10 Simple Ways to Massively Improve Your Memory Part 2

6. Mind Mapping

One of the best ways to learn new things is to relate what you want to learn with something you already know. This is known as association and it is the mental glue that drives your brain.

Associations are also one of the best ways to improve your memory. To maximize our mental powers, we must constantly look for associations that connect new ideas and knowledge with old ideas and concepts that we are already familiar with.

Association is the primary method that memory champions use to win international memory competitions. If you want to enhance your mental abilities, then association is one skill that you will definitely want to practice.

Mind mapping is one of the best ways to practice association.

According to Wikipedia, mind mapping: “is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea.”

Mind maps have been used for centuries to aid in learning, brainstorming, memory, and problem solving.

To start creating your own mind map, simply get out a piece of paper, multiple colored pens, and begin drawing a handwritten mind map that connects a variety of ideas and concepts to a central key word or idea. The simple act of using your hand for thought can really get the brain going.

7. Write an Article

One of the best ways to learn a topic is to start writing about it yourself. This forces you to clarify your thoughts and dig a bit deeper into the topic at hand.

By expressing the core ideas in your own words, you will gain a much deeper understanding of the topic.

Explaining a topic to others will help you to “really” understand the matter because teaching something to others requires a completely different level of insight.

Think about it. If you had to teach a class, wouldn’t you make sure that you understood the material even better than the students. Take on the role of an instructor and you will find yourself gaining a much deeper understanding of the topics you study.

8. Peg words

Peg words are extremely powerful, but it does take some time to learn how to use them. However, once you master this technique, you can probably cut your studying time in half.

The use of pegs goes all the way back to the seventeenth century and Henry Herson. He came up with a list of ten objects that physically resembled the number itself. For example, the number 1 was represented by a candle. Number 8 was a pair of spectacles.

Peg words essentially become “hangers” or pegs on which you can hang different items that you want to remember.

This system works by pre-memorizing a list of words that are easy to associate with the numbers they represent. To begin, you can connect simple objects with the numbers 1-20. Those objects form the “pegs” of the system.

Once you have created a list of words for each number, you can then begin using your peglist to quickly memorize a list of objects.

For example, let’s say you want to memorize a grocery list of 10 items. To begin, you would need to make a peg list for the numbers 1-10. Here’s an example:

1- pencil
2- shoe
3- phone
4- door
5- book
6- basketball
7- hat
8- radio
9- car
10- barn

Now, you must associate the groceries on your list with each of your peg words. Remember that your associations must be exaggerated and filled with emotion in order to make them easy to remember. Here are some examples of how you could associate the grocery list with each of the peg words:

1- tomatoes - Visualize an army of pencils attacking a field of overgrown tomatoes.
2- grapes - Visualize your favorite TV character stomping through a big barrel of grapes with bright white shoes.
3 - cereal - Visualize opening your phone and having your favorite cereal start shooting out of the mouth piece.

Get the idea?

Once you have created your list of peg words, you can use them over and over again to memorize a variety of different lists.

You could use the peg system to memorize the Presidents of the United States, the periodic table, or the state capitals.

When creating your peg words, it’s best to use tangible things or objects for each peg word because objects are easier to associate other items to.

Also, make sure that you don’t use similar peg words for different numbers. For reference, always keep a full list of the peg words close by. In fact, putting this list in your wallet or purse is one of the best places. This way, you will always have access to the peg system.

At first, you may find it difficult to come up with the creative, illogical, and exaggerated associations that help you remember more. It comes with practice. However, once you have mastered the technique of association, you will find that you have also increased your creativity and problem solving skills at the same time. The key to creating good associations is thinking like a child again. Let your mind wander past the limitations created out of what we now know as “adulthood”.

9. Visualization

Visualization is an extremely powerful memory technique. However, visualization doesn’t just improve memory. It can also help reduce stress, improve sports performance, and increase your motivation.

Create descriptive pictures of your possible future and move yourself towards it. Visualize your next sports event or public speech to improve your performance.

When studying history, play out visual renditions in your mind of historical events that you want to remember. Imagine the smells, sights, and sounds of Gettysburg or the excitement and unity created by Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. By visualizing history with mental replays, you are much more likely to remember them in detail.

10. FlashCards

When it comes to rote memorization, flash cards are my favorite memorization tool. Flashcards can help you learn new subjects quickly and efficiently. They are especially useful for learning new vocabulary or even a new language.

One of the biggest benefits of flashcards is their portable nature. They allow you to study anywhere at any time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the bus, stuck in traffic, or in the doctor’s office. You can always whip out your flashcards for a quick 2 to 3 minute study session.

To create effective flashcards, dedicate one point to each card. For example, you could put a vocabulary word on one side and the definition on the other side. This way, you can repeatedly quiz yourself until you have mastered all of the concepts.

Considering that memory is such a fundamental skill, it’s surprising that schools don’t teach us more about how to learn and use our memory to its optimum potential.

Our mind, just like the rest of our body, needs continuous exercise and training. Those who think they have a poor memory actually just have an untrained memory.

Just reading this article won’t improve your memory. A good memory comes from practice. Find something new and exciting to learn. Start testing out these methods as soon as possible.

You could learn how to fly, learn a new language, photography, or even investing.

When you have mastered these memory techniques, the world’s knowledge is yours to discover.

	Assimilative Memory, Or, How To Attend And Never Forget List Price: $22.75 Sale Price: $14.18 Used From: $44.92
	This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc...

	The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play List Price: $15.00 Sale Price: $5.99 Used From: $5.64
	Unleash the hidden power of your mind through Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas's simple, fail-safe memory system, and you can become more effective, more imaginative, and more powerful, at work, at school, in sports and play...

	Your Memory : How It Works and How to Improve It List Price: $14.95 Sale Price: $8.75 Used From: $3.96
	Do you want to stop forgetting appointments, birthdays, and other important dates? Work more efficiently at your job? Study less and get better grades? Remember the names and faces of people you meet? The good news is that it's all possible...

	Memory List Price: $54.50 Sale Price: $42.99 Used From: $25.00
	People seem to be intrigued by memory, and by its sometimes spectacular failure in (for example) people with amnesia. However, students of memory sometimes fail to retain this fascination. The reason is clear: in order to study memory we must carry out carefully-designed experiments, which can seem boring even when they are exciting science...

	Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything List Price: $16.00 Sale Price: $9.74
	Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2011: Moonwalking with Einstein follows Joshua Foer's compelling journey as a participant in the U.S. Memory Championship. As a science journalist covering the competition, Foer became captivated by the secrets of the competitors, like how the current world memory champion, Ben Pridmore, could memorize the exact order of 1,528 digits in an hour...