By guest expert Dr. Cynthia Green, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert in brain health and president of Memory Arts LLC.
I was once asked if there is one thing that everyone could do to improve memory. Luckily, there was an easy answer. If we only paid better attention to things that we want to retain, we would remember them better.
Of course, improving attention is not quite as easy as it sounds. Let’s face it, life is full of distractions. After all, we have many things competing for our awareness. Think about how many times you’ve been interrupted – or have interrupted yourself – over the past hour alone. Perhaps you got a snack, checked email or took a phone call. In the time that I’ve been working on this piece alone I’ve had to answer the door, help my son edit a paper, and of course constantly check email so I don’t miss anything life altering (hey, you never know). On top of these tempting distractions, add other attention zappers, such as how we sleep, what we eat, if we are stressed or anxious – just a few of the lifestyle factors that may also mire our attention. Finally, aging can contribute to the problem, since as we grow older it can be harder for us to sustain attention. Rarely, however, do we consider how truly essential attention is to memory. So that we go around complaining that we can do difficult work tasks just fine but forget simple things, like brushing our teeth (yuck) or what we went into the other room to get.
Building attention can do wonders for your memory performance. Why? Well, consider for a moment what it takes to remember. First we have to learn, or acquire, things that we want to recall later. After all, if you want to know something, you first have to get it. And that acquisition process requires – you’ve got it – attention. You can start building better attention and focus by:
- Increase Your Awareness. Be aware when you want to remember something later. Then stop and focus your attention in that moment, so you more effectively get the information.
- Build Your Attention. Playing games that challenge your attention and focus can help build your attention capacity. Games, like those in Lumosity’s brain fitness training program, force you to stay focused and think quickly to do well.
- Pay Attention to How You Live. Daily factors such as fatigue, poor diet, anxiety, and stress can really drain your attention. Take the time to think about how things may be affecting your attention day to day. You can boost your attention and therefore your memory simply by leading a lifestyle that supports healthy attention function.
- Stop Overtasking. The human brain is still, well, human. There is only so much we can handle at one time. Protect your attention and your time getting better attention habits. For example, I recently set my email so that it only checks for new messages every 30 minutes. This gives me longer chunks of time without the distraction of messages, which invariably are NOT life altering. Put “Do Not Disturb” signs up at work when working on things which require concentration. Try rewarding yourself with a favorite distraction (a game, a trip to the water cooler) once you’ve completed a task.
In fact, now that I’ve finished this column, I think it’s time to refill my water bottle. So go forth and pay attention to your attention – it will help you remember better.
Dr. Green
9 Comments
Dear Dr. Green,
It is so true that we get distracted.
I have difficulty concentrating at work before the darkness comes. I hope there is a cure for that because I desparately need it. I normally check emails and answer them one by one. Then getting into online materials that interest me (by the way, that is how I found this site!) Not bad, ah?
I love to surf around, at the end, I come back to work until the early morning hours. I get by this way. My friend says that I do not want to change this pattern because I think it is good subconsciously… Do you have any information to help me?
I think I have some phobia related to the beginning of work. I go around and avoid them until I feel safe to get in… Is that common?
thank you in advance
yinghongchen@hotmail.com
Dear Dr. Green,
I would like to first interduce myself Im
Christina and I am 38 years old and when I was born I had loss oxygen to My brain I suffered a speech impaiment along with congitive functions all of which till this day I don’t know what parts were damaged during the birthing process,What are the best execises I can do for brain advancement.
Hello Dr. Green,
I have a question that I suppose would come from the opposite end of the spectrum as it were.
I’m a 37 years old and happened to find Lumosity through a link provided by a fellow member of a high IQ society that I belong to. I found that I liked what Lumosity offered and became a subscriber.
After playing many times and for several months I have found that I literally have topped out many of the scores and levels on several of them. To give an indication my current Lumosity overall BPI is 1502.
With that in mind, is it possible to over train one’s brain like say a body builder may over extend his/her muslces? Or would that mental over extention manifest itself in some other fashion like say an increase in frustration?
Thank you for you time Dr. Green.
Hi dear,
My name is javid from afghanistan as i am 30 years old,recently i am suffering from a broblem and that is when i want to speak i am un capable to speak normally,i am feelling presure on my mind ,like a car in firt gear,so these are the things that i can not control it,so i need ur attention and what shuld i do.
thanks
I am a 76 year old man. My memory is not as it used to be. Nowadays , I forget a lot even if I am told to do some task just before going out by the time I have done other things I have forgotten what it was I was to get.
I would surely like to improve my recall ability and improve memory.
Can you please help. I was advised by by my doctor about this site. I started yesterday and find it extremely good. It has shown me in the first few times I played it that I rarely remember the object placement.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Morris Powell
Hi Dr. Green
Regarding to How to improve our memory, I certainly agree that distraction is a lack of concentration.
My concern is that, I would like to know what can I do in order to retain more information without getting distracted, Im a student and I would like to find a new strategy on how to focus on what Im studying and how would I retain that information for the exams. I also thought that anxiety has something to do by preventing me from concerntrating on what Im studying and during the exam I kind of forget some of what I studied. Im in college and Im going for nursing. I would like to improve to my memory skills in to become better with my focusing,memory,concentration,and how to obtaining better understading on what should I focus primarily when studying?
Thank you, I appreciate.
I have no doubt that Luminosity will improve my cognitive abilities in the shortterm but will this site induce longterm benefits or will I need to play these games in perpetuity?
I use to forget to wipe my butt when i pooped not anymore thanks lumonisty!!
I have a problem with memorization.
Once I were young I am a clever, rapid memorize and easy retain.
At present, I found that my memory is slow down. I can’t remember something I just did.
It’s very hard to remember the name of new friends.
What should I do to improve my memorization?
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