It was only when Teri got home a couple of hours later that she noticed that the stove was still on.  Oh my God!  I had forgotten to turn the stove off when I made breakfast.  It had been on all day!  I looked over and sure enough, the circle on the glass top was glowing a bright cherry red.  I felt like a real idiot, especially since one of the informal “tests” for determining whether a person is still capable of taking care of themselves is whether or not they leave the stove on!

So why is it that we start to forget things as we get older?  Why is it that you can remember exactly what you were doing the day you graduated High School so many years ago but you can’t remember where you put your car keys?

Our brain basically needs two things in order to remember things.  First, it needs a clear image of the item we want to remember, like where the car keys are located, for example.  Second, it needs a way of cataloging and accessing that information.

Think of how a library works.  In order for a library to file a book, it needs the actual book itself, and then it needs a cataloging system that will allow us to find it and retrieve it again (the Dewey Decimal system).  If either of those two components are missing or corrupted, the information gets lost and we “forget.”

Another example is your computer.  Let’s say you’re looking for a particular Word document you wrote sometime last year.  You know the file is there.  You just can’t find it.  You’ve got the item stored but don’t have a good way to retrieve it.  The item is essentially “forgotten,” lost somewhere among the hundreds of other files on your hard drive.

There are a couple of things you can do to improve your chances of remembering things, whether it’s where you left your car keys or remembering to turn off the stove after you’ve cooked breakfast.  These include:

1.  The mind remembers specifics. Try to make sure you’ve got a clear picture of whatever you need to remember.  Take a “mental snapshot” by forming the fingers of both hands into a square like movie directors do and saying “click – got it.”  Going through the physical motions will actually help imprint the image in your mind.  Again, making it as clear as you can will really help you remember it later.

2.  Get out of “autopilot” mode. I think the biggest reason I simply forgot to turn off the stove was because I was on “automatic pilot.”  I simply wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.  While I was cooking, I was planning my day and thinking about who I was going to meet and what I was going to say.  In short, I was thinking about everything except turning off the stove.  I love the expression, “Where ever you are, be there.”  I was physically standing in front of the stove but my mind was somewhere else.  No wonder I forgot.

3.  Create links. You can significantly increase your chances of remembering something by creating as many links to it as you can.  “Links” are how your mind finds the information you’re looking for.  Think of it like a file drawer system.  If you want to file a copy of your tax return, where do you file it?  Under “Taxes?”  Under “2009?”  Under “IRS?”  All of those might be place where you might look for your tax return.  One thing you can do is to file the actual copy under “Taxes,” for example, and then drop a note that says “Tax Return Copy – see Taxes” in the other categories.  That way, no matter which one you look in first, you’ll have a process that ultimately guides you to what you’re looking for.  You can do the same thing with your memories.  Picture what you want to remember (ie: location of your car keys) and think about what else is usually associated the item (ie: your car, the garage, the metal key ring, your handbag or pocket, etc).  The more associations or “links’ you can create, the more pathways you’re building back to the information you’ll need to access later.

4.  Intend to remember. This is related to point # 2.  Tell yourself, “I need to remember this.”  That not only gets you out of autopilot mode, it creates intent and action.  Simply intending to remember significantly increases the chances that you will.

5.  Use repetition.  Use repetition. There’s a reason your first grade teacher made you repeat your lessons over and over again.  Repeating something over and over again helps create a clearer and clearer  picture of what you want to remember.

6.  Use it or lose it. This one should be pretty self-evident.  It’s like a book in a library.  You occasionally need to pick it up, dust it off, thumb through the pages in order to remind yourself what it’s about, and maybe reread some of the passages before putting it back in its assigned spot.  Your brain is like any other muscle – it needs to be exercised regularly.

Using these techniques will help assure that you’ll remember the information you need, when you need it.

Hiram

Technorati Tags: memory, brain, remember, forgetfulness, mental

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I’ve kept a journal since my early 20′s.  Believe me, there’s nothing more interesting than going back and reading what I wrote (and was like) 20 or 30 years ago.  You can see the things in your life that have changed, the things that have entered your life and then left again, and the things that have pretty much stayed the same.  It’s a history of how you’ve lived your life.  It shows you exactly “where all the time went.”

The Importance of Keeping a Journal.

