Tips for Remembering

No Magic Memory PillsRemembering is a tricky business.  We can remember some things easily yet cannot seem to remember other things.  We remember some things throughout our lives, while others things seem to come in one door in our mind and go out the other.
There is no “magic pill” for remembering.  But here are some tips that can help.

  1. Try to understand the information you must remember.  Understanding the information will allow you to relate the information you must remember to what you already know.
  2. Try to form an association between the information you must remember and a person, place, object, situation, or emotion.
  3. Frequently recite the information you must remember or write it several times.
  4. If you must remember a large body of information, try to break the information into smaller, more manageable categories.  Then work on remembering the information in each category separately.
  5. Create a graphic organizer for the information you must remember.  It is easier to remember information that is organized than to remember information that seems to be all over the place.
  6. Try to bring a personal touch to the information you must remember.  Relating the information to something about you will make it easier to remember.
  7. Try to form a picture in your mind of the information you must remember.  Visual imagery is a powerful tool for remembering.
  8. Try to apply what you must remember. For example, if you are trying to remember the meanings of some new vocabulary words, use the words in your speaking and writing.
  9. Test yourself.  A good way to do this is to write a question about the information you must remember on the front side of an index card and the answer to the question on the back. Use as many cards as you need.  Look at the questions, try to answer them, and then check to see how you did.
  10. Try to make remembering a fun activity by creating games using the information you must remember.

Remembering is not just something you must do in school.  It is something you must do in all aspects of your life.