Jo's tips for Improving your memory Part 2

“The number one reason we forget, is because we aren’t paying attention in the first place.” 
Lynn Stern, Co-author of Improving your Memory

I thought this was a really interesting quote and applied it to myself immediately. Sometimes my mind is on a million things and when I want to start my language learning session, I do all the right things – I relax; create the right state of mind and visualise, but this sometimes seems to give my mind permission for everything else to flood in; so in reality, I am only giving a part of my attention to my learning. My challenge this week is to consciously pay attention to what I am learning. 
I have realised that I can remember anything I want to remember. The operative words here are ‘I want to’.  Try and make a conscious decision when you want to remember something. Don’t blame your memory or your age……. we sometimes think we have forgotten something, when, in fact, we never really learned it in the first place.

Some experts say that when you want to insert information into the long term memory you need to focus on it for at least 8 seconds.  This makes sense - with the VLLC online program by going through the steps for each phrase you are repeating each phrase a minimum of 9 times – which should be more than 8 seconds. Don’t fall into the trap of mindlessly repeating. Be mindful of what you are doing…
The other benefit of the online program is that you should be using all your senses in the learning process.
We all know the formula that we learn:
20% of what we read
30% of what we hear
40% of what we see
50% of what we say
60% of what we do.
And a whopping 90% of what we see, hear, say and do……………

So it makes sense that the more you can see it, hear it, say it and do it the easier is it is to learn and remember.
My memory tips for you today:

• Decide to remember;
• Be in the right state of mind and feel relaxed and confident about your ability to learn. In this way the parts of your brain that create memories, can actually work better.
• Be aware of your learning style and acquire new information in ways that suit you. Information is immediately more memorable for you.
• Use all of your senses when you learn. The more you can see it, hear it, say it and do it – the more you will retain it.

Try applying some of these tips and let me know how you go….
Happy learning, Jo