Yesterday I was thinking of writing about memory improvement. I forgot, honest.
Has this happened to you? You read, hear, or see something, usually unfamiliar, and it keeps coming up. I was reading a book last week and the expression whoha was used for a female part. Yesterday while watching "House of Cards" one of the characters said "whoha."
A post on Facebook of a theater marque with lots of people gathered underneath it. The play was "Kinky Boots." When flipping through TV offerings about an hour later "Kinky Boots" was on Showtime. In case you're interested the play is new, the movie was released in 2005. "A drag queen comes to the rescue of a man who, after inheriting his father's shoe factory needs to diversify his product if he wants to keep the business afloat."
I'm having a literary problem. In describing my recent exposure to memory improvement the common expression is "shoved down my throat." However, as it deals with the brain and cognitive functions, the expression should be "shoved or stuffed in my ears." While I'll be the first to admit the possibility that some people do have things shoved down their throats that later exit their brains, mine rests between my ears.
AARP magazine, Xfinity, A PBS special, Exercise Right, all have tips to improve memory. They have different suggestions but all say memory skills diminish with age. Here are some of the problems and suggestions for improvements.
The brain wasn't designed to store data like birthday's, PIN numbers, and passwords. This information is called declarative memory. Try attaching something significant to them.
My birthday is December 22nd, think Christmas minus 3 days. Wanda's is December 9th, Pearl Harbor Day plus 2. Rebecca's birthday is September 15th. First I recite "30 days has November, April, June, and September. All the rest have 31 except February has 28. Unless it's leap year, then 29 and that's only once every 4 years." Then I divide September in half and the answer is 15. See how easy that is?
If you forgot why you walked into another room you were probably distracted en route. Or the item you wanted wasn't significant enough to be registered completely in your brain. Try to visualize what you want before leaving one room and going into another.
Say you want to get a screwdriver out of the toolbox in the garage. Before you go through the garage door think screwdriver. Don't be concerned if you take orange juice out of the fridge and start looking for vodka. Have a drink or two and you'll have an excuse for forgetting to tighten that switch. You want to take a shower so start undressing before you leave the bedroom. If it's the day of your wife's bridge club gathering don't worry about it. You don't have anything they haven't seen. OK, maybe it's been awhile but they'll remember. There are certain things a memory never forgets.
If you are consistently forgetting where you put things like car keys. Put them in the same place, put something of value with them, or tell yourself out loud where you put them.
Wrap a one hundred dollar bill around your keys, you won't forget that. Or say "I'm putting my wallet and keys in the inside pocket of my beige jacket. I'm putting my beige jacket on the right side of the front hall closet." Or, put a nice looking basket somewhere near the front door and use it every day, easy peasy.
A universal problem, especially as we age, is the "it's on the tip of my tongue" issue. A name of a person, place, or even an acquittance slips you memory.
The experts say, cut yourself some slack, relax, it happens to everyone. Take a deep breath then say aloud what you think the name is like. It's something about water or it begins with an S. It's how many words and sounds like?
This method is especially good as practice for Pictionary and Charades.
If you forget names of new people you meet try attaching a distinguishing feature to them. If you're introduced to Mary and she has a large hairy cheek mole think "Mary Mole or Mole Mary or Hairy Mole Mary." Another method is repeat the name three times, click your heels and say "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."
You can't remember whether you've turned off the stove, the coffee pot, or the iron. These are called automatic tasks and that's long term memory like riding a bike. Because this is more mechanical than conscience you're not fully aware of the action when you're performing it.
Most of the time you have turned off the stove or the iron. But if you find yourself frequently guessing or actually forgetting, make an effort to be mindful of the critical moment when you flip the switch. Say out loud, "Oven is off" or "Iron is unplugged." Invest in products with automatic shut-offs or leave a note by the front door with a checklist of what needs to be off and what needs to be on.
I have my own system. The wicker basket on the living room end table has my car keys. I go out to car open the trunk and get my notebook. I have my computer password written in mirror script on page 27. I start the computer and sign in. Then I pull up my address book and get Wanda's work number. I call and tell her I turned off the water in the back yard, or the iron, or the stove.
Even easier, I let her do everything that requires electricity, water, or gas.
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