4 Surprising Memory Hacks to Help You Remember Things

Are you having difficulty remembering the things you need to know for an upcoming examination or presentation?

In a Big Think video, The New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova said, one way of better remembering such information "has to do with self-testing."

She also said she can hammer and hammer the information into her brain and might remember it, or if she can have it flipped and try to retrieve such information as she learns it.

Here's what happens, though, explained Genova, if she's trying to consolidate something into memory and put information in, "I'm traveling one way on the neurons." Then, if she tries recalling the information, she's pulling it out, and now, she's going the other way.

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(Photo: Pexels/Craig Adderley)
The New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova said one way of better remembering such information 'has to do with self-testing.'

4 Memory Hacks to Remember Things

This bi-directional highway of information in the memory helps strengthen that circuit far more than simply passively reading the information. Here are four effective memory hacks as recommended by the bestselling author.

4 ways to hack your memory https://t.co/u0Yk4rZ9mn
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1. Flip the Information Over Like Flashcards

Rather than simply reading the list of vocabulary words repeatedly, read the word and determine if "you can come up with the answer." This way, one learns faster and better.

2. When Studying, Space It Out

Any student, when studying, would want to space it out instead of cramming it all together. Therefore, if there are seven hours to review for a test in a week, Genova had recommended doing one hour each day instead of all seven hours the night before the exam.

3. Give Importance to Context

The bestselling author said context matters too. It turns out that memories are most strongly and confidently retrieved; such a retrieval matches the context when the memory was formed in the first place.

If one is studying for a test and listening to Mozart while eating sour gummy bears, he's got a lavender-scented candle and is drinking mocha frappuccinos.

In this case, one would want to match the available conditions while learning something when he wants to retrieve it. This will then result in the best opportunity to recall the learning.

4. Create a Semantic Memory

Consequently, when studying for an examination or a presentation that one has to give, the kind of memory he is trying to create and then retrieve is called "semantic memory, as detailed by Simply Psychology."

So when you're studying for a test or a presentation that you have to give, the kind of memory that you're trying to create and then retrieve is semantic memory. This is the memory for facts and information, the stuff you know. And stress will impact your ability to form those memories and retrieve them.

Therefore, a certain amount of stress is favorable for both situations, forgetting the memory in the brain and retrieving it. However, too much will put an individual in a state of overwhelm.

For Better Memory

Imagine this scenario: One prepares for a test, knows the information cold, and has it. Then, he goes for the test, although he's stressed since he wants to get an A, and he is very nervous and chokes.

As a result, he cannot remember what he knows. He cannot retrieve the information. Therefore, a certain amount is perfect for remembering, although too much won't put an individual in overwhelm and cause him to draw a blank.

One can take what he knows about what his brain is good at in memory and help it. Therefore, meaningful, surprising, emotional, and new associations can be added.

According to Genova, things can be repeated; what one knows can be rehearsed. Things can be written down, and one will better remember what he might have forgotten if he hadn't helped it.

Therefore, if a person is trying to memorize information for an exam, presentation, or speech, there are many ways to optimize getting that information into the brain and then have it retrieved on demand.

Information about how to hack memory is shown on Big Think's YouTube video below: