Research-proven tips for a better memory
Normal age-related changes in the brain can slow some cognitive processes, making it a bit harder to learn new things quickly or to ward off distractions. The good news is that, thanks to decades of research, most of us can sharpen our minds with proven, do-it-yourself strategies. Here are some ways to boost your ability to remember as you age.
1. Believe in yourself.
Myths about aging can contribute to a failing memory. Middle-aged and older learners do worse on memory tasks when exposed to negative stereotypes about aging and memory, and better if exposed to messages about memory preservation into old age.
2. Economize your brain use.
Take advantage of calendars and planners, maps, shopping lists, file folders, and address books to keep routine information accessible. Designate a place at home for your glasses, keys, and other items you use frequently.
3. Organize your thoughts.
New information that’s broken into smaller chunks, such as the hyphenated sections of a phone or social security number, is easier to remember than a single long list, such as financial account numbers or the name of everyone in a classroom.
4. Use all your senses.
The more senses you use when you learn something, the more of your brain will be involved in retaining the memory. For example, odors are famous for conjuring memories from the distant past, especially those with strong emotional content, such as visits to a cookie-baking grandparent.
5. Expand your brain.
Widen the brain regions involved in learning by reading aloud, drawing a picture, or writing down the information you want to learn (even if you never look back at your notes). Just forming a visual image of something makes it easier to remember and understand; it forces you to make the information more precise.
6. Repeat after me.
When you want to remember something you have just heard or thought about, repeat it out loud. For example, if you’ve just been told someone’s name, use it when you speak with him or her: “So Rekha, where did you meet her?”
7. Space it out.
Instead of repeating something many times in a short period, as if you were cramming for an exam, re-study the essentials after increasingly longer periods of time — once an hour, then every few hours, then every day. Spacing out periods of study is particularly valuable when you are trying to master complicated information.
8. Challenge yourself.
Engaging in activities that require you to concentrate and tax your memory will help you maintain skills as you age. Discuss books, do crossword puzzles, try new recipes, travel, and undertake projects or hobbies that require skills you aren’t familiar or comfortable with.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
How to Develop Better Concentration When Studying
Self-Help Information: How to Develop Better Concentration When Studying
Think of concentration improvement as a three-step process:
1.Learn the causes of poor concentration and decide which apply to you.
2.Understand what you can do to control these factors.
3.Make your control habitual. Even if you lapse into old habits of distraction and daydreaming, keep insisting of yourself that you concentrate using these controls until you can routinely concentrate well on your studies for fifty minutes of every hour.
External Causes
Environmental distractions: TV, chairs that are too comfortable, snacks, other people, etc.
Leave or re-arrange a distracting environment. Go to a library or a classroom when you seriously intend to study.
Noise: Music with words, conversations
Train yourself to study away from others and in silence.
Internal Causes
Physical distractions: hunger, drowsiness.
Plan to study when you are most alert. Eat a high-protein snack. Do five minutes of light exercise to wake up.
Boredom, dislike, disinterest
Find a reason that satisfies you for taking the class; talk with other students and the professor.
Anxiety about studies
Make sure you know how to study effectively. Put the course in perspective.
Intimidating study tasks
Break up large tasks into achievable subtasks. Do the most intimidating task first. Give yourself rewards for progress.
Daydreaming
Separate daydreams from studying. When your mind starts to wander, write down the interrupting thought and continue studying. Or, recall important points and then turn away from your book and continue to daydream. When you're ready to read again, do so. The trick is not to daydream and read at the same time.
Personal worries
Identify and define the problem and develop a concrete, specific plan to resolve personal worries. Talk with someone who can help: a friend, a counselor, or a specialist.
The art or practice of concentration, no matter if studying biology or playing pool, is to focus on the task at hand and eliminate distraction. We all have the ability to concentrate -- sometimes. Think of the times when you were "lost" in something you enjoy. But at other times your mind wanders from one thing to another. Your worries distract you. Outside distractions take you away before you know it. The material is boring, difficult, and/or not interesting to you.
These tips may help:
"Here I Study"
1.Get a dedicated space, chair, table, lighting and environment.
2.If you like music in the background, OK, but don't let it be a distraction.
3.Stick to a routine, efficient study schedule.
4.Accommodate your day/nighttime energy levels.
5.Before you begin studying, take a few minutes to summarize a few objectives, gather what you will need, and think of a general strategy of accomplishment.
