Driving somewhere can be fun and exciting, but once you turn around in circles, your idea of a good time starts crumbling down. When you can’t remember directions and addresses, you start to panic and stress out. In times like these, your memory fails you and can make the situation even worse. By remembering these strategies, you’ll avoid getting stuck in this situation.

1. Map It. Draw a picture map in your brain of where you’re going. Remember significant markers like a tree, a corner or a store. Visualize how the main roads run from north to south, or east to west. Now, you have an idea where the main roads are and how they branch out into side streets. Most importantly, you know where to get back just in case you do get lost.

2. Actualize It. Before going somewhere, plan your activity ahead by studying a map. You’ll have a better idea of where you’re going and you know what to expect. Or if you have an appointment some place you’ve never been, drive to that place a day before. You can more likely remember where you’re going, and this saves you time from searching.

3. Make It Real. Although directions are not exactly tangible, make them as real as possible. Associate the street names with your senses like a scene from a garden, or imagine the representation of the street name like “Lover’s lane”. Make the street name more significant by connecting it to a memory or a sense. For example, “Mahogany St.” in your mind is “a shady street lined with trees; went cycling with Cousin Rose last summer”.

4. Repeat It. You can’t memorize something if you won’t repeat it. Repetition helps you remember, just like when you’re memorizing your ABCs. Repeat the directions aloud so you’ll hear them and write the directions on paper so you’ll see them. You now have an audio-visual aid to help you practice and retain your directions.

5. Acrostics. Make simple sentences out of the street names. You can even connect the street names to form a story. Your story doesn’t need to make sense, just as long as it helps your remember the directions.

6. Link It. “The more you link, the more you learn.” The more you relate certain information with what you have already known, the more you will remember the information. The key is to attach one direction to another. If you already know how to get to the main road, just connect the side streets through linking them through your mind, whether you turn left or right.

7. Sing It. Have you ever wonder why you can memorize songs easily than poems? Songs or rhythm can actually help your memory. Try rhyming the directions or addresses or singing them to your favorite song and you’ll discover that you can easily remember them.

Our brains are like muscles in our body; so the saying ‘use it or lose it’ is as appropriate for our brains as it is for our physical bodies. Just as we do not want our muscles to undergo atrophy, we do not want our brains turning to mush and our memory power diminishing by not exercising every day.

The more active our minds are, and the more we use our brains, both left and right, the better we are able to remember simple things like grocery lists, to-do items, daily chores, etc.

There are several things we can do every day to keep our minds and bodies sharp and in top form.

• Get some physical exercise every day. Physical exercise keeps our minds and bodies in top shape. Not only do we transform our outer shell, but our inner one as well.

• Try a crossword or sudoku puzzle. This will get our brains stimulated and sharp.

• Write lists. If you do have trouble remembering, keep lists where you can easily find them. You can write grocery lists, to-do lists, daily chore lists, etc.

• Do a jigsaw or 3D puzzle. This will stimulate both the left and right hemisphere of our brains.

• Watch a trivia game show. You may find that you know more than you think you do, and you may learn some new things!

• Drink your water. Water is important to keep us hydrated and for healthy brain function.

• Eat a balanced diet. A deficiency in nutrients can affect our brain power, and our memory. Eating right includes food from all the food groups.

• Learn a foreign language. What better way to stimulate your brain than to learn a new language?

• Write a story. Be creative and wild and write something totally ridiculous and funny. You are not looking to get your work published, you are looking to stimulate your creativity.

• Learn something new – take a flower arranging class, or learn to play the piano.

• Join a club – get involved in your community. Try social clubs, political clubs or service organizations.

• Develop a positive attitude – depression and negative attitude can have serious consequences for our minds and our bodies. Always try to think positive, no matter how dire you think your situation is.

• Go bird watching in a park and take binoculars and a bird handbook with you. Keep a notebook to jot down all the different birds you see.

The peg system is a very simple technique. A standard set of peg words are learned and items to be remembered are linked to the pegs with visual imagery. The system was developed by Henry Herdson back in the mid-1600s, who linked a digit with any one of several objects that resembled the number; for example, 1=candle, 2=trident.

The system got its name from the fact that peg words act as mental pegs or hooks on which a person ‘hangs’ the information that needs to be remembered. The peg words help organize the material that needs to be remembered, and act as reminders to recall that material.

There are different peg systems that one can use, all of which employ the use of a concrete object to represent each number. The systems include the rhyming method, the look-alike method, and the meaning method.

In order to use the rhyming-peg method, you must first memorize the words that rhyme with the corresponding numbers one through ten:
One-bun; two-shoe; three-tree; four-door; five-hive; six-sticks; seven-heaven; eight-gate; nine-vine; ten-hen

As you say each word, visualize the item clearly. Is the bun a hot dog or hamburger bun; does it have sesame seeds? Is the shoe blue or white? Laces or velcro? Is the tree an oak or birch?

Next, draw each item on a sheet of paper. Just the act of drawing will help you to remember the rhyme easier.

Once you have formed an association, or visualized a pictorial link between the numbers and the words that rhyme with them, you have constructed your pegs. Practice by saying each word aloud. Because the words rhyme with the numbers, you don’t have to say the numbers to remember the words.

