There are numerous tools that a person can learn in order to improve his or her memory. Improving our memory can help us remember facts accurately and the whole structure of different information.
As with the regular human tools of our mind, the more we practice with these tools, the more we will be effective in using them. Without practice and effort, one cannot have a good memory. Even one does not have the time required to develop the quality of memory, most of our techniques are very useful in everyday living.
One popular tool to improve the memory is mnemonics which are techniques to remember information that are very hard to recall. The general idea in using mnemonics is to instill hard-to-recall-information in a way that they can easily be remembered.
Our brains are very complex that they can encode and interpret sophisticated data such as colors, images, sound, tastes, positions, and language. These stimuli are used to create a visual image of our world and our memories are used to store these images.
Unfortunately, there are numerous information that one should remember today since the boom of information technology and the development of the modern world. While writing is a very good mode for complex discourse, our brains cannot easily document written information accurately.
The best method is to code information using regular images that we can reliably extract information. Since these images are very common, they are easily utilized to recall information that we need.
In using mnemonics, you can use the following categories to help you recall important data:
1. Vivid pleasant images since brain has the tendency to eliminate negative ideas
2. Colorful images since our brains have the tendency to recall color
3. Senses mnemonics can also use sounds, tastes, smell, feelings as well as images
4. Dimension giving your ideas dimension can make it more vivid and easier to recall. You can also use movements to maintain the flow of memory association
5. Humor and exaggeration you can have fun while trying to recall data
6. Rhymes the ears can easily interpret data when they are pleasant
7. Symbols funny symbols can be associated with an idea quickly and effectively
There are three basic principles in using mnemonics: imagination, location and association. Combining with these principles can strengthen your use of memory techniques.
Imagination is what we use to design and enhance the memory needed to create effective mnemonics. Our imagination is what we use to create memory aids that are effective. The more we use our imagination and see the image, the more it will thoroughly stick to our mind for later use. The image we use in mnemonics can be clear, pleasant, funny, exaggerated or sensual as long as it can help you remember information.
Location can give us two major things: a concrete idea into which we can place data so that it can cling together, that it will not be bundled into other mnemonics. By placing one group of information in a particular location, we can separate it from a similar mnemonic with images of New York for example. We can also build smell, flavors or color of these places into our mnemonics to enhance the location.
Association is a method by which we attribute a data to be remembered such as placing things on top or side by side.