Name of weekly column: Purple Patch

This week's contributor: Mary Jane Flanagan, training director, learnpurple

What was this blog about….. oh yes memory

These days the main topic of conversation amongst my friends and associates is how much we forget as opposed to how much we want to forget!  Did you know the phrase “it’s on the tip if my tongue” is translated into 40 different languages? Our brain is a miracle of evolution; a complex and sensitive machine that works most effectively if it has a chemical and physical balance.  And like the most temperamental car you ever owned it needs to be taken out for a run on a frequently.

We actually have three elements of our brain:

Procedural – This is the ‘how to’ part, how to eat, how to tie laces and how to text (actually I’ll never master that!).

Semantic – This covers facts, what is a key, what is a film, what is my telephone number?

Episodic – This covers experience, Where did I put my keys, who is on that film and why did I come into this room.

The information is saved and retrieved through the sending of 100 billions of neutrons through our pathways from our long term to our short term memory.  They send chemical and electrical signals to each other. Over time these signals become weaker and according to scientists our brains shrink ½ % a year after the age of 30. As our episodic memory relies heavily on the frontal lobe, shrinkage hits here first, although you do not immediately notice the change, it takes longer to retain and retrieve crucial information.

Our ‘improve your memory’ courses are often full with people who have trouble remembering things on a day to day basis.  The stress and fast pace we all tend to work at today means that we are doing many things at once and sometimes we don’t get as much sleep as we need.  Here are some tips to help keep your brain in tip top condition and some techniques to improve your memory skills:

•    Feed your brain as well as your body – It is known that Vitamin B complex keeps your brain metabolism normal. Combine this with fatty acids Omega 3 and 6 and drink plenty of water to keep it hydrated. My brain never functions well with a hangover... How about yours?

•    Use it and keep the pathways clear and working. Doing crosswords, Sudoku and any puzzles that require you to think. Yes brain train does actually work.

•    Association. This is a great tool for remembering names, associate the face with someone you know with the same name or picture the face with an object i.e. for someone called Mike imagine them holding mike and singing.

•    Chunking. According to Graham Miller we retrieve chunks of approx 7 items at any one time, so breaking them down the information into chunks of 3, 4 or 7 means we are more likely to remember the whole number. Also if you want to remember a name say it 7 times, obviously some of these may need to be in your head otherwise others will think you a little strange.

•    Write it down. As more demands are made on us we cannot remember everything so write it down. Keep a book handy to write to do lists, important information, and birthdays and use it to write down what you want to tell others especially over the phone so you do not put the phone down and think oh I should have said ….

•    Lastly concentrate and use critical listening. We often let our mind wander when others are talking or start forming our reply before they have finished asking the question. Stop and actually list intently, you’ll be amazed at what you can remember.

I recently attended a meeting with a client who thanked me for helping him to become more efficient as he was now able to walk into any of his restaurants and remember people’s names after attending our memory skills course and following the techniques.  They say 50 is the new 25; by keeping our brains as fit as our bodies we’ll not only remember the what and the why we’ll also remember the how...