What was your name again? Dealing with Memory loss

I hate to admit it , but I am sometimes very forgetful. It’s usually just little things, like where I put my glasses, car keys or the telephone. Or I might forget to buy something at the grocery store, even when I make a list. Of course, it doesn’t help that, oops, I forget the list on the kitchen counter. I can probably remember a dozen instances in which I forgot something in the past week. Is that an oxymoron? I can remember what I forgot?

I try to comfort myself by thinking at least I haven’t gone off and forgotten to take the baby with me or forgotten to pick up my older child from the bus stop. Those forgetful moments are irritating but not quite as humiliating, for me anyway, as forgetting someone’s name. I hate it when that happens.Forgetting someone’s name seems like such a “personal offense”, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s just me, but when I run into someone at the grocery store or gas station and they can’t remember my name, I feel kind of bad, kind of unimportant, kind of rejected. So I can’t help but think they might feel the same way too when I forget their name as well.

It has become my own personal challenge this year to no longer be caught out in the mental cold, so to speak. In order to do that I had to figure out why it is that I am forgetting things. Is it because I am getting older? I hope not. Is it because I am too busy or easily distracted? Well, that could have something to do with it. Is it because I try to store too much useless information in my brain cavity? Yes, that’s quite possible too.

Nevertheless, I have found some interesting tricks to help rekindle that fire that burns indelible impressions in ones memory bank. After reading this series of articles, you too, will be able to astonish your friends and family with some super-human, mind twisting ability to remember everything you see, hear, or touch. Okay, maybe not. But you will be better able to cope with and cure those occasional memory mishaps.

I think that our memory is by far and away the most miraculous aspect of all of our mental functions. Think about how much information we actually do have permanently stored in our memory banks. If you wanted to take the time you could probably rattle off thousands upon thousands of facts and figures. In fact, everything we do physically, from walking to riding a bicycle, is made easier by the depths of our memory. But to commit something to memory you must a) have an interest in it b) pay attention long enough to actually commit it to memory. Easier said than done, at times, I know, but well worth the effort.

Technically speaking, your “natural” memory is the result of an intricate network of retention of ideas, facts and even physical activities-all of which are learned through sensory perception and then stored in your mind and limitlessly cross referenced for future use. Your natural memory will process facts, abstract ideas and motor/physical activity. But there is another aspect of the memory function, perhaps the one we need to call upon the most and that is your “artificial” memory. That is the memories that are created or called upon by which a devise might be used. A devise would be something such as an address book, shopping list, calendar or alarm clock. Even mnemonics (that’s just a fancy word for memory tools) could be considered a devise.

I used to think that using a devise was the lazy man’s way of doing things, but I have since learned they can be an extremely effective way of being more productive and less, shall we say scatter brained.

But before I get into the tips, tricks and techniques portion of this series, there is a little house keeping exercise we need to do. I call it clearing out the mental clutter. Much like you do when going through the mail that arrives on a daily basis, such as throwing out the junk mail without a further thought, setting aside the magazines and newspapers for future perusal, and processing the bills and pertinent information like bank statements, I do the same with my brain activities. Since I am a writer, I have plenty of loose thoughts rattling around. So I write or type them out. Or even record them into a small tape recorder, if I’m driving. It works great. And I throw out useless information without thinking twice about it.

I know it sounds simplistic, but like stretching before a big race is crucial to an athlete, so is cleaning out the cob webs in our mind. Keeping your mind clutter free is the first trick I learned to having a better than average functioning memory. Let’s face it, our minds, our memory in particular is like a big muscle. And like a muscle in our physical body, if you don’t use it you’ll lose it. In more ways than one, I might add. So like the old characters from Saturday Night Live used to say… “We’re going to PUMP YOU UP!”