The best ways to beat absentmindedness are amazingly simple—and totally fun
Courtesy of Prevention
Okay, your memory's better than you realized. But it will slip up from time to time. Many everyday memory problems can be dealt with by using common sense and planning. Here's what to do when...
You Can't Remember a Name Quick solution: Ask where, not who. "Often we have trouble remembering people when they're in the wrong place. Figure out where you know them from, and you can usually recall their names," suggests Zelinski.
How to prevent: Hi, Herman, Herman, Herman. "We tend to forget words or names we don't use often," says Zelinski, "so repeat the new information--to yourself--to help embed it into your memory."
It's most effective to repeat a name when the person is in front of you. That's why salesmen use your name in just about every sentence.
You Can't Find Your Car Keys Quick solution: First, calm down. Looking for missing keys is frustrating--which makes you tense up. But the tenser you become, the less effective your memory is. So take a deep breath. Then retrace your steps from the last moment you had the keys in your hand. Re-creating the situation puts it into some context, which makes your memory work better.
How to prevent: Ambush your autopilot. Why can't you remember where you dropped your keys? Because you've done it a thousand times before. "When you do routine things, you're likely to forget, because there's nothing special about it," Zelinski explains.
Because memory doesn't work well on autopilot, don't rely on it. Instead, do what Mom told you when you lost your skates twice a day: Keep them in one place. On a hook, in a box, in your pocket, around your neck--put the keys there as soon as you walk in the door--every time!
You Can't Remember Where You Parked Quick solution: Check your "snapshot." "One of the things humans are very good at is remembering what they see," says Zelinski. Ask your mind's eye what you saw as you parked, got out of the car, and walked toward the building. This should give you a clue as to where the car is.
How to prevent: A-TEN-shun! Failing to focus "is one of the biggest things that interferes with memory," notes Barry Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the Memory Clinic at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
How can you remember a detail that never registered? Each time you park, notice where you are. Look for landmarks such as signs. As you approach the building, look back once or twice to see your car.
You Know the Word--but It's Stuck on the Tip of Your Tongue Quick solution: Sounds like... "Your brain stores words by how they sound as well as by their meaning. Run through those similar-sounding words out loud and the right one may pop out," says Zelinski. (This can also work with names.)
How to prevent: There's not much you can do to head off this all-too-common phenomenon. But you can revel in the fact that your vocabulary is probably better than it ever was--and improving every day. That's because we don't lose our memory of old words even as we learn new ones.
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