Have you tried to recall a number by repeating it over and over until you memorize it correctly? This is possible on your active memory; however, after a few hours dialing the phone number, you might have already forgotten it.
This usually happen because the phone number has not been stored in our long term memory, but instead into the active memory or what is called short term memory. The short term memory can be very useful for quickly remembering some information such as telephone numbers, but unfortunately it can store bits of information for very short period of time.
If you want to retain information for longer period of time, you have to link the new data to the data that you already know. That is how you store the information in your long term memory and thus remember them for longer time.
There are numerous techniques that are quite laborious to improve our memory. However, you can also have techniques that are both funny and beneficial. Here you can find several games such as puzzles that can practice your memory.
One way to recall information that you need to retain to your long-term memory is to create a story that associates the particular items or data you need to recall, making them easier to remember. The idea here is that it is easier to recall more data when a fact or data is associated with another idea.
To help make this technique even more powerful you can try to create a mental image of the ideas. This will help you to retain the information to your long term memory, because pictures are easier to remember.
Practicing story-telling in a group is fun. You can practice by laying 10 or more objects on the ground and try to remember them. Simply ask each member in the group to take and add to the story by adding one object.
After you finish adding all the objects in the story you can take them out of the room. After that check to see who can remember most objects. Finally, tell the story as a group by asking each member to tell his or her part. There is no doubt that the group will remember the story and hence all the objects associated.
Another mind-practicing game is the pexeso. This game is a matching pairs like tiles or cards from a group, when one of each group is not visible.
The game can be played with a set of tiles which has pairs of symbols or images. You can play the game using half a pack of cards, but ensure that you have pair of each card i. e 2 queens, 2 jacks, 2 aces . .. . etc.
Start by placing out 24 cards but make sure those 24 cards is composed of 12 matched pairs. Once face down, move the cards around so that you will not know where any card is placed.
Turn one card one at a time and look at the number or the picture, and then turn it down again. You can repeat this process until you turn over a tile that matches a tile you turned earlier. Now, find the card's pair by recalling from earlier where it is placed. When you located a pair, remove them from the set. You can also devise your own games but you should be sure that they are really mind-practicing games such as puzzles and solving problems.
These kind of games help you to exercise your memory and your brain. Therefore, the more you practice these kind of games the sharper your memory will become.