6.Incentives and Rewards: Create an incentive or reward for successfully completing a task, such as calling a friend, a food treat, a walk, etc.
7.Change topics: Changing the subject you study every one to two hours for variety.
8.Vary your study activities: Alternate reading with more active learning exercises.
9.Ask yourself how you could increase your activity level while studying? Perhaps a group will be best? Creating study questions?
10.Take regular, scheduled breaks that fit you.
Be Here Now
This deceptively simple strategy is probably the most effective. When you notice your thoughts wandering astray, say to yourself, "Be here now," and gently bring your attention back to where you want it.
Worry or Think Time
Research has proven that people who use a worry time find themselves worrying 35 percent less of the time within four weeks. Set aside a specific time each day to think about the things that keep entering your mind and interfering with your concentration. When you become aware of a distracting thought, remind yourself that you have a special time to think about them.
Tallying Your Mental Wanderings
Have a 3 x 5-inch card handy. Draw two lines dividing the card into three sections. Label them "morning," "afternoon," and "evening." Each time your mind wanders make a tally in the appropriate section. Keep a card for each day. As your skills build, you'll see the number of tallies decrease.
Maximize Your Energy Level
When is your energy level at its highest? When are your low energy times? Study your most difficult courses at your high-energy times.
Visualize
As an exercise before you begin studying, think of those times when concentration is not a problem for you--no matter what situation. Now try to feel or image yourself in that situation. Recapture that experience immediately before your studies by placing yourself in that moment.
Think of concentration improvement as a three-step process:
1.Learn the causes of poor concentration and decide which apply to you.
2.Understand what you can do to control these factors.
3.Make your control habitual. Even if you lapse into old habits of distraction and daydreaming, keep insisting of yourself that you concentrate using these controls until you can routinely concentrate well on your studies for fifty minutes of every hour.
External Causes
Environmental distractions: TV, chairs that are too comfortable, snacks, other people, etc.
Leave or re-arrange a distracting environment. Go to a library or a classroom when you seriously intend to study.
Noise: Music with words, conversations
Train yourself to study away from others and in silence.
Internal Causes
Physical distractions: hunger, drowsiness.
Plan to study when you are most alert. Eat a high-protein snack. Do five minutes of light exercise to wake up.
Boredom, dislike, disinterest
Find a reason that satisfies you for taking the class; talk with other students and the professor.
Anxiety about studies
Make sure you know how to study effectively. Put the course in perspective.
Intimidating study tasks
Break up large tasks into achievable subtasks. Do the most intimidating task first. Give yourself rewards for progress.
Daydreaming
Separate daydreams from studying. When your mind starts to wander, write down the interrupting thought and continue studying. Or, recall important points and then turn away from your book and continue to daydream. When you're ready to read again, do so. The trick is not to daydream and read at the same time.
Personal worries
Identify and define the problem and develop a concrete, specific plan to resolve personal worries. Talk with someone who can help: a friend, a counselor, or a specialist.
The art or practice of concentration, no matter if studying biology or playing pool, is to focus on the task at hand and eliminate distraction. We all have the ability to concentrate -- sometimes. Think of the times when you were "lost" in something you enjoy. But at other times your mind wanders from one thing to another. Your worries distract you. Outside distractions take you away before you know it. The material is boring, difficult, and/or not interesting to you.
These tips may help:
"Here I Study"
1.Get a dedicated space, chair, table, lighting and environment.
2.If you like music in the background, OK, but don't let it be a distraction.
3.Stick to a routine, efficient study schedule.
4.Accommodate your day/nighttime energy levels.
5.Before you begin studying, take a few minutes to summarize a few objectives, gather what you will need, and think of a general strategy of accomplishment.
6.Incentives and Rewards: Create an incentive or reward for successfully completing a task, such as calling a friend, a food treat, a walk, etc.
7.Change topics: Changing the subject you study every one to two hours for variety.
8.Vary your study activities: Alternate reading with more active learning exercises.
9.Ask yourself how you could increase your activity level while studying? Perhaps a group will be best? Creating study questions?
10.Take regular, scheduled breaks that fit you.
Be Here Now
This deceptively simple strategy is probably the most effective. When you notice your thoughts wandering astray, say to yourself, "Be here now," and gently bring your attention back to where you want it.
Worry or Think Time
Research has proven that people who use a worry time find themselves worrying 35 percent less of the time within four weeks. Set aside a specific time each day to think about the things that keep entering your mind and interfering with your concentration. When you become aware of a distracting thought, remind yourself that you have a special time to think about them.
