Even though my Senior Moment segment is to share practical tips to help seniors live their best lives –
today I do want to explore…forgetting…the traditional meaning of “a senior moment!” I’d like to share a
few easy hacks to help you remember what you want to and need to remember.
It’s a proven fact that as you age, your brain changes and three areas of mental function decline –
Executive Function, Episodic Memory, and Processing Speed. There are hours of scientific information
around this – but the bottom line is that this is a normal part of aging. I will leave the details, the
research, and the science behind this to the health professionals. Today we are going to just share some
ideas to get past that…senior moment!
Let’s discuss three proven facts about memory.
The first one is — we tend to remember what’s interesting to us. We process interesting, unusual,
quirky, or bizarre things more deeply – and therefore we remember them better. For example, I am
totally OCD about remembering to unplug my curling iron. I have turned my car around and driven back
to my house more than once to make sure I have unplugged it. I have to credit my friend Kevin Brandt
who gave me the best way to remember. He said when you unplug it, pretend that the plug has
exploded – look at it and say, “kaboom!”
The second one is we tend to remember information connected to what we already know. Associate
new information with existing information that’s already stored in our long-term memory. For those
who have a challenging time remembering names, it has been found that when you meet someone and
hear their name for the first time, repeating it back helps, but even more so, connect the name with
something with which you are familiar. For example, the first-time meeting Tiffany, you would say,
“Tiffany, it’s nice to meet you,” but I would think “breakfast at…”
The third one is our brain is horrible at remembering what it needs to remember in the future. This is
called “prospective memory.” So don’t be embarrassed – write it down. Use sticky notes or the notes
app on your phone. Even a surgeon has a checklist to ensure they don’t leave any instruments in a
patient and a pilot uses a checklist before they take off.
Other helpful suggestions include:
- making a song up to remember something. For example, if you were going to the store for 4
things, – let’s say, bread, lettuce, cheese, eggs – you could use the song, “Head, shoulders, knees
and toes.” - chunking is also a useful method for remembering. Instead of trying to remember a 10-digit
phone number, think of “a chunk of 3, a chunk of 3, a chunk of 4. - don’t hesitate to use technology to help – such as setting reminder alarms on your phone.
And the best advice, if you can’t find your reading glasses, they are probably on the top of your head or
hanging around your neck!