How To Boost Your Memory Immediately (Without Supplements)

It’s Life-Hack Saturday here at 10almonds, and today we’re going to be sharing:

• The Motivation Cheat Code (that’s not what you think)

• How to boost your memory (without supplements)

  • Quick test first (2 minutes)

  • Tip one (getting it in there)

  • Tip two (keeping it in there)

  • What if…

• Fast Like A Girl (one for the ladies, because a lot of literature on IF overlooks our very important and relevant physiological differences)

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Motivation Cheat Code

This young girl in a hoodie has some very hard-hitting wise-beyond-her-years truths to share, and is well worth taking the time to listen to.

It’s a little longer than we usually feature here (9:04) so if you don’t have time right now, just go to the video and tap “Watch later” and invest the time when you can. You’ll be glad you did!

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Have only 5 minutes? Start at 4:08 which is where she gets to actionable advices, but honestly, you’ll be missing out if you don’t hear her full speech first.

(there are high-quality subtitles for this one too, not just automatic closed-captioning)

💬 MAIN FEATURE

How To Boost Your Memory (Without Supplements)

While we do recommend having a good diet and taking advantage of various supplements that have been found to help memory, that only gets so much mileage. With that in mind…

First, how good is your memory? Take This 2-Minute Online Test

Now, that was a test of short term memory, which tends to be the most impactful in our everyday life.

It’s the difference between “I remember the address of the house where I grew up” (long-term memory) and “what did I come to this room to do?” (short-term memory / working memory)

First tip:

When you want to remember something, take a moment to notice the details. You can’t have a madeleine moment years later if you wolfed down the madeleines so urgently they barely touched the sides.

This goes for more than just food, of course. And when facing the prospect of age-related memory loss in particular, people tend to be afraid not of forgetting their PIN code, but their cherished memories of loved ones. So… Cherish them, now! You’ll struggle to cherish them later if you don’t cherish them now. Notice the little details as though you were a painter looking at a scene for painting. Involve more senses than just sight, too!

If it’s important, relive it. Relive it now, relive it tomorrow. Rehearsal is important to memory, and each time you relive a memory, the deeper it gets written into your long-term memory until it becomes indelible to all but literal brain damage.

Second tip:

Tell the story of it to someone else. Or imagine telling it to someone else! (You brain can’t tell the difference)

And you know how it goes… Once you’ve told a story a few times, you’ll never forget it later. Isn’t your life a story worth telling?

Many people approach memory like they’re studying for a test. Don’t. Approach it like you’re preparing to tell a story, or give a performance. We are storytelling creatures at heart, whether or not we realize it.

What do you do when you find yourself in a room and wonder why you went there? (We’ve all been there!) You might look around for clues, but if that doesn’t immediately serve, your fallback will be retracing your steps. Literally, physically, if needs be, but at least mentally. The story of how you got there is easier to remember than the smallest bit of pure information.

What about when there’s no real story to tell, but we still need to remember something?

Make up a story. Did you ever play the game “My granny went to market” as a child?

If not, it’s a collaborative memory game in which players take turns adding items to a list, “My granny went to market and bought eggs”, My granny went to market and bought eggs and milk”, “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour” (is she making a cake?), “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour and shoe polish” (what image came to mind? Use that) “my granny went to market and bought eggs and milk and flour and shoe polish and tea” (continue building the story in your head), and so on.

When we actually go shopping, if we don’t have a written list we may rely on the simple story of “what I’m going to cook for dinner” and walking ourselves through that story to ensure we get the things we need.

This is because our memory thrives (and depends!) on connections. Literal synapse connections in the brain, and conceptual contextual connections in your mind. The more connections, the better the memory.

Now imagine a story: “I went to Stonehenge, but in the background was a twin-peaked mountain blue. I packed a red suitcase, placing a conch shell inside it, when suddenly I heard a trombone, and…” Ring any bells? These are example items from the memory test earlier, though of course you may have seen different things in a different order.

So next time you want to remember things, don’t study as though for a test. Prepare to tell a story!

Try going through the test again, but this time, ignore their instructions because we’re going to use the test differently than intended (we’re rebels like that). Don’t rush, and don’t worry about the score this time (or even whether or not you saw a given image previously), but instead, build a story as you go. We’re willing to bet that after it, you can probably recite most of the images you saw in their correct order with fair confidence.

Here’s the link again: Take The Same Test, But This Time Make It Story-Worthy!

Again, ignore what it says about your score this time, because we weren’t doing that this time around. Instead, list the things you saw.

What you were just able to list was the result of you doing story-telling with random zero-context images while under time pressure.

Imagine what you can do with actual meaningful memories of your ongoing life, people you meet, conversations you have!

Just… Take the time to smell the roses, then rehearse the story you’ll tell about them. That memory will swiftly become as strong as any memory can be, and quickly get worked into your long-term memory for the rest of your days.

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Fast Like A Girl - by Dr. Mindy Pelz

A lot of information out there when it comes to intermittent fasting is very much centered on men in the 25–35 years age range. What about the rest of us?

Our physiological needs are not the same, and it'd be foolhardy to ignore that. But what things do still stand the same, and what things would benefit from a different approach in our cases?

Dr. Pelz has our back with this book packed with information based on the best science currently out there. She gives a general overview of fasting with full consideration to the fact that we the reader may well be female or over a certain age or both. In addition, the book offers:

• Metabolic switching (the "missing key to weight loss")

• Building a fasting lifestyle (that works with your actual life, not just on paper)

• How to time fasting according to your menstrual cycle (if you don’t have a cycle, she has you covered too)

• How to break a fast—properly (and many other hacks/tips/tricks to make fasting so much easier)

Bottom line: if you want to do intermittent fasting and want to work with rather than against your body, then this book is a fine option.

Get your copy of Fast Like A Girl on Amazon today!

May your life always be a story worth telling,

The 10almonds Team