Names and numbers seem to be small essentials but these minute details make up most of the things commonly forgotten by anyone and this is bothersome because forgetting them give a bad impression about us or interfere with our daily activities. Remembering these little things may even be your primary goal right now that's why you want to improve your memory.
Names
Remembering names may be the most important of all for you among the memory improvement lessons you've studied so far. Names are important to people and remembering their name is considered a compliment by many. This is mostly beneficial to one in the business or political world. Many connections and acquaintances are made by remembering who is who.
This is a challenge by many nowadays but the techniques in remembering names are quite simple and fun. The very first thing to remember in order to remember someone is to concentrate well when the person is being introduced. When you pay attention to the name being spoken then there's a bigger chance that you will remember it. Another thing to do in concentrating is to look closely at the face of the person and find special face marks or body characteristics unique to that person, distinguishing him from others like a mole or curly hair perhaps. After you've heard the name and picked out the special characteristic of the person you've just met, repeat his name by saying something like "How are you Michelle Pfeiffer?" This will catch their attention and will get them interested in you too because it gives the impression that you caught their name. If the pronunciation is hard, it's best to clarify the spelling and how the name is said and this again gives you an opportunity to repeat or say the name out loud to yourself. If you have a chance to have a long conversation with the person, then say their name during the whole conversation when you need to refer to them by saying something like "This is what happened Michelle…" or Goodbye, take care Michelle!" While you are engaged in the conversation or even after it, associate the name with the unique characteristic of the person to each other. If there is no distinct characteristic then associate the name to something that sounds like the name. For example, you may visualize Michelle smoking a pipe. This will help you remember that the surname of Michelle is Pfeiffer because Pfeiffer sounds like pipe. Usually funny images work best in association techniques because the mind easily remembers something funny.
If chance permits you, write down the name on a piece of paper. This is great to do when the person could be a prospect business contact. Focus when you are writing it down because remembering how the name is written on paper is another way to remember the name of the person.
Numbers and Lists
Chunking is the main technique in remembering number series and lists. Chunking is grouping information to make it shorter to remember. A good example is remembering your Social Security Number. It often consists of nine digits in many countries. Grouping the numbers by 3's helps in easily remembering it, and if by coincidence there are duplicate numbers then it is easier to recall. For example, the SSN is 353267157. Say it as 353-267-157. Grouping by 3's for the first digits seem to work for most people even if the number series is longer than nine digits.
The same can be done for a grocery list for example. Think of the grocery when you are doing your list. When you visualize in your mind how the sections look like then you will remember what you need to buy and be able to write it down on paper and also when you visualize what you have written, you will remember the sections and it will remind you of the things you need to buy. Another technique is to group the items by their first letters wherein all those beginning with letter A's go together and B's go together, etc. If it is really important to remember, memorize on an empty stomach. An empty stomach keeps the mind intensely alert.
NEXT: Learn New Things – A Memory Challenge
|
