Judy Marcus - Memory Improvement Tips

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What do the LOVE Memory Method, Obama's Reggie Love, and my cousin Fred's wife Janet have in common?

Wouldn't you LOVE to have a great memory?

President Obama doesn't need to remember where he put his jacket, pen, or list of phone numbers.  He uses Reggie Love, his personal aid, to remember for him.  See (On the Court and on the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama - NYTimes.com)

• Love is Obama's system of brain assurance.  This frees the President to spend his mental energy on important matters of State.    
• My cousin Fred uses his wife Janet, the woman he loves, to keep track of where he put his keys and other belongings. 
• In lieu of having a Reggie Love or a Cousin Janet on your memory team, here's another approach:

You, too, can use LOVE to remember - in both business and every day life. 

Just as "Kleenix" is the generic word for "tissue", 

I hope to see "LOVE" as the

 generic, household word for "remember." 

As in "LOVE where you park your car", or "LOVE the name of the book you're reading, or "LOVE your best friend's cellphone number just in case your speed-dial's not available. 

I'm talking about the four-step LOVE Memory Method.  It's an acronym I created - to make remembering unforgettable.  It works for me when I use it.  It works for countless people around the world, and it can work for you, too.  

The word LOVE is an acronym for the four actions you need to take to capture, record and recall anything and everything you choose to remember, instantly, upon demand.  It's easy to learn, fun to use, and best of all, it works.

     This method works for anything you actively choose to remember.  Next time you meet someone new, apply the four-step LOVE acronym: 

• Look:  See the face, listen to the name, use your finger to write the name in your palm. 
• Overstate:   Think something outrageous about their name, i.e.  Sherrie Wolf. Imagine Sherrie chugging a bottle of Sherry while riding on the back of a dancing wolf. 
• Visualize:  Picture the outrageous image in your mind's eye on the movie screen right inside your forehead.
• Engrave:  Repeat this movie image every twenty minutes until it's firmly stored in your brain.

Those of you reading this article who don't yet "remember with LOVE" 

• can see a longer explanation in the December, 2007 archives of this blog.  
• can go to my website or Amazon.com to order a copy of my book, WHERE ARE MY KEYS?  
• can invite me to speak in person at your next event.    

In this fast-paced world, where our minds are scattered in so many directions, we need to take control of our memory.  And, life's better when we trust our brain to remember.

Yes, you can trust your brain to remember what you choose to remember, when you take the time to remember with LOVE. 

Let's hear from you.  

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?  Blog on and share your LOVE Memory Method stories.

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. 

(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2009)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

"Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog",www.memory-improvement-tipster.com  Author of WHERE ARE MY KEYS?, Judy's blog features tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong."

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?  Blog on and share your LOVE Memory Method stories.

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. 

(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2009)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

"Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog",www.memory-improvement-tipster.com  Author of WHERE ARE MY KEYS?, Judy's blog features tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong."

Mindful Driving Makes for a Better Memory (and it's environmentally friendly too): Awareness is Easy - if you're willing to make the time and stay on task.

Ever wonder where the time has gone?  For most of us, life whizzes by because we're thinking of one thing while doing another.

Ever wonder how you got two roadways past your exit?  That's because we whizzed by our exit while our mind was on what we were going to say to our client when we called - or what we didn't say this morning to our friend - or our brain is mentally jumping like a grasshopper from chore to unfinished chore, worrying about our over-busy schedule.

Monkey mind, as the meditation gurus call it.  Chatter, chatter, chatter.  A wandering mind.  A busy mind.  An A.D.D. mind.  An over-multi-tasking mind.  WHOAH!!!!!

Take a deep breath.  It's time to quiet down and be mindful.

Being mindful means being aware of what you're doing at this very moment.   It's keeping all your senses in allignment -- on the present moment. 

Driving Mindfully: 

Set your intention.  When you're driving, before you head out, think of your destination and the route to get there.  And leave early enough to give yourself a driving time cushion to feel comfortable -unhurried - not rushed (This allows your finer self to come out and eliminates any potential road rage, plus giving you a more alert, relaxing, enjoyable experience.) 

Once you're on your way, look at where you're going, listen to the sounds of the traffic, feel the steering wheel under your hands, smell the heat or the air conditioning or the fresh air from the open window.  

And definitely think about HOW you are driving.

Are you driving safely?  Paying attention to the road?  Seat belt clicked?  Within the speed limit?

Is your driving environmentally friendly? Hypermiling is a word that's new to me.  It's a good one to add to your vocabulary.   

• It's about modifying your driving to improve mileage and reduce emissions.  
• It's about getting good gas mileage because you're slowing down as soon as you see the light turning red. 
• It's about replacing air in your tires - on-time car tune-ups - driving gently, not aggressively. 
• It also helps you keep your mind on the cars around you, which makes for safer, more alert driving.  
• And lets you remember where you are going and where to turn off.

