6 Strategies To Optimize Your Memory

#3: Write it down.

Sorry, I can't remember.

I don't know about you, but I've uttered this phrase several times before. We live in an era of hyper information, and it can be difficult sometimes to distinguish between what is important to remember and what is not.

Faced with this continuous flow of information, we end up forgetting more and more things. To optimize my memory, I have developed different strategies over the years. Nothing extraordinary and a lot of common sense as you will see, but a reminder is never superfluous. Here are these 6 strategies.

#1: Don’t try to remember at all costs

We all make the same mistake at first by thinking that we must remember everything. However, our memory is not infinitely expandable. Even though the powers of the human brain are amazing, you must not fall into the mistake of wanting to retain everything at all costs.

Instead, you need to be more strategic. This means developing strategies to optimize your memory.

David Allen's “Getting Things Done” method gives you the keys to doing this. It pushes you to immediately do all the things that take less than 5 to 10 minutes that you need to do. This will prevent you from cluttering your memory with reminders. It also drastically increases your productivity.

Do you have to send an email to someone? Afraid you'll forget? Do it immediately, and free yourself from that weight that was going to occupy your memory unnecessarily. And so on for all the things you can do immediately.

#2: Sort out what needs to be retained and what does not need to be retained

As I said before, there are some things you need to remember, and some things you don't need to remember. Some things are easily accessible on the Internet for example. For these things, there is no need to occupy your memory. Just remember how to access that information via a quick search.

Memory doesn't make the difference, but rather your logical reasoning process. The more you free your mind from unnecessary things to remember, the more you will be able to rely on your logical reasoning skills.

#3: Write it down

“Always carry a notebook with you. Write everything down. This is a million-dollar lesson they don't teach you in business school.”

— Aristotle Onassis

Renowned 20th-century businessman and billionaire, Aristotle Onassis is the originator of this third strategy that I employ constantly. Rather than cluttering your mind and risking losing important ideas, he advises you to write everything down as soon as the ideas appear.

This will free you from the burden of being afraid of losing an important idea.

In his time, he did this with a notebook, but nowadays, you can do it with a smartphone for example. A whole bunch of applications exists. Some of them even allow you to optimize this process even further.

#4: Use visual reminders

Another trick I use is visual reminders. You can take a picture of important things you want to remember if you don't have time to write them down on your to-do list. I frequently use this technique in combination with sending emails with the photo attached.

Why does doing this free my mind? Simply because I know that I look at my emails every morning. De facto, I know that I will necessarily see this visual reminder the next day. So I can relax, I don't risk forgetting this idea.

Be careful, to sort out quickly these visual reminders in your email box, because otherwise, it could quickly become counter-productive.

#5: Set up habits and routines to free your memory for important things

A habit is an action that you will repeat so that it becomes mechanical and you do it without even thinking about it. For anything that you absolutely must do every day, it is in your best interest to build a routine of good habits. This way, you will do these actions day after day without even thinking about them. Then you can free up your memory again to make room for all the essentials.

The good thing here is that you can include things that keep you healthy in your daily routine. This will help you build a healthy body in a healthy mind.

#6: Use your mind when you need

In the end, there will always be some situations where you cannot apply these strategies. For these situations, you need to use your memory. Use it until you can apply the other strategies.

This will help you optimize your memory in general while making you more productive and efficient. Indeed, with a free mind, you will be able to think better and then make better decisions in your life.

This is worth trying for at least 30 days to see if it benefits you as much in the long run as it did me.