The power of Memory: How to Use it Effectively?

A good memory is essential for building and sustaining strong professional and personal connections. Forgetfulness is the erosion that eats away at these bonds. Whether it's calling someone by the wrong name, misstating their title or overlooking a meeting invite…

In today's digital age, we’re millions of people around the world relying on our smartphone - that little computer nestled in the palm of our hand - to perform a multitude of tasks, from getting directions to checking the latest news, upcoming birthdays, deadlines and to-do lists.

Despite offering clear advantages in terms of convenience and connectivity, these devices also take a heavy toll on our memory.

What is memory?

When most of us talk about memory, we are referring to our ability to recall specific past events, but for researchers Andrew Budson and Elisabeth Kensinger memory serves a far more vital function than simply recalling past facts.

“Memory can be thought of as a powerful source of data that the brain can use to make sense of the present moment and to make predictions about the future. Memory holds onto the features that will be the most useful pieces of data for the brain to use for these purposes. Most of the time, those features don’t include very specific details about an experience but rather are broader representations of the gist or general concept of what happened.”

Your memory of the past is useful because it allows us to imagine the future and plan accordingly.

What are the most common misconceptions about memory?

One of the most common misconceptions is to consider that memories are stored somewhere in a mental space, such as files that can be retrieved effortlessly. In fact, memory is an active and effortful process.  Every time we recall a past event, we have to make an effort to reconstruct that memory.

Memory does not work like a video recorder. Many people think memories are recorded precisely like a video camera, allowing perfect recall. In reality, memories are reconstructed imperfectly each time based on current influences and perspectives.

Forgetting is actually a normal and vital process that prevents our brains from becoming overloaded with information. Many people believe that forgetting is a bad thing, that it's a failure of memory, or that the optimal memory is one where forgetting doesn’t occur. Some forgetfulness is needed to focus on what's most important. There’s tremendous utility in pruning because it allows us to use the pieces of our past that are most likely to be relevant for understanding what’s going on right now or what might happen tomorrow or next year.

Memory capabilities are fixed. Memory performance can be improved at any age through consistent use of evidence-based techniques such as practicing retrieval, creating vivid visual associations, and aligning with your personal learning style.

How does memory work? Memory is a cycle

Memory is an active and cyclical process and requires three phases to occur: encoding, storage, retrieval.

First, we must get the content of an experience into a format our brain can store. We call this the process of encoding. Second, the brain has to store or consolidate that information, so that it’s accessible over longer periods of time. Third, we need to retrieve that content in the moment that it’s needed.

We call memory a cycle because that act of retrieving the memory actually restarts this three-phase process again. New details may be encoded and re-stored for later access. Every retrieval of a memory allows it to be updated with newly learned information but also carries the risk of subtly distorting the recall or even falsifying it altogether.

Forgetfulness and memory distortions can occur at any of these three stages. We may fail to encode a person's name or encode it incorrectly, as a similar-sounding name. Or we might encode the correct name and access it briefly, but fail to store it properly and later either forget the name altogether when we next see the person, or call them by the wrong name. We might also fail to retrieve the name in the moment it’s needed, leading to the frustration of recalling the name when the person is no longer around.

Strategies you can use to avoid forgetting

When encoding, there are four principles to follow to improve memory encoding and retention, according to the acronym FOUR .

F: Focus your attention on what you want to remember. Don’t multi-task!

O: Organize the information. Structure the information so it that makes sense to you. This may involve creating outlines, mind maps, or using mnemonics. For example, if you’re a student studying for an exam, don’t try to memorize your notes until they’re logically organized. If you need to memorize your shopping list, organize it by category or in some other logical way. Our brain holds onto “chunks” of organized content. The better organized the information, the more we can fit into a “chunk” and thus the more information we can retain.

U: Understand the information. Confirm you’ve heard the person’s name correctly. Aim to understand the material rather than memorize it. Try to relate the new information to what you already know, which can deepen your understanding. Asking questions and seeking explanations can also enhance your grasp of the material, making it more meaningful and easier to memorize.

R: Relate the information to something you already know. Does the person’s name overlap with one of your favorite authors? Make a mental note of that association.

Doing those FOUR things will help you to both encode the information for the short-term and also to get that information stored for longer-term access.

When it comes to retrieving information, the fact is, we often thwart our own retrieval attempts. We get stressed when we realize someone’s name isn’t popping into our head. Stress prevents the brain from prioritizing memory retrieval over processing what's happening in our environment right now.

Don't worry if you can't remember your colleague's name; a better strategy is to reframe your goal and think about some other fact you remember about them. Given the way the brain works, the trick is to mentally return to the context of a previous experience - one of the last times you saw your colleague, or one of the last times you were studying that content to prepare for your exam. Memory retrieval works when the brain is able to return to a state similar to the one that it was in at the time of encoding, so recalling the original context may help the brain achieve this, allowing you to access the information you need.

Final thoughts

An awareness of the most common misconceptions about memory, along with insights into the underlying science, including the essential function of forgetting, enables us to develop more effective memorization and recall strategies.

And don't forget that a healthy lifestyle – regular exercise, sufficient sleep and a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids – helps to improve cognitive function and memory.