To keep your memory as green as it was in your youth, keep looking at the world as you did then. A curious mind, a thirst for detail, and the will to practice are for the sole preserve of the young. Life-long habits are the best possible foundation for keeping your memory sharp.
Play Memory Games
Playing memory-based games like bridge, Scrabble, chess, and bingo or doing crosswords is a good way to hone specific memory skills. However, it won’t necessarily increase your memory powers in other areas. Mnemonic strategies can boost your performance in some games. Try using a peg system or the method of loci to keep track of cards in competitive games, or use techniques to overcome mental blocks (page 246) when you are searching for a word in a crossword or quiz. Try the crossword below to see how many memory words you can remember from this book.
Use Routine And Novelty
One of the most robust types of memory is unconscious memory, which underlies the effortless carrying out of most of what we do. Many habits are a form of unconscious memory. Developing memory habits – for example, checking your diary as you drink your first cup of tea each morning or always placing letters without conscious memory effort. However, using habits to avoid absent-mindedness is not the same as becoming wedded to routines. Encountering new situations helps to encourage the brain into more effortful processing, so take different routes to places or read a book you would not normally choose.
Give Your Interests Extra Context
Activities that you enjoy can be further enriched by finding out more about them. If you like gardening, learn more about plants and keep a diary of your garden through the seasons. If you live in an old house, research its history and that of your street or town. Question what you read or hear on television and followers with some e-library or on.
Make Retirement a New Begining
The most remarkable memories in old age usually belong to people who never completely give up their life’s work. Most writers, musicians, academics, and politicians, for example, continue to work well beyond retirement age. It is only to be expected that abandoning years of challenging mental activity abruptly at the age of 65 can leave the brain in need of stimulation. Not everyone can continue their main occupation after retirement, but you can pursue new interests through part-time work or study or turn your attention to hobbies such as watercolor painting or marquetry that you never had time for previously.
Revive An Old Skill Or Learn a New One
Relearning is easier than learning for the first time, although it may not always seem to be the case when you ‘first try. Getting back onto a motorcycle or trying out some halting French phrases in a conversation class can be daunting after a 20-year gap. But a few weeks of practice can expertise and enjoyment in old skills. Learning a completely new skill is a valuable memo activity at any age, but you need to keep practicing to establish it in memory. Once you have learned to master the new microwave without always referring to the instructions, use it regularly and for different types of food. If you have just about grasped word processing, databases, and e-mail, use them daily to organize old records, write a daily journal, and keep in touch with family and friends.
Write Information Down
However adept you become at memory strategies, there is a lot to be said for making notes. Not only is the information there in black and white if you should need to look at the piece of paper, but it also provides another clue for remembering. And as well as ‘hearing’ the information, it becomes possible to see it written down in your ‘mind’s eye.’