And don't forget, once you turn off the motor, to ask yourself, "Where Are My Keys?" and "Where is my car parked?"

Let's hear from you.  Do you ever forget to turn off at your destination because your mind is wandering?  What do you do to drive mindfully?

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?  Blog on and share your driving mindfully stories.

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. 

(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2009)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog",www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?  Blog on and share your driving mindfully stories.

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. 

(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2009)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog",www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

Can't find your glasses? Or your wallet? Or your keys? Try this Brain-Friendly Lifestyle Strategy to keep yourself Calm and Stress-Free

A Reader From Texas writes:

PROBLEM:  This afternoon, it couldn't be helped.  I coudn't find my sun glass magnetic clip-ons.  I kept driving while my older daughter searched my purse.  Then I found them on my lap.  They fell there and how would I know!?!  In the meantime, it was very frustrating...so I don't know how to be cool during the search.

The Memory Lady responds:

Dear Hot and Frustrated in Texas:

Time doesn't care how you use it. The clock keeps on ticking.  Consistently.  No matter whether you're searching for an item you lost due to not paying attention to where you put it, or whether, like in this case, you wasted time searching for your magnetic glass clip which just - unnoticeably - fell into your lap.

A nano-second is a nano-second.  It's out of our control to change the pace of the clock.  Tick-tock.  Tick-tock.  What is in our control is how we react emotionally.

Steam happens when we lose our cool.  A little bit is good.  It gets us moving to search for the lost item.  Too Much steam, and we can flip our lid.

SOLUTION:  While searching for a lost item, don't forget to stop and take a deep breath.  This simple memory strategy helps you to keep your cool and prevent the panic from taking over. 

Think of breath as an interior fan with a built-in thermostat that keeps your blood pressure down, your system oxygenated, and your mental stress protectors from overheating due to frustration.

Whenever you are on the spectrum of the "why can't I find it?" blues, once the search is on, here is a sure-fire way to control the steam and nip frustration in the bud.

Take a deep breath.  Next, state what you're looking for.  In a positive way.  That's right, say it out loud:  "I'm looking for my magnetic glass clips."  Then just keep alternating the breath and the statement while you look.  The odds are with you that in this relaxed mode you'll find them.  You might even be able to laugh at yourself (always a good thing to do).

Whether they show up or not, you'll feel better, both physically and emotionally, by keeping your cool.

SIMILAR STORIES:  Hot and Frustrated in Texas' story triggers a memory of a dinner party at my house when we spent five minutes looking for our guest's black framed glasses before someone noticed the glasses were hooked onto her black shirt.  And that reminds me of another incident...

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?  Blog on and share your memory stories.

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. (Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2008)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog", www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

Why Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin are good role models for memory training

Weren't they wonderful to watch?  Focused, on track, knowing exactly what they wanted to do -- and then doing it!  Wow!  Each event...What a performance!!!!!

As I cheered for Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, I couldn't help but wear my "Memory Lady Hat" filter.  It goes with me almost everywhere I go. 

So, here are two main connections I saw between the Olympian gymnists and the art of having a good memory:

First of all, the most important part of memory begins with paying attention to what you choose to remember.  Imagine if Shawn or Nastia were thinking of how badly they wanted to win, or started daydreaming of how exciting it will be to bring home the "gold" -- letting their mind wander to anything other than the task at hand.  OOOPS.....

Secondly, there's no resting on your laurels, either in Olympic competition or in important situations in business or everyday life.  Just as Shawn and Nastia had to approach each event with the knowledge that even though they did well in the past, the only thing that counted in the current performance was precisely that -- the current performance.  Well, that's how we have to face every day in the tasks we deem important, A-1 priority. 

For example, some people might leave the house with their kitchen cabinets open; others would never dream of doing anything other than closing the cabinets as soon as they take out what they want.  That choice is personal opinion and a matter of housekeeping.

On the other hand, it's NEVER safe to leave the house without unplugging the coffee pot.  Nor do you want to be like the man who forgot that he placed his baby in the car seat on top of the car, and with the baby still on top of the car, drove away (a true story - luckilly the baby wasn't hurt).

So in the transition times throughout your day, before you leave the house, before you leave your car, when you first get to the office, etc., be like Shawn and Nastia.  Stop, take a deep breath, think of what you need to do -- and then, do it!  - Don't forget!

Blog on with your comments.  And forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. (Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2008)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog", www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

 

Where Are My Keys? They're easy to find if you look in the right place.

My husband always says if I ever run away from home, one of the first places he'll look for me is a book store.  So, here I am.  Cozy and connected. 

