A question raced through my mind when my daughter came up to me and asked, "Mum, who was the lady we met a couple of minutes ago? I am not able to recall her name!"

How far can your brain remember information? The capacity of the brain is remarkable, from childhood friends to daily figures.

But sometimes our remembering is unsuccessful, and sometimes it looks senseless to justify what you remember and forget. For instance, why can you recall a few things like your first medal in school, but not other things, like what you had last week at breakfast? Or the person's name that you met just four seconds ago?

You may have found that when you are multi-tasking and your mind is elsewhere, it is much easier to forget things, and it is much easier to commit things to memory when you are completely in the present moment and deliberate about recalling them. And because our modern world is full of distractions, keeping your mind in tip-top shape and the present moment is increasingly necessary, so that you can remember all the important things that are happening in your life.

Being a memory coach myself and recognising the need of the hour, here are five different ways to develop your memory skills and keep your mind updated.

Tip #1: Turn Words Into Pictures

Science has told us that visual signs are recalled much better than words. You are more likely to remember a beach image than just the word beach. In fact, studies have shown people can recall up to 2,000 photos with up to 90 per cent accuracy.

Tip #2: Know How to Learn

There are four major categories of learners: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile (or reading/writing). For learning, visual learners prefer visual knowledge. Hearing information is easier for auditory learning than hearing or viewing it. Tactile or reading/writing learners perform better, like writing something down, when they communicate by touch.

Kinesthetic learners, like verbally reciting something, are all about experiential learning. Your memory abilities can be significantly affected by understanding your strengths and weaknesses and exploiting these strengths. Make study simpler by discovering what kind of learner you are.

Tip #3: Link Your Emotions

What is the difference between a motivational speaker and a boring sales call? You may have remembered the messages from the motivational speaker long after you forgot about that sales call. This is because you will remember more if you are motivated to do so. Science has shown that you will create stronger memories if you have an emotional link to what you are learning.

Tip #4: Associate Ideas To Things

The same photo of a man was shown to 2 different people. One person was told that the man is a baker. The other person was told that the man's name is Baker. It turns out that you will remember his profession more than the actual last name of him. You easily and quickly associate the photo with the mental images that you already have of a baker, like cake or bread, when you are told the word 'baker'. With more ideas 'attached' to them, we are better at remembering things.

Tip #5: Take a Break

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Studies have shown that after reading something when people took a ten-minute break, they remembered more data a week later than those who simply went to the next task without taking a break. (You should note that falling asleep right after does not count as a "rest." You should still be awake.) Scientists think this helps to consolidate memory and thus to retain it better.

Want some more tips on your memory?? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @mastishkconqueringminds for more nuggets ;).

Regards

Neelima Aggarwal

Memory coach.