Boost your memory – and sharpen your mind

Many of us are poor listeners. We forget 75% of what we do hear within two months. We forget between a third and a half of what we hear within 8 hours. If someone is not observant, a poor listener, easily distracted, fails to concentrate or lacks interest, he or she has remembers even less. And this is exacerbated by the digital age of speed where everything seems to be happening at once, and where people seem to take pride in the self-defeating behavior of multitasking.

Smartphones and iPhones have apps for almost everything. We are reminded to turn off the stove, when to leave for an appointment and where we left the car. Memorization seems to be a dying skill; because everything is available at the click of a mouse or a tap of an icon. Unfortunately, as our natural memory declines, we may even forget where we left our smartphone! The problem with our brain, and with memory and other cognitive skills, is that if we don’t use them we lose we lose them.

In this brief book Harold Taylor, author of Managing your memory (1988), explains not only how to keep your memory skills intact through lifestyle changes and attitude, but how to increase your powers of memory and recall by using your brain’s natural ability to visualize and associate.

Content

1. Your brain has a mind of its own
   1. The importance of memory
   2. Things you don’t need to remember
   3. Why your memory may seem faulty
2. Our wonderful world of memory
   1. How our memory works
   2. What is working memory?
   3. Is your working memory getting weaker?
   4. What is long-term memory?
3. The care and feeding of memory
   1. Exercise your body & your brain
   2. Watch that stress
   3. Sleep aids memory
   4. Fuel for the brain
4. There’s nothing wrong with your memory
   1. Take a positive approach to memorizing
   2. Don’t use age as an excuse
5. Giving your memory a helping hand
   1. The use of mnemonics
   2. Rhymes, jingles and other devices that aid recall
   3. Acronyms and acrostics
6. Taking advantage of the brain’s ability to link information
   1. The power of association
   2. Intentional association
   3. Absentmindedness
7. Your brain loves to hear stories
   1. Visualize to memorize
   2. Recalling information for presentations or exams
8. The limits of story telling
   1. Remembering a list of items in any order
9. Remembering names and faces
   1. I’ll never forget what’s his name
   2. Rules for remembering names
10. Remembering telephone numbers, statistics and more
    1. The numbers game
    2. Remembering statistics
    3. Go with the flow
11. Books referenced in Boost your memory
12. About the author