15 Ways To Improve Your Memory

In this information age we're bombarded with information, ideas, news and data from many sources. The internet has exploded the way we source information and on Facebook or Twitter we're getting feeds that keep growing.

Keeping track of all this information and knowing what to remember, and what you don't need to, can be daunting.

Kim Basin, from Business Insider, undertook a review of articles on Psychology Today on how memory works and compiled 15 ways to improve your memory and boost productivity.

Some of the ways I found interesting are:

• Try not to conform to the group, because your peers can greatly affect your memories.
• Keep your stress level down, because anxiety makes you lose focus and concentrate on unpleasant emotions.
• Look up or close your eyes when trying to remember something important — when your eyes are open, the areas of your brain that are working on vision are kept busy.
• If you always find answers to questions on the web, you're less likely to commit things to memory
• Walking can literally grow new memory storage, like sleep does.

If you would like to see all 15 ways to improve your memory, read Kim's article at Business Insider.

Steve Jobs – 1955-2011

The Apple home page today expresses the passing of Steve Jobs in the manner with which he was known – visionary, stylish, minimalist and respectful.

With Steve Jobs passing, the world has lost one of history's truly great men. While it is easy in the moment to heap the plaudits of exceptional people, it is clear that the vision and achievements of Steve Jobs will stand the test of time.

He has impacted so many people around the world, not only in the field of technology, but in areas of design, retail, self expression and a true mentor on the notion of following your dream. Even in the moments of doubt, Steve continued on to greater things.

We will miss his vision, passion and contribution but we are privileged that he lived within our lifetime and his products and achievements will continue in our lives and evolve to the benefit of humanity. For every person there are strong and weak points, good and bad – in the balance of that equation, Steve Jobs leaves a legacy that can only be called truly great.

Although he never graduated from college, I believe his speech in 2005 at Stanford University's 114th Commencement, where he urges graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks – including death itself – truly reflects this amazing man.

Google is Changing Our Memory

Click infographic to enlarge.

We were taught in school how to retain information and expand our memories so important details are available to us by recall. Well, with the advent of new technologies and the constant availability of the Internet, this is changing – we no longer need to remember all the details.

The primary resource for this off-brain storage is Google. We now know how to quickly find a fact, detail, phone number or location without needing to remember it in our brains. The question is, what will be the long term impact of this new form of memory management?

To give you some idea of how this change is occurring, Onlinecolleges.net created this infographic.

Turning Knowledge into Practical Magic

Could you use a little more magic in your life?  Could your partner?  Could your job?

As adults we generally accept that magic is an illusion, in which we haven’t yet been able to connect effect with cause.  We know of course that there must be that connection – yet paradoxically, as an audience, we still get that boost of excitement, that emotional rise, when the rabbit comes out of the hat.  Although for the magician the surprise is probably not so great!

So where does that boost, that emotional rise, come from and how can we get more of it?

Read the full article by Robert Prinable on the VitallyMe blog.

A User Manual for Your Own Personality

Would you like to gain a deeper insight into your personality?

Vitally Me is a special website setup to help you find important information about You!

By taking a series of multiple choice questions, Vitally Me will analyse your personality in Relationships, Actions and Thinking to help you better understand how you operate. The report that is produced will help you improve your relationships at home and work, show you how to be more successful in undertaking any activity and guide you to be a better, more insightful thinker.

The 10 minute online self-assessment creates a highly personalised report and costs only A$39.95.

Visit the Vitally Me website for more details.