By Miah Ayaan
Staying sharp takes work. You don’t have to sit there and accept your eventual decline as you age. If things are getting fuzzy and you’re having a hard time remembering names, places, or that thing you did last weekend, you can do simple things to overcome those challenges. Your memory is like a muscle. It needs to be engaged to stay strong. If you neglect it, your memory can atrophy and wither away. If you want to improve your memory skills, there are things you can start incorporating into your life to get amazing results. A better memory will help you in almost every aspect of your life. You’ll be able to perform at a higher level at work, move better in social circles, and stay on top of all the details you need to manage. Here are some tips to help you improve your memory skills.
Eat Foods that Promote a Healthy Brain
Believe it or not, some foods will improve your memory simply by eating them! Some brain power foods include broccoli, blueberries, salmon, turmeric, and green tea. These are things you can eat easily and are widely available. They are delicious too. They can be mixed into different food ingredients or eaten by themselves.
Take the Right Supplements
In addition to eating the right foods, you should be taking supplements designed to improve your memory. Several companies make memory-related products that promote overall brain health. They’re widely available and relatively affordable. The thing you need to know about supplements is that you need to be disciplined to see any real impact. You have to take them daily for a long time for them to benefit your memory.
Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Sleep
Only recently has sleep been getting the attention it deserves as being a critical part of overall health. Even though there’s an entire line of thought dedicated to sacrificing sleep if you want to be a “good” worker or grind your way to success, this narrative is usually false. People who prioritize sleep tend to function better throughout the day and perform at higher levels. They’re also typically less stressed than their counterparts, which also helps improve memory performance. When you’re stressed, your brain is cluttered with a million thoughts and it can be elusive.
Exercise Your Brain
One great tip for improving your memory is playing games to give your brains a workout every day. You can try to name all 50 states or test your ability to remember the names of everyone you meet at next week’s work function. These little quizzes will keep your brain sharp and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Another way you can exercise your brain is to prioritize creativity. Stretch your brain by building stories in your mind, writing poetry or music, or trying to memorize facts.
Reduce Mental Clutter
At some point, we need to be realistic about memory and our capacity to remember things. We can improve memory performance, but at some point, we may be asking our brains to do too much. Things start to fall through the cracks when we’re trying to juggle a million balls in the air. At some point, one or two are going to drop. Instead of getting down on yourself about the one out of one million things you forgot, think about trying to eliminate unnecessary clutter from your life. Focus on what matters most to you and start eliminating what’s doesn’t. You’ll likely find it’s easier to remember things when there aren’t so many to remember.
Peptides and Memory Performance
There have been clinical research studies done around Oxytocin and its ability to regulate hormones and drive mental performance in mice. Oxytocin was shown to promote neuron development in the prefrontal cortex. The mice who took oxytocin exhibited better cognitive performance and reduced anxiety levels, which can affect memory.
Build Patterns to Improve Memory
Your brain works well when you have triggers in place that stimulate thoughts or memories. Placing your keys in the same place, for instance, engrains your behavior in your brain, so that it’s easier to remember where you put them if you suddenly can’t find them. The same goes for things like giving people nicknames, associating new vocabulary words with funny words or pictures, and using rhymes to remember phrases or figures. You’re helping give your brain a boost by associating words or behaviors that help it zero in on what you’re trying to remember.
Improving your memory takes work. It will require more and more effort as you age, and life becomes more complex. People get stressed and have a lot of obligations that put demands on mental space. Following these tips can make a big difference in how you process thoughts and how quickly you can remember things.
