Joshua Foer on how he greatly improved his memory.

Joshua Foer is the author of "Moonwalking with Einstein", in which he chronicles how he was able to improve his memory enough to win the U.S. Memory Championship and he reveals the techniques he used to improve it.

Simple Memory Improvement Tips Can Improve Your Life

How many times have you been driving home and suddenly had that sinking feeling that you've forgotten something. You walk in the door and you husband or wife greets you loveingly and hands you your anniversary present.

It's at that point that you realise another year has gone by and you have totally fogotten your anniversary again. If you have had this experience before then it's time for you to look at making an improvement to your memory.

By following a few easy memory improvement tips it will be easy for you to make a dramatic improvement to your memory and never have to worry again about forgetting things, which is the first - and probably the main - reason why simple memory improvement tips can improve your life.

Now, there are several different categories for your memory. These include remembering dates and events, names and faces, factual information and lists. In each of these areas there are different memory improvement tips and tools that you can use for your memory improvement.

If your one of these people that can never remember someones name there are several techniques that you can use. The most commonly used one by people around the world is to associate a rhyme with their name. For example, if your out at a party and get introduced to a new person named Tony. The first thing you want to do is make sure you repeat their name once or twice in conversation. "Hi Tony, pleased to meet you." This will help to confirm their name in your short term memory.

To help lock this name into your long term memory the next thing you do is associate it with a rhyme of some sort. e.g. Tony the pony. Now every time you see that person for the rest of the night repeat to yourself in your mind "tony the pony" and start to imagine that person as a pony. Once you've got this locked into your mind it's vertually impossible to forget. Some memory improvement tips really are that simple.

The other great thing to do is try to match your rhyme to a common feature about their appearance. By doing this it will help to recognize them in the future as well.

Another common memory improvement tip, when it comes to lists, is to make a word a saying/sentence or just remember the first letters of the list. By doing this it will help to jog your memory to exactly what was on the list. For example if you had to go to the shop and remember 5 items you could do it like follows.

Lollies

Bread

Chocolate

Apples

Ketchup

Have a look at your list and in this case we can re-arrange it to be.

B read

L ollies

A pples

C hocolate

K etchup

Now from the first letters in this case it spells Black. Now all you have to do is remember Black and when you get to the supermarket it will help you to know there were 5 things and they started with B L A C K

Once you learn all these easy little memory improvement techniques you'll be able to have a fantastic memory in virtually no time at all. So there you have it, the most important reasons why simple memory improvement tips can improve your life.

How to Improve Your Memory - Introduction to Method of Loci

In this video I introduce the concept of using the Method of Loci to effectively memorize unstructured information by converting it to spatial information. In the next videos in the series, I expand on the methods used to convert information as well as applying the method of Loci to words, numbers, and other unintuitive types of data. By using the Method you can greatly improve your memory and this can be employed to get better grades and even memorize formulas and facts for exams.

10 Tips for Improving Your Memory

It's hard to recall every single little detail. Here are 10 tips to make remembering easier.

Yesterday I was readying myself to sit down and write this column, and I completely forgot what subject I had planned. I laughed out loud when I found my notes and saw the title.  Perhaps I couldn't remember because I have been extra busy this week, or maybe I am just getting old and my brain is full (I am close to 50). In either case, I was glad to do a little research about some surefire ways to strip cobwebs from the mind while tuning up the old memory muscle.

Regardless of age, you are being inundated daily with thousands of facts and opinions from many sources. You get plenty to think about each week from my three columns alone, not to mention everything else you encounter. It's hard to retain the important stuff when so much is going on.

No need to stress. Here are 10 great tips for making things stick in your brain.

1. Establish Routine

I rarely lose my keys or sunglasses because I put them in the same place every time. On the rare occasions I don't put them in their proper place, I can drive myself crazy trying to find them. The same applies to important information. If you establish specific e-mail and desktop folders for critical documents, you'll know right where to go first.

2. Go Against Habit

If you really want to remember something critical, intentionally break the routine surrounding it. Suppose you keep forgetting to back up your computer at night. And let's say you always keep your keys in your right-hand pocket. Put them in your left pocket in the morning so when you are ready to leave you have to break your pattern.  The odd feeling acts like a string around your finger, making you aware that something needs to be done.

3. Eat More Brain Food

Lots of foods improve your memory because they are filled with special antioxidants and vitamins. Try adding more green tea, blueberries, salmon, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, dark chocolate and turmeric to your daily intake. Experts say a glass of red wine every so often can help as well. Of course, too much of that and you probably won't remember what happened the night before.

4. Get More Sleep

Your brain needs downtime to stay sharp. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll tax your memory and start forgetting things. Stay rested so you can keep your mind alert.

5. Have a Mental Workout

I am all for zoning out on mindless videos and light fiction, but actually challenging my brain makes me sharper and more effective at remembering. Mental challenges like studying complex concepts make simple tasks like remembering names at a party seem like a piece of cake.

6. Create Stories in Your Mind

Names and numbers by themselves can be easily forgotten if there is little or no context involved. As you are being introduced to new information, be aware of the surroundings and any possible details you can associate with the specific information. Recognize the order of events and then you can replay them in your mind to retrieve the answer.

7. Write Things Down

The keyboard on your smartphone or tablet can help you take notes and keep records. But it is not necessarily your best friend if you want to remember some of those important nuggets off the top of your head. The pen is mightier than the board when it comes to encoding the brain. The actual act of physically writing something down helps to register text in your mind where you can recover it later.

8. Get Creative

I constantly make up poems, songs and other mnemonics to lock important facts in my memory. They can be very powerful tools. I still use the 30 days has September poem from childhood to figure out the number of days in each month.

9. Pay Attention

Ultimately you want to shift important facts from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. Science dictates that this process takes about 8 seconds of focused attention on a specific item. So next time you need to encode something important, focus on it while counting to 8 alligators and lock it in.

10. Exercise

A healthy body provides for a healthy mind. Not only does exercise make the brain work better, getting the blood pumping actually makes it work harder. I recently came up with 18 column ideas on a 10K run and--with a little work--was able to remember all 18 by the end. Not bad for an old guy.

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