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Change Locations
One of the ways that you can improve your memory is to change your location. Your memory of something is linked to the place where you learned it, so by learning things in different places you can make them easier to remember. Surprisingly, even small changes such as where you are sitting in a room can make a huge difference. I use this technique in every class with my students, and they are able to remember and use what they learn to such a high level of skill, it surprises and amazes their other teachers year after year
Warning: To make use of this information, you are going to have to move out of your comfort zone.
You know how when you start attending a class, how you have a tendency to pick a certