We’re all guilty of forgetting things in our daily living. When aging, these difficulties may become more frequent. Cognitive degenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s, can occur as we age. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you remember.
For friends with busier schedules, it may be hard getting back into the work routine. With a busy schedule, you may find yourself jumping around from one task to another. This high traffic of reminders can cause a few to slip your mind. One helpful trick to prevent this is visualization. Try visualizing going through your day, walking from one task to another and completing them in an orderly fashion. Not only will this help you practice your imagination, it will also allow you to practice mentally moving through your day in a low stress environment to improve organization.
Aside from mentally visualizing, it could also be a great a mental exercise to try putting things into your own words after they have been explained to you. Try associating something you are more familiar with in order to personalize information. Repeating important tasks or reminders cannot only better explain things to yourself, it also helps ingrain a thought into your memory.
Repeating can also be applicable to remembering names. Names can be difficult to remember in conversation. When you meet someone, greet the person with their name as soon as it’s said. You can always ask the person to spell his or her name, even if it’s easy to spell. Also try exiting by saying the person’s name (“It was great meeting you, Jeremy.”).
When in doubt, don’t forget to utilize your technological resources. Digital reminders and alarms on your phone can be great ways of remembering to take medications or go to appointments. Online calendars, available on websites or phone apps, can help you organize your week and set reminders months in advance. While this may require technological assistance, crash-course lessons on the operations of our digital gadgets can always be very useful in the modern age.
Keep in mind that people of all ages forget a name or misplace their car keys from time to time. Be easy on yourself when you forget. When you do forget something, ask for help (e.g., “I know we’ve met several times, but I can’t remember your name. Please tell me once again.”) or ask someone to help you remember an important upcoming task or event. This is never harm or shame in asking others for help. It is common for seniors to experience decline in memory and cognitive capabilities. If a degenerative disease is a concern of yours, WellPath Partners has a plethora of resources to connect you with.
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By Prithvi Chauhan
