Busy and Forgetting More? 5 Tips To Boosting Your Memory

Forgetting More?

Ever been standing there, looking at someone directly in their eyes, knowing that you have a history together and forgetting their name?

Ever walked into a room and not remembered why you were heading there?

Been in the middle of a conversation and not remembered what you wanted to say?

Forgetting refers to the apparent loss of information already stored in an individual’s memory. It can be a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled or accessed from storage.

Forgetting and Interference Theory

I hate forgetting things. I get annoyed when others seem to be able to remember the smallest details and I can’t even remember being there. Sometimes I think I have early Alzheimer’s.

I tend to believe that much of our ‘forgetting’ is based on interference theory. Interference occurs when the learning of something new causes the forgetting of older material on the basis of competition between the two. Simply…we often have way too much on our mind.

Simply…forgetting occurs because we often have way too much on our mind. Beverly Beuermann-King Click to tweet

Stress Affects Our Memory

There is competition for our attention and competition in juggling far too many things at once. We are stressed out and this interferes with what and how we store these things.

Forgetting also happens when things are also too similar to really distinguish between them. For example an event is difficult to remember if it is one of a number of similar events like what you ate for dinner last week. With so much on our ‘plate’ it is no wonder that these little details go by the wayside.

Beverly’s Hot Tips For Building Resilience, Foregetting Less and Celebrating I Forgot Day:

Forgetting is not such a bad thing. Sometimes it allows us to minimize negative situations.
Forgetting can be reduced by repetition and/or more elaborate cognitive processing of information. If you really need to remember it, write it down, repeat it out loud and review your notes again and again.
Slow down and try to live more in the moment. Go from multi-tasking to single tasking and see if these stress reducers are memory boosters
Try boosting your memory with foods rich in Omega-3 such as meat and dairy, seafood, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.
I Forgot Day is a great day to make amends if you have forgotten some really important celebrations throughout the year…birthdays, anniversaries. Go the Hallmark way and send an “I’m sorry I forgot card”.

Go from multi-tasking to single tasking and see if these stress reducers are memory boosters Beverly Beuermann-King Click to tweet

And if you are really concerned that you are forgetting more than you should, go and see your doctor. It may not be Alzheimer’s, but it could be the result of a number of different health issues including depression.