Speaking to a room full of amazing Aspen locals and vacationers in one of my favorite places, Explore Booksellers and Bistro, which is a big house with lots of rooms, all the nooks and crannies filled with an amazing array of books, and a bonus upstairs dining room looking out onto trees and mountain, serving delicious, nutritious organic food.  

That's me.  Sharing information.  Talking WHERE ARE MY KEYS? book-talk.  Teaching people of all ages who have busy, active lives, how to remember whatever they choose to remember - instantly, upon demand. 

.   

One of my memory tips is to find a place for everything that's important to you, and put it back in its memory place.  That way you don't have to spend hours of your life searching for things because you can't remember where you put them.

I read that in America we waste 90,000 hours per day looking for lost items.  How much time do YOU contribute to that statistic?

Placing your keys on auto-pilot is a good habit to begin with.  My friend Sandi has a basket for her keys right in her entranceway.  She immediately puts her keys in that basket as soon as she walks in the house.  My husband Steve walks in the house, gives me a kiss if I'm home, and then proceeds to the bedroom where he empties the contents of his pockets, including his keys, onto his nightstand. 

The key to Steve's and Sandi's consistant behavior is just that - consistant behavior.  Auto pilot action.  And then they know just where to find their keys.

What about you?  Can you make a commitment to focus on just one object that you will find a memory place for - and then every day for thirty days: stop.  take a deep breath.  and then put that object back in its memory place? 

With the extra time you save by knowing where are your keys (or your glasses, checkbook, wallet, etc.) - where will you be spending your valuable time?  Where are your favorite places to hang out so we can find you?

Blog on and let us know!

Please forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. (Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2008)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog", www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

Over-multi-tasking? Brain stretched to limit? Here's tips to relax and de-stress so you can remember better.

While emailing with a New York Times reporter about memory tips, he wrote:

"Judy:  Trying to stretch my mind, but it's stretched to the limit, I'm afraid, and feeling the wear and tear of the strain."

Here's my reply to him - perhaps it speaks to you as well: 

"I hear your pain from the strain of too much on the brain.

When I'm in that spot, these three easy strategies work:

1.  I take a breathing space break often throughout the day.  It's easy.  A simple deep breath in through my nose, filling my belly with air to the count of four, and then breathing out through my mouth to the count of six as if floating a feather in the air.

2.  I meditate to calm my mind and give it resting time.

3.  I give myself permission to take even a twenty-minute holiday and do something totally different and fun."

Let me know if you find the above helpful.  Also let me know what  destressers you have up your sleeve.Blog-on!

Please forward this blog to as many friends and associates as you wish.  Hopefully they'll become Memory Tipsters as well. (Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2008)**********************************************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint any items from the Memory Improvement Tips Blog.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog", www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Forget: Your Brain Needs both Mental and Physical Exercise! (a Reminder for people with an over-busy schedule)

Before you look at your watch and say to yourself, "I'm just too busy.  I’ve barely got a half-hour to spare.  Something on my schedule's gotta give." ...

Before you think, "I'll do my brain a favor.  I'll squeeze in thirty minutes to tackle the crossword puzzle, or Suduko, or finish my book, or work on my French, or my taxes, or my email, or clear off my desk… and blow off my exercise," think again. 

With the dynamic-duo of both mental and physical exercise, you get a more powerful brain advantage.

Your brain needs both mental and physical stimulation. 

Ask yourself, “Which type of exercise have I done for my brain lately?  How well do I balance my brain power activities?  Am I doing enough cross-training for my brain?”

Just as mental challenges stimulate your brain power - (you don’t have to take up rocket science, almost any activity will do provided it snares your interest and stimulates your brain to learn new challenges) - so does physical exercise stimulate new brain cell growth.

Exercise Grows New Brain Cells.

Physical exercise is a critical component of good health.  Among its many benefits, exercise grows new brain cells.  Studies show about one-half hour of exercise about three or four times a week stimulates neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, because it increases activity in the part of the brain which is important to learning and memory. 

Your brain benefits when you think “How can I best balance my mental and physical exercise?” 

Now, wouldn’t you say that’s an extraordinary reason to work out both mentally and physically? – and who wouldn’t want to increase their brain power possibility? 

Just imagine:  the dynamic duo of mental and physical exercise helps you look better – feel better – and remember better. 

Have you figurered out how to balance your mental-vs-physical time?  Let me hear from you.  Blog on to share your success stories and your time-management dilemnas. 

Don’t forget!

(Copyright - Judy Marcus - 2008) ************************************************************************

Reprint Permission: You are welcome to reprint the above article.  However, please credit Judy Marcus, Memory Lady, as a source, with the following paragraph:

Reprinted from the "Judy Marcus - Memory Lady - Memory Improvement Tips Blog", www.memory-improvement-tipster.com featuring tips and strategies to take control of your memory and keep your brain strong.