Can you remember what you had breakfast for exactly one week ago? How about what you had for dinner? Going further back in time. Can you remember what you wore to work on the first Monday last month? I can’t, and I guess you’ll have great difficulty remembering too.
It’s okay to forget trivia, such as in the questions above, unless you’re involved in court proceedings. But, a good memory is necessary to perform well in exams, and get along with others and in the Business world. And, if you want more out of life, improving your memory will make a big difference.
There is an abundance of advice and tips on the internet and in books on improving your memory, but probably the easiest tip to apply is a little bit of exercise. We all know that aerobic exercise is good for the heart, but Aerobic exercise “keeps cognitive abilities sharp and slashes your lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s in half,” says John Medina, an affiliate professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine and author of Brain Rules.
So what can you do if exercise and visiting the gym don’t come naturally to you? Here are some tips which you can regard as business as usual for your normal daily activities but can be extended so you get some exercise without making it an ordeal:
Tip 1. Aim for around 2.5 hours of weekly exercise by walking briskly to your destination from where you park the car. Or, combine this with parking the car that further from your destination. I park my car just under a mile away from the train station, which involves climbing a hill on the return journey. I get the benefit of a downhill walk going to the station.
Tip 2. If you catch the bus to work, get off at a stop earlier than you do normally, combine this with getting on at the next stop from the one you normally get the bus
Tip 3. Do you normally take lunch at your desk or in the staff restaurant, take a walk to buy your lunch and take the longer route back to the office
Tip 4. Did you know strengthening your muscles can also strengthen and improve your memory? A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine last year found that when women 70- to 80-years-old, who already had symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, did one to two hours of weight training two days a week for six months, they had better focus and decision-making skills than those in a control group who did only balance and toning exercises.
Buy some hand weights and pump up those muscles, remembering to warm up and cool down for each exercise routine by stretching out.