Tallying Your Mental Wanderings
Have a 3 x 5-inch card handy. Draw two lines dividing the card into three sections. Label them "morning," "afternoon," and "evening." Each time your mind wanders make a tally in the appropriate section. Keep a card for each day. As your skills build, you'll see the number of tallies decrease.
Maximize Your Energy Level
When is your energy level at its highest? When are your low energy times? Study your most difficult courses at your high-energy times.
Visualize
As an exercise before you begin studying, think of those times when concentration is not a problem for you--no matter what situation. Now try to feel or image yourself in that situation. Recapture that experience immediately before your studies by placing yourself in that moment.
Monday, May 4, 2009
GONE ARE THE DAYS
Gone are the days!!
When
The school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and
benches!
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books
and notes!
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.
We learnt writing with
slates and pencils, and
Progressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!
When we began drawing with crayons and evolved to
Color pencils and finally sketch pens!
When we started calculating
first with tables and then with
Clarke's tables and advanced to
Calculators and computers!
When we chased one another in the
corridors in Intervals, and returned to the classrooms
Drenched in sweat!
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds,
under the trees and even in cycle sheds!
When all the colors in the world,
Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!
When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,
And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!
When few played
"kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
While others simply played
"book cricket" in the
Confines of classroom!
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!
When we used to
watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!
When few rushed at 3:45 to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!
While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint",
"kulfi", " milk ice !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!
Gone are the days
Of Sports Day,
and the annual School Day ,
And the one-month long
preparations for them.
Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly,
Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most
enjoyed holidays after them!
Gone are the days
Of tenth and twelfth standards, when
We Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!
We learnt,
We enjoyed,
We played,
We won,
We lost,
We laughed,
We cried,
We fought,
We thought.
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more!
Gone are the days
When we used
to talk for hours with our friends!
Now we don't have time to say a `Hi'!
Gone are the days
When we played games on the road!
Now we
Code on the road with laptop!
Gone are the days
When we saw stars
Shining at Night!
Now we see stars when our code doesn't Work!
Gone are the days
When we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!
Now we chat in chat rooms.....!
Gone are the days
Where we
studied just to pass!
Now we study to save our job!
Gone are the days
Where we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!
Now we have the ATM as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!
Gone are the days
Where we shouted on the road!
Now we don't shout even at home
Gone are the days
Where we got lectures from all!
Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!
Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and ever .....
Gone are the Days.... But still there are lot more Days to come in our Life!!
NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE,
DONT FORGET TO
LIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL
EXISTS......
Gone are the days!!
When
The school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and
benches!
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books
and notes!
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.
We learnt writing with
slates and pencils, and
Progressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips!
When we began drawing with crayons and evolved to
Color pencils and finally sketch pens!
When we started calculating
first with tables and then with
Clarke's tables and advanced to
Calculators and computers!
When we chased one another in the
corridors in Intervals, and returned to the classrooms
Drenched in sweat!
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds,
under the trees and even in cycle sheds!
When all the colors in the world,
Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!
When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,
And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!
When few played
"kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
While others simply played
"book cricket" in the
Confines of classroom!
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!
When we used to
watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!
When few rushed at 3:45 to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus!
While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint",
"kulfi", " milk ice !" and "sharbat !" at 4o Clock!
Gone are the days
Of Sports Day,
and the annual School Day ,
And the one-month long
preparations for them.
Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly,
Half Yearly and Annual Exams, And the most
enjoyed holidays after them!
Gone are the days
Of tenth and twelfth standards, when
We Spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!
We learnt,
We enjoyed,
We played,
We won,
We lost,
We laughed,
We cried,
We fought,
We thought.
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more!
Gone are the days
When we used
to talk for hours with our friends!
Now we don't have time to say a `Hi'!
Gone are the days
When we played games on the road!
Now we
Code on the road with laptop!
Gone are the days
When we saw stars
Shining at Night!
Now we see stars when our code doesn't Work!
Gone are the days
When we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!
Now we chat in chat rooms.....!
Gone are the days
Where we
studied just to pass!
Now we study to save our job!
Gone are the days
Where we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!
Now we have the ATM as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!
Gone are the days
Where we shouted on the road!
Now we don't shout even at home
Gone are the days
Where we got lectures from all!
Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....!!
Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and ever .....
Gone are the Days.... But still there are lot more Days to come in our Life!!
NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE,
DONT FORGET TO
LIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL
EXISTS......
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