Do more with less memory

Chapter 4 Seven exercises to improve memory (1)
It is undeniable that there are differences in intelligence between people, but such a situation does not reflect differences in talent, but it can only reflect the fact that everyone's brain is the same, but different people use it. The degree to which the brain and the potential of the brain are tapped is different.

Many people know how to get the most out of their brains because they have figured out how to develop and use them properly, while others don't know how to do it at all—they just let their brain cells sit quietly and don't Motivate them to activate, and you can't blame these brain cells for their inefficiency.In fact, anyone at any age can learn how to make their brain work more efficiently, that is, improve memory, we are active.

Think of memory training as a game you are playing.The most important thing is that in this process, you will not only be happy because of your little progress, but also get a lot of fun from it.The goal of the practice is to change your relationship and connection to the things around you (people or situations)—that is, if you close off your connection to the things around you, the purpose of the practice is to re-establish that connection and make it more effective. Play a role.

You must be able to reach a level where you can clearly see, hear, and feel what's happening around you and what you're doing; don't let yourself live a mechanical life like a "robot" because of laziness.Learn to live fully “consciously”—to observe, to think, every moment.

You also have to have a constant dialogue with yourself: use and activate your memory and knowledge, and connect them to what is happening now.

For things to come to your mind naturally and without any effort, you have to be feeling them all the time.Generally speaking, you must know how to make yourself more or less interested in everything around you, get in touch with everything around you, and be full of curiosity about everything... In a word, learn how to live actively!
Here are some effective training methods to improve memory. If you keep practicing, you will definitely benefit a lot.

This exercise is considered a warm-up activity.You have less than 7 seconds to record what you memorized.There's only so much you can remember in such a short amount of time.However, the shapes of these things can vary.This is like a wallet that can only hold coins. If there are 1 dime coins in it, it can only hold 10 yuan at most; if it has 1 yuan coins in it, it can only hold 100 yuan at most.

1. Color memory contact
Decide on a certain day that you will make systematic observations throughout the day of anything red or tinged with red.At night, write down all the red things you can recall seeing that day.The next day, check the places you visited the day before to see if you missed anything.You will find that not only may you not remember some things, but you may not have noticed the previous day at all.Make a note of how many of these things there are (just remember the largest number):
How many of them are you not even noticing?
How much did you not remember that day?

After a few days, repeat the same exercise with another color, and you'll definitely notice some progress.

2. Shape memorization contact
You decide that you want to make systematic observations of anything square or rectangular throughout the day.At night, write down the objects you can remember.

The next day, check the previous day's records and note how many of these things there were:
How many of them are you not even noticing?
How much did you not remember that day?

After a few days, repeat the same exercise with round or oval objects.

Depending on how you're progressing and how much fun you're getting from these games, decide to retake the "color" test on a certain day, and then the "shape" test a few days later.It is important to note that there should be at least two or three days between tests, as brain cells need time to "digest" these intensive exercises.

Don't forget to give yourself a little reward if you achieve certain results!If there is no progress, then as a penalty, you keep going until you do.

3. Character memorization practice
If you are given 15 minutes or more to observe a person, you may not know how to observe, how to pay attention to everything about this person.Only after certain training in advance and mastering a certain way of observation can you do this.

You should first develop an observation plan:
For example, you can start to observe from the general outline: height, fat or thin, thin shoulders or broad shoulders, etc.

Then you can start to observe his clothes: styles, colors, fabrics... and then hands and feet.

Then there are the facial features: skin, hair, eyes, mouth... Next, try to observe two people through this program on a certain day.By the end of the day, compare the results of your observations with your plan, and answer the questions one by one according to the plan.You will find that there must be some places that you have not noticed and cannot answer.Make a note of how many places you missed.

The next day, repeat what you did the day before: you'll notice that you've improved a lot.Then after an interval of two or three days, repeat the previous content again, observing two people each time.When you can complete this test very successfully, increase the number of subjects observed to 3, then 4.

You will be proud of your memory when you find yourself able to describe exactly 4 people you saw that day.

4. Listening and memorizing exercises
You can decide at a certain moment of the day to give yourself three minutes to listen carefully to all the sounds you can hear at that moment: two people talking, various noises in the street, the phone ringing, and so on.Make a note of all these sounds at night.

The next day, repeat the previous day's practice at the same time. At this time, you will find that there are indeed some changes or these sounds existed the day before, but you didn't notice it.

Over the next few days, repeat the same exercise several times at different times of the day.Combining the records of these days with the records of previous days, you can get a detailed understanding of your activities throughout the day.At night, connect the various sounds you've been listening to throughout the day, and you're sure to find unexpected gains and rewards.

5. Distraction

In many cases, we will have to remember several things at the same time: this ability also requires a certain amount of training to possess.

As in the exercise above, read quickly, and you can decide to cross out a word and a word in the line at the same time.

A harder exercise: Still read quickly while mentally counting the number of times you find a certain word, such as "的".After reading a column in a newspaper, count how many times you find the word.Then, very carefully re-read what you just read, noting how many times the word appears.For comparison, how many times did you miss in total?
In this exercise, you can be sure that you have strong concentration once you get it all right every time.However, you should still perform similar exercises as often as you have time.Playing this game with your family or friends at night or on weekends is also a good way of pastime.

"Multi-angle viewing" is the only way we begin to understand the world.For example, you can pay attention to the baby.When you give him a small box, he will stare at it intently, keep changing the box from one hand to the other, turning it over, turning it around, looking at it from different angles.He will shake it in his hand, put it next to his ear to listen, and then throw it on the table with a "pong", or hold it and gnaw slowly.