Now, if you want to remember a list, all you have to do is link each item with a peg-the first with a bun, the second with a shoe, and so on.

Here is how you would remember the following grocery list:
Peas, pork chops, milk, bread, eggs, butter

Attach each item on the list to one of the rhyming words, making the association as vivid and ridiculous as possible. The sillier your image, the easier you will remember. Try imagining peas tap dancing on a bun; picture a pig with a shoe on its head; imagine a milk carton in an oak tree. And so on, until you have associated each item on your list.

Now when you think of a bun you see the peas. When you think of shoes, you will think of pork chops, etc.

This method can be used to help you remember lists, errands, daily activities, etc. Have fun with it!

The link method, also known as the chain system, is the most basic of mnemonic strategies used to boost your memory. It can be used for memorizing short list of items, such as shopping lists, in which each item is linked to the next. Here is how it works:

• Form a visual image for each item on the list
• Associate the image for the first item with the image for the second item
• Associate the image for the third item with the image for the second item, and so on.
• Begin with the first item and proceed in order as each item leads to the next one to recall the list.

Try not to associate every item with every other item; instead, you are just associating the items two at a time. Here is a sample grocery list that can be easily remembered using the link method:

Milk, eggs, pork chops, syrup, peas

First, form a visual association between milk and eggs. You might imagine an egg trying to cram itself into a glass milk bottle. Next, create a link between eggs and pork chops. Perhaps you could visualize a pig dancing with a giant egg. To associate pork chops with syrup, imagine a pig dipping its tail into a pool of maple syrup.

When you are creating your visual associations, make sure you see them clearly in your mind’s eye.

There are limitations with this method; each item is linked to the previous one, except for the first item. You will need to come up with a way to cue that first item on your list. If the list is a shopping list, try linking the first item with the entranceway of a grocery store.

If you can use the link method to successfully remember ten items, you can use it to remember twenty or thirty items as well. There is no limit to how many items you can remember.

Here is how you can practice using the link system. Have someone give you ten concrete words – not verbs or adjectives – and write them down as they are called out. Writing them down will enable the other person to check your responses, and it will give you a brief amount of time to think of links. Whatever the first word is, associate it with the person who is calling out the words. If the first word is elephant, imagine seeing an elephant sitting on that person’s head. Once you have mastered linking ten words, try for fifteen, then twenty, and so on.

You may find it ridiculous that simply chewing a piece of gum can boost your memory. Researchers may disagree. Japanese scientists now claim that such a thing as gum chewing could actually improve a person’s memory. They say that it has a scientific basis for doing so because it triggers the hippocampus which is the part of the brain responsible for memory retention.

The trigger is the insulin receptors in the hippocampus which are activated when you chew. This signals the body to release insulin because it is expecting food. Due to insulin release, the body is able to absorb more glucose which is the essential compound necessary to form energy that the brain needs to function.

Tests were conducted as a double blind procedure on a number of volunteers. The results showed that the gum chewers scored 24% higher than those who did not.

It was concluded that gum chewing signals the body to release more insulin that would enable the brain to absorb more glucose in the hippocampus. The insulin receptors in the hippocampus are the necessary trigger that would improve the brains function. However, some scientists say it is highly speculative at this point. It still requires further testing and more data in order to prove their claim.

Though a direct connection could not be established, researchers say that it is a good start. The results showed that there is indeed improvement in the individual’s memory.

Remember that chewing gum is only a tool. It is not a guarantee that you will pass your test in flying colors. There is still a need for you to read books and other things that would add to your memory. Even though you chew a lot of gum, it is still useless if you do not feed your mind. There is still a need for you to input the information into your brain.

Chewing helps to speed up how your retain things. However, it is only good when you compliment it with a good study habit. It is not a reason for you to slack off. Good preparation is still the key for success.

Studies have shown that the brain can retain millions of bits of information. It is compared by experts to a computer that can easily store everything. Unlike any computer, however, boosting your memory can’t be done by adding a chip. Improving your brain requires some effort.

The memory of a human being is the mental activity that is responsible for recalling information that an individual has acquired through learning and experience in his/her day to day activities. Enhancing the brain to have a better memory is like putting your brain into an exercise routine. The more you use your brain the more it will be able to process information and recall and retain memories.

One way of enhancing your memory is to constantly challenge your brain to do
things that are out of your ordinary routine. Like muscles, the mind adapts to routines and needs stimulation. In this way you are able to challenge the synapses of your brain to stay alert.

Example: Instead of using your sense of sight when walking through your house, try to walk with your eyes closed. The neurons of your brain will try to recall where each piece of furniture is located in order for you not to get hurt or break anything.

This way the brain cells that have not been used are able to stay active and healthy. This type of mind stimulation is called Neurobic exercise. It enables the brain to use synapses and brain cells to function better by retrieving stored memory and recall details.

Here are some additional ways to improve your memory:
- Pay attention to details
- Involve all your senses in learning
- Connect new information to that which you already know
- Organize information efficiently

Be motivited to learn new things and exercise your mind daily!