My Top Memory Training Exercises for Daily Practice
The most important factor in developing your memory and sharpening your cognitive skills is to have fun with it. If you find it a chore or a bore you won’t continue to do the activities. Find what you enjoy and be playful with the activities. Have a read below at my top suggestions and see how you get on.
· Brain games and puzzles to sharpen cognitive skills
There are many different Brain Training Apps. I will be reviewing these in a later blog post, so I am going to focus on games that you can play without technology that will support and develop your cognitive skills.
We will start with word games and puzzles to start with. These can be lots of fun and you can play on your own or with friends and family. There are lots of word games that can sharpen your cognitive skills. You may want to start with straightforward wordsearches, crosswords, and logic puzzles. You can play Scrabble TM or Boggle TM. All of these games will ensure that your brain makes new connections as you are challenged with new words and try out new strategies. This will reinforce or create new neural pathways in your brain linked to your use of words and language. There are also number games that are fun to play. You can use Sudoku puzzles or CrissCross number puzzles.
You could also use a version of the popular UK words and numbers game Countdown TM. Where you can try and make a randomly generated three figure number with only five pre-decided numbers. Another good way to sharpen your cognitive skills is to do jigsaw puzzles. You can get all sorts of different types of jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaws are easy to get hold of cheaply from charity shops and second hand stores. Using a variety of these different types of puzzles will sharpen a wide range of your cognitive skills.
· Mindfulness and meditation for to reduce stress, increase cognition and improve focus
When I worked in a mainstream secondary school in England, I worked with a wonderful colleague who introduced mindfulness into the school. I supported her with running a club every lunchtime where students could do a mindfulness meditation. This colleague also introduced mindfulness into the Religion, Philosopy and Ethics curriculum. Explaining the background and benefits of the practise with students. The results were amazing. Students from all different backgrounds used mindfulness to help and support them in many different ways. There was the predicatable uses for managing exam stress, the stress of growing-up and stress from home. However, there were also some not so predicatable results including how much mindfulness club supported some of our neurodiverse students. The reduction in stress increased the students ability to learn more effectivey (the research on mindfulness supports this outcome – see MiSP link below)
Students who did some mindfulness at the start of their RPE lessons reported being much more able to focus and concentrate in their lessons. This is a finding that is supported by the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) – Bringing Mindfulness to Schools)
If you want to try out Mindfulness – find some short guided meditations on YouTube. Try out a few and see which ones you enjoy.
· Dual n-back training and its potential benefits
Dual n-back training is when a person experiences two sequences of information. One sequence is auditory (so the person can hear the sequence). The other sequence is visual (the person is shown the sequence). These sequences are unrelated and independent of one another. The person has to identify when an object that was read out “n” places ago appears again. For example if you were being shown letters and the n=4. N L E R N Y W Q L P D Q K S A. The letters in bold are the ones that would need to be identified by the person undertaking the training.
This task take a great deal of your working memory to undertake. If you start easy and build up the difficulty of the training. The research shows that the dual n-back training can improve working memory function. Please see this blog post for the How to Improve Memory: A Comprehensive Guide for All Ages Part 1 (Autumn 2024) – Doctor Melissa Palmer
· Real-world memory challenges to incorporate into your routine
There are a huge number of ways to use your routine to develop your memory and sharpen those cognitive skills. Try memorising your shopping list. You can use your knowledge of the layout of the supermarket or shop to help you with this (this is a version of a memory palace). If you are too worried about forgetting something. Take your list and get it out before you got to the checkout and quickly check your trolley or your basket. Don’t forget to treat yourself if you remembered all the items!
The other way to challenge your memory is by driving somewhere unfamiliar when you have studied the online map or directions. You can do this when you are not in a rush and it doesn’t matter if you have to pull over and check the directions again. I often have to drive to new places for work. I use the directions App the first time I drive there and then the second time I see how far I can get along the route before I have to check the directions.
If you have children, then a fun way to exercise your memory is to memorise their favourite books or poems. When we were stuck in traffic or having to wait unexpectedly for something I would launch into their favourite book – including doing all the voices. My children absolutely loved this. I can still recite the opening of “The Tiger Who Came To Tea” ten years later!
Remember (forgive the pun) have fun trying out different ways to challenge your memory. Enjoy yourself and you will find your cognitive skills developing and sharpening in no time!