In short, the child is trying to explore this thing he still does not know from every possible angle.He didn't know what it was yet, but he had learned all the information the object could tell him.An adult wouldn't observe it in such detail, because he can tell it's a box with just a glance.

Babies know nothing about the world and are full of curiosity, so they will see, hear, smell, gnaw, bite, and try the weight of objects... We adults have already turned a blind eye to everything around us, We think we know it all, so we don't listen and observe carefully.This is where we have to change.We should observe the world from all angles like a baby observes things, and train ourselves to acquire this way of seeing.

1. Observe object practice
During a few minutes of rest, find an object around you that has multiple characteristics to observe—such as a lamp, a vase, a certain knick-knack, anything you feel you see often but never pay attention to .

Hold it in your hand, weigh the approximate weight, and what it feels like to hold it in your hand; then turn it over and over to observe its different sides from various angles, and observe how the whole object is composed.After the observation, write briefly on the paper the few features you just observed.

After a while or a few days, take a few minutes and try to describe an object you have observed earlier.You'll be amazed how this simple exercise will allow you to describe exactly what the object looks like as if it were right in front of your eyes!
Obviously, this is only a short-term memory, and it is only remembering a single object, so it is relatively simple.If you want to remember more things, you have to further train your brain.

In any spare time you may have, come and play this game.If you've been able to do this task quite successfully, use more complex objects as practice objects.

2. Sentence reading practice
Have you ever noticed that when reading a newspaper or reading a book, you never have to read every sentence in full to get the gist of it?In fact, once we have learned how to read—especially after a lot of reading—just seeing a few words is enough for the brain to respond and organize the structure of the entire sentence.The brain reorganizes sentences much faster than we can read word for word, so we are able to read faster and faster.

Being able to read at a faster speed is of course more beneficial than harmful.However, even if you already have the ability to read quickly, you still need to be able to naturally remember passages you want to remember while reading.

As before, at your leisure, find two or three paragraphs from a newspaper or a book, and find multiple characteristics of these paragraphs.You can pretend that you are a teacher and you are about to put some marks on an article.You have to read all the words correctly, including every adverb, every conjunction, etc.At the same time, you have to divide the article into several parts for analysis: Are the sentences in the article too long or too short?Are there many adjectives or adverbs in it?Is the meaning of the sentence clear or confusing?Are the sentences short and to the point or lavishly long?Are the sentences imaginative?Does it fully express the author's meaning?Are there any repetitions?Is it too gibberish and meaningless?
After a while, write down your personal comment on the article in a few words.Then, on the second or third day, try to write sentences that you can recall based on the characteristics of the article you have summarized.You will be amazed to see the complete sentences you have written!

3. Observation of character image exercises
We live in a world full of characters: magazines are full of photos of people, books are full of character descriptions, and paintings of people are everywhere... But have you ever studied these characters carefully and paid attention to these characters? Characteristics?
Whenever possible, train yourself to systematically observe things around you.

Choose a picture to observe, give yourself a few minutes to find out all the details you can observe, and then hide the picture.After a while, write down all the details of what you just observed—not just the specifics of what you saw, but your evaluation of whether the mood of the people in the painting was calm or agitated, whether the use of light was good or bad ,wait.

After a day or two, try to describe the picture.At this time, you will find that you can not only describe the whole picture, but also remember all the subtle details!
This training in seeing things from as many sides as possible, or in detail, should go on for a considerable period of time, for this way of seeing things should become an integral part of your new way of life.At the same time, it is also the basis for maintaining memorized information, reproducing past memories and acquiring knowledge.Moreover, this way of observing things carefully is also a way of life, a way of life that prevents ourselves from ignoring the world around us and turning a blind eye to the things around us. It will allow us to return to an active life state-this Lifestyle is the best source of youth and vitality.

When you learn how to observe things carefully, you will find that the careful observation of things can almost automatically make you remember the objects.Unknowingly, you connect what you observe with the memories and knowledge you have in your mind.This is because the association function in the brain is at work.

In fact, association is the basis of remembering all information.Each of us is born with this ability and uses it unconsciously.

We only need to be aware of its existence and consciously train this ability to continuously strengthen its function.

It is not difficult to do this, and we do not need to spend extra time on special training.We just need to be aware of this function, and it is enough to consciously connect and associate things whenever possible.

From now on, you can play this game with anything around you: an object, the title of a book or an article...anything that concerns you.Repeat a similar game over and over with different things throughout the day and don't take notes of anything.Before you go to bed at night, think about all these things that you have connected to yourself. Do you remember them easily?As you keep exercising, you'll find that games like this get easier and easier for you.

After a few days or even months of persistence, you will find that you will make great progress.

Continue to play this kind of game in your free time, and let this kind of activity become a kind of active response in the brain.Every time something sparks information about you in your mind—a smell, a personal memory, a personality trait—it makes this new information more real in your mind. Come out, this will save you from the tedious life of constant forgetfulness.

When you feel that you can automatically make associations with the things around you, open yourself up to bigger challenges and more interesting exercises.Find an object near you to practice on, and bring your full attention to that object, studying its features from different angles...then, relating each feature to yourself.

Like: "This one is heavy - I'm too short and I only like light things. This one is too bright - I like mid-tones, light and shadows tend to be dreamy..." and so on.

When doing this little game, you will list all the reasons why you like or don't like this object.This approach is not only harmless, but also helps you to deepen your impression of this object.

There are many types of association, and the most ideal way of association is to make multi-level connections at the same time.

1. Similarity associations

This association is common.For example, when traveling in a small foreign town, someone will always say: "This place is really like a so-and-so place in our country."

Similarity associations can be visual or other sensory.For example, a child might tell you, "I remember the number 2468 easily because the numbers are arranged like a flight of stairs."

(End of this chapter)