by choosing a setting that relates to your subject matter. Spatial systems: these are tools that let you use all the real-world journeys you know to store new information. These journeys might include your route from home to work, or a favorite countryside walk.

You also know your way around many different buildings, and you can imagine their layouts with ease. Spatial systems allow you to associate key images with particular places, or to visualize them positioned around familiar routes in your mind.

When the time comes to recall some information, you can go back in your imagination and "find" the images you left behind — helping you to retrieve important details quickly and accurately.

Start experimenting with some of these mnemonic principles and you'll discover that you can quickly become much more confident about your memory! We have a selection of memory-boosting resources that explain how you can apply all the techniques described above.

The Link and Story Methods explains storytelling strategies. A good spatial system to start with is the Roman Room System. It's even possible to combine different techniques, to create memory methods that are exactly right for you. Memory tools — "mnemonics" — have been used for centuries, helping to boost confidence and combat information overload.

The best memory techniques use rich imagery, strong emotions, and clear patterns. A number of specific systems have been developed, based on the key principles of imagination, association and location.

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Customer Service. Business Ethics and Values. Handling Information and Data. Project Management. Knowledge Management. Self-Development and Goal Setting. Time Management. Presentation Skills. Caffeine affects people differently. Some people are highly sensitive, and even morning coffee may interfere with sleep at night.

Try reducing your intake or cutting it out entirely if you suspect it's keeping you up. BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more.

Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours. If you're like most of us, it's probably the former. But countless studies show that a life full of friends and fun comes with cognitive benefits. Humans are highly social animals.

We're not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Relationships stimulate our brains—in fact, interacting with others may provide the best kind of brain exercise. Research shows that having meaningful friendships and a strong support system are vital not only to emotional health, but also to brain health.

In one recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, researchers found that people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline. There are many ways to start taking advantage of the brain and memory-boosting benefits of socializing.

Volunteer , join a club, make it a point to see friends more often, or reach out over the phone. And if a human isn't handy, don't overlook the value of a pet —especially the highly-social dog.

Stress is one of the brain's worst enemies. Over time, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones.

Studies have also linked stress to memory loss. The scientific evidence for the mental health benefits of meditation continues to pile up.

Studies show that meditation helps improve many different types of conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Meditation also can improve focus, concentration, creativity, memory, and learning and reasoning skills.

Brain images show that regular meditators have more activity in the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with feelings of joy and equanimity. Meditation also increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex and encourages more connections between brain cells—all of which increases mental sharpness and memory ability.

Try one of HelpGuide's free Audio Meditations. You've heard that laughter is the best medicine , and that holds true for the brain and the memory, as well as the body.

Unlike emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the brain, laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain.

Furthermore, listening to jokes and working out punch lines activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity. Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselves less seriously is to talk about the times when we took ourselves too seriously.

When you hear laughter, move toward it. Most of the time, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and try to join in.

Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily—both at themselves and at life's absurdities—and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious. Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car.

Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your loved ones having fun. Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing.

Just as the body needs fuel, so does the brain. Get your omega-3s. Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for brain health. If you're not a fan of seafood, consider non-fish sources of omega-3s such as seaweed, walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, winter squash, kidney and pinto beans, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans.

Limit calories and saturated fat. Research shows that diets high in saturated fat from sources such as red meat, whole milk, butter, cheese, cream, and ice cream increase your risk of dementia and impair concentration and memory. Eat more fruit and vegetables.

Produce is packed with antioxidants, substances that protect your brain cells from damage. Drink green tea. Green tea contains polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that protect against free radicals that can damage brain cells. Among many other benefits, regular consumption of green tea may enhance memory and mental alertness and slow brain aging.

Drink wine or grape juice in moderation. Keeping your alcohol consumption in check is key, since alcohol kills brain cells. But in moderation around 1 glass a day for women; 2 for men , alcohol may actually improve memory and cognition.

Red wine appears to be the best option, as it is rich in resveratrol, a flavonoid that boosts blood flow in the brain and reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Other resveratrol-packed options include grape juice, cranberry juice, fresh grapes and berries, and peanuts.

Do you feel that your memory has taken an unexplainable dip? If so, there may be a health or lifestyle problem to blame. It's not just dementia or Alzheimer's disease that causes memory loss.

There are many diseases, mental health disorders, and medications that can interfere with memory:. Heart disease and its risk factors. Cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, have been linked to mild cognitive impairment.

Studies show that people with diabetes experience far greater cognitive decline than those who don't suffer from the disease. Hormone imbalance. Women going through menopause often experience memory problems when their estrogen dips.

In men, low testosterone can cause issues. Thyroid imbalances can also cause forgetfulness, sluggish thinking, or confusion. Many prescription and over-the-counter medications can get in the way of memory and clear thinking.

Common culprits include cold and allergy medications, sleep aids, and antidepressants. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about possible side effects.

Emotional difficulties can take just as heavy a toll on the brain as physical problems. In fact, mental sluggishness, difficulty concentrating, and forgetfulness are common symptoms of depression. The memory issues can be particularly bad in older people who are depressed-so much so that it is sometimes mistaken for dementia.

The good news is that when the depression is treated , memory should return to normal. Pay attention. You can't remember something if you never learned it, and you can't learn something—that is, encode it into your brain—if you don't pay enough attention to it.

It takes about eight seconds of intense focus to process a piece of information into your memory. If you're easily distracted, pick a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Involve as many senses as possible. Try to relate information to colors, textures, smells, and tastes.

The physical act of rewriting information can help imprint it onto your brain. Even if you're a visual learner, read out loud what you want to remember. If you can recite it rhythmically, even better. Relate information to what you already know. Connect new data to information you already remember, whether it's new material that builds on previous knowledge, or something as simple as an address of someone who lives on a street where you already know someone.

For more complex material, focus on understanding basic ideas rather than memorizing isolated details. Practice explaining the ideas to someone else in your own words.

Rehearse information you've already learned. Review what you've learned the same day you learn it, and at intervals thereafter. Use mnemonic devices to make memorization easier.

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