Pumping the Brakes on Memory Loss: How to Be Less Forgetful
Have you recently noticed that you keep forgetting where you last placed your smartphone? Are you spotting that you never seem to remember where you put your keys?
This could be a result of age-related memory loss. According to researchers, by the age of 65, around 40 percent of people experience age-related memory loss.
However, you don’t simply have to sit back and accept that you’re going to forget everything from your address to your own name. There are many ways to learn to fight back.
Here is our guide for pumping the brakes on memory loss. Let’s check out how to be less forgetful with our tips below.
Table of Contents
1. Make Lists All the Time
If you can’t depend on your memory constantly, then you need to write things down more. Making lists is a great way to remember something.
You’re more likely to retain the information if you have jotted down the details in a notebook. Much more so compared with typing a note into your smartphone.
Lists won’t solve all of your problems. After all, according to surveys, more than 40% of tasks on a to-do list never get done anyway. But, they’re better than nothing when it comes to forgetting less.
2. Practice Mindful Meditation
Just five years ago, meditation was only practiced by a handful of people. But, nowadays, mindfulness has truly entered the mainstream.
There are tons of benefits that have been connected with mindful meditation from better mental health to improved capacity to focus.
Furthermore, mindful meditation has also been found to help with memory loss. One study even found that you only need to practice for around twenty minutes per day to experience significant improvements to your memory.
You don’t necessarily need to attend a class either. Simply downloading an app or learning on YouTube is enough to get the benefits.
3. Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol and forgetting the night before is extremely common. But, this usually isn’t taken seriously.
However, regularly consuming alcohol has been connected with long-term memory loss. Heavy consumption can also increase your chance of getting dementia too.
According to one study, when you drink over 21 drinks per week for over four years, you could be at risk of developing memory loss forever.
You may not want to abstain from drinking alcohol completely. But, keeping your drink moderate can help to keep your memory intact.
4. Get Enough Sleep at Night
Up to 40 percent of Americans don’t get enough sleep. You need to be getting between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.
If you think that you’re struggling to fall asleep, you need to make some changes to your sleeping habits.
Go to bed earlier and having a regular bedtime can help to make sure you sleep through until morning.
You may find that drinking a cup of camomile tea or turning off your smartphone around an hour before bed could help as well.
5. Eat Memory Boosting Food
Over three-quarters of Americans say they eat a healthy diet. However, there is plenty of reason to think that they lying.
If you want to improve your memory and stop forgetting things—you need to eat food that boosts your brain capacity.
Swap your morning cup of coffee for green tea. Trade your bar of milk chocolate for a bar of darker chocolate instead.
Your parents always told you to eat your greens. Cabbage and broccoli are great examples of foods that improve your ability to remember.
If you want to know more about leading a healthy life, check out Dignity Bio-Labs.
6. Always Use Associations
If you need to remember things, you should think in terms of associations. This can help to prevent you from forgetting everything.
When you need to remember someone’s name, even though you haven’t even met them before, it’s nearly impossible to keep it in mind.
But, when you give yourself an association, you have a much better chance of retaining the information.
This could be an image in your head, your favorite color or a special number. Whatever it takes, associations are an important way to keep something in your head.
7. Follow Routine Whenever Possible
You may find that there are some things that you never forget. This could be everything from where you keep your glasses to where you parked your car.
This is probably because you have a habit or routine. Human beings are programmed to remember things that we have done many times before.
That’s why you need to take advantage of this tendency to remember routines whenever possible. Always think of new ways to start a routine.
8. Focus the First Time Round
Apparently, now that we’re constantly on our smartphones, we may have lost the capacity to pay attention for longer than a moment or two.
However, you may think that your memory is going. But, have you ever wondered whether you’re simply not listening or focused when you should be?
You may have to learn to move your short-term memory to your long-term memory to retain the information. Focusing on something for up to eight seconds is usually enough to keep it in your memory.
How to be Less Forgetful?
Do you feel that you can’t remember as much as you used to? Losing your memory skills is part of getting older.
But, there are many ways to keep your memory stronger for longer.
Do you want to read more blog posts about health and fitness? Check out the rest of our blog to discover much more.