Improve Your Memory and Use More of Your Brain
Research suggests that for one hour out of every hour and a half your brain functions at its optimum level and you can learn to tap into this period on a regular basis. For every hour and a half period you have an hour of conscious thinking and your brain is in its peak performance. You then have half an hour of slowed or unconscious brain slumbering.
*Try problem solving and getting inspiration in the half hour of every one and a half hour period that your mind is sluggish and drowsy. This is when the conscious thinking slows down and the unconscious is just below the surface waiting to give you a nugget of information.
*For best overall mental functioning and the one thing that really gives your brain a boost is exercising for 12 minutes each day. Research shows that you will have a 30% increase in your brainpower.
*If you need something stored in your short term memory then do those things in the mornings because the part of your brain that stores things in short term memory is generally 15% more efficient in the mornings.
*Long-term memory on the other hand is best dealt with in the afternoon. The part of your brain that stores things in long-term memory peaks in the afternoon.
*If you need help remembering some facts and figures for a test you should review the material and then sleep on it. Science suggests that people who use that method have 20-30 percent better recall than those who don’t.
The methods that we were taught in school to use for learning are over three thousand years old and they simply do not work. Most of us have been convinced that we only use about 10% of our brain on a daily basis. Unfortunately the number is more like only 1%, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can learn to use almost all of our brain all of the time. We simply just need to change our way of learning. What we were taught in school did not work for most of us and left many of us feeling inadequate, slow and downright stupid. We have used an inadequate and primitive method to learn which is slow, makes learning more work than it has to be and hinders learning challenges instead of facilitating them.
Why do we only use a fraction of our brain instead of the whole brain? It’s pretty much a habit and lack of knowing how to use the whole brain. We struggle because we are not taught to learn effectively which in effect keeps us from developing skills and vital knowledge that we need. We end up only absorbing a tenth of what we should. Most of us have had negative learning experiences in the educational system and more often than not we actually prevent ourselves from learning because of these experiences. We set ourselves up for failure before we’ve even begun and our learning outcome matches our learning expectations.
Scientist studied the EEG readings of two groups of people. One group worked on painting masterpieces while the other group just doodled. The scientist expected the group working on the masterpieces to have higher EEG readings than the doodlers. To their amazement, both groups had roughly the same EEG readings. It doesn’t take any more brainpower to paint a masterpiece than it does to doodle stick people. If it takes as much energy to goof off as it does to paint a masterpiece, you might as well work on a masterpiece. The masterpiece in this article is your brain. It deserves your attention and it deserves to be used to its fullest capacity and be filled with information and knowledge that you can use.
All too often we rely on writing things down. We don’t need to remember it exactly because we’ve written it down. This could be setting your mind up to not remember things. When you need to remember something important try these quick tips.
1. Believe you’ll remember it to focus your whole brain on the effort.
2. Will yourself to remember it to activate the internal brain.
3. Visualize, clearly in your mind what it is you want to remember to bring it into focus of your whole mind.
4. Tell yourself to remember it so your unconscious will mark it as special and make it stand out more.
5. Mentally review it the next morning.
6. Review the material again to refresh and reinforce it.
Eliminating cluttered thinking and just paying attention can also help boost your brainpower. Every day we are bombarded with thoughts entering our mind whether it’s the bills and finances, some one that made us angry, what to cook for dinner, trying to solve other problems. If we can just stop those thoughts for a while and concentrate on what it is we need to be learning or concentrating on it will improve our brainpower.
One psychology professor suggests that the Einstein’s and other genius’ are actually no smarter than the average person. They simply tapped into their unconscious mind, which is the wellspring of human creativity, and used it to it’s fullest potential. You can learn to do this on a conscious level by following the tips previously listed and those we will cover later.
A good trick for finding ideas or when you are stuck and need some insight to a problem try this to tap into your unconscious mind.
1. Sit in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Imagine that you are in a lush green forest. Imagine it more vividly with each step you take. Invoke the senses so that you not only see the forest, but you can also hear the sounds and smell the scents of the forest.
4. Then imagine that on your path you come to a rustic cabin, a quaint little house. See the house as vividly as you can with colors, shapes of windows, curtains, etc. Also imagine the landscape-what does the yard look like? Imagine it as vividly as possible too.
5. Imagine that you walk up to the door, you see and feel the doorknob, you open the door and then walk inside.
6. Next you visualize that a wise old man or woman is in the middle of the room. Visualize the person as fully as possible. Go to the wise old man/woman and tell him/her your problem.
7. Listen closely to what you think the person might say.
You will sometimes be amazed at what your own unconscious mind will tell you. This is also the part of your mind that spits out things you were trying to remember days or weeks before. It’s that time you are driving along or see something that sparks your memory and all of a sudden the answer comes to you.
We need to reprogram our minds with positive thoughts and messages to change our negative thinking about learning into positive ones. Think about all the things you have learned so far. Tell yourself that you will remember what you’re learning and what you need to remember. Working on these simple tricks will help your memory improve tremendously.
For more help with memory and brainpower pick up a copy of “Double Your Brainpower” by Jean Marie Stine.
