Brain Overload

In our world we are bombarded with information.  One issue of the Sunday paper offers more information than the average person would have had access to in a lifetime several generations ago--not to mention the increase in workload and responsibilities.

From the moment we wake up in the morning our minds start racing...the yard needs work, the car needs an oil change, the boss is expecting a completed report, a bill needs to be mailed, 12 e-mails are waiting for a response...and on and on and on....

When we become too overloaded we begin to develop what has been coined "situational attention deficit disorder." We misplace things and waste precious time searching for glasses, wallets, keys, etc.  We become forgetful, discouraged and sometimes downright embarrassed by our negligence.  Did anyone read about the concert violinist who drove off with the priceless Stradivarius on the hood of the car?

According to some memory experts, we aren't always forgetting--we never remembered to begin with.  We must focus effectively enough on an idea for it to be encoded in our brains.  When it isn't encoded, we don't retrieve it; or it can be paired with another idea and can't be retrieved until that idea is present.  For example, you may forget to phone a friend with an important message, until you see the friend, who is then a trigger to remember the message.

The cure for this amnesia is being PRESENT MINDED.  How can we do this?  Thoughts on the subject fall into three general categories: the physical, the practical and the "pranks."

Physical:  Yes, you've heard it before, but it is true.  Diet (low fat but high in fish oils); exercise; vitamins including natural supplements such as Gingo Balboa; plenty of water; and -goods news for some people-caffeine, in moderation, may help.

Practical:  Spend some time alone daily in silence, prayer, medication, and/or relaxation.  Completely immerse yourself in an activity: stroke your pet and notice nothing but the way it feels or listen to a peaceful piece of music and notice nothing but the music, as examples.  Identify a specific place for specific items and always return things to their specific place.  Use lists and cross things off as they are complete.  Use a calendar (only one) to write down all appointments or commitments.  Do a task the moment you think of it (or write it down in that moment) to avoid procrastination.  Say out loud a task you must recall.

Pranks:  Use mnemonics.  Experts say that if you develop a picture of something you want to remember and even make the picture silly and absurd, you couldn't forget if you tried.  Memory tends to favor pictures over words.  A parent gave her forgetful ten year old son a check to deliver.  usually it would have been lost en route. Using this technique, her son said he would imagine the check stuck in his ear, because if he didn't do it, Mom would give him an earful.  He remembered!  Use rhymes to recall information you want to retrieve.  "I before E, except after C" is an example.    Use music or jingles if you don't want that thought out of your mind.  Advertisers have great success with this technique. Use acronyms like EAP to remember your Employee Assistance Program. Tie a list of items together with a story in your mind.  You will remember the items with ease.  Do you remember these memory games from childhood? 

Naturally, some of us have better recall, but everyone can improve with a determined effort to do so.  Next time picture yourself in the place you want to be, you're more likely to get there!