Why do I believe that keeping a journal is important?  Because your life is worth recording.  Yes, I know that it’s easier to break out the camera during holidays and special events.  Yes, I know that a picture is worth a thousand words.  However, there is one important thing that pictures do not capture:  your feelings.

Having a picture of your newborn grandchild is nice.  However, reading (and re-reading) in your journal how it felt to hold your grandchild in your arms for the first time will bring back a flood of memories that no picture can ever match.

When you look at a picture, you remember the moment.  When you read an entry in your journal, you re-live the moment.  There’s a huge difference.

That’s why you need to keep a journal.

What to Put in Your Journal.

Most people stress over what to put in their journal.  Don’t.  First of all, your journal is for you.  No one else will ever read it unless you allow them to so don’t worry about spelling, sentence structure, or anything else.

Here are a couple of things I include in my journal:

1.  Random Thoughts. Anything from “buy low, sell high” to “God is love and God lives in me.”  From the silly to the profound, it goes in my journal.  You’d be surprised how often something that seemed completely ridiculous at the time all of a sudden had some deep meaning when I went back and re-read it later.

2.  Events and Feelings. Record the important events and more importantly, how they made you feel.  Don’t worry about completely describing the event, that’s what pictures and videos are for.  Instead, focus on describing your feelings, thoughts, and emotions.  For example, I have all kinds of pictures of my first grandchild but what I remember most are the intense feelings of hope, tenderness, pride, and overwhelming love that I felt when I held him and he first looked up at me.

3.  Exercise, Nutrition, and Sleep. Although many people keep a separate exercise and/or food journal, there’s no reason not to have everything in one place.  The important thing is that you keep track of whether or not you’re exercising consistently, whether or not you’re eating properly, and whether or not you’re getting enough rest.  If not, your journal will help you see exactly where you went off track.

4.  Your Goals, Hopes, and Dreams. Make sure you make a record of what you’d like your future to be like.  What would you like to have, to do, to be?  Reading my past goals usually brings mixed emotions.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I haven’t reached some of my goals.  Other times I’m pleasantly surprised to find that I have accomplished most of what I said I would (sometimes without even knowing it).  And some times, I realize that some of what I said I wanted is no longer desirable.

Review Your Journal Periodically.

Remember when you were growing up and your parents would stand you up straight against a wall or a door frame and mark how much you’d grown?  Remember how good it made you feel when you turned around and saw that the new mark was higher than your old one?  That’s how reviewing your journal makes you feel.  You can actually SEE your progress.

When you review some of your past entries, not only will you re-live some of the more significant moments of your life, you’ll also see how much you’ve grown, how much you’ve changed, how much more you’ve become. You’ll get this incredible feeling that “if I’ve come this far, there’s nothing I can’t do!”

My Challenge To You.

In order for your journal to work for you, you have to make writing in it a habit.  One of the best things I ever did in 2007 was to purchase one of those “daily diaries.”  It’s basically a calendar with one page for each day.  My goal was to fill it up – and I actually did.  Most of my entries are only 1 or 2 paragraphs so it never took more than 5 or 10 minutes each day.  However, I can now look back and see exactly what I was doing/thinking/feeling on this same day a year ago.  It’s kind of neat to be able to do that – and it shows you a lot about how you’re living your life.

My challenge to you is to do the same. Go out today and purchase a yearly “daily dairy” calendar that has one page for each day of whatever size will be convenient for you.  Then at the end of each day, spend no more than 5 or 10 minutes describing what you did, what you thought, or what you felt that day.  An alternative is to make your journal entries in the morning for the previous day but I’ve found that when you do this, a lot of things tend to get forgotten.  However, the important thing is to write something every single day.

So will you do it?  Are you up to the challenge?  I guarantee that it will change your life. How?  By seeing where you’ve been and how you’ve lived, you’ll begin to make better choices for the future.  When you do that, your future changes.  You’ll no longer be caught in the vicious cycle of doing something stupid, feeling bad about it, forgetting about it, and then doing it all over again.  You’ll see a written record of your progress.

Keeping a journal is one of the best things you can do to bring balance to your life.  So what are you waiting for?

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: journal, writing, diary, balance, calendar, daily record, meditation, memory, memories, thoughts

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