One day last week, I made myself some oatmeal for breakfast.  I put a pot of water on the stove, waited for it to boil, then added the oatmeal.  When it was done, I moved the pot over to one of the unused burners to cool for a bit.  We’ve got an electric stove with a glass top so there are no actual “burners,” just circles etched on the glass where the heating elements are.  I then spooned out my oatmeal into a bowl and enjoyed my breakfast.  I even washed my own dishes when I was done!

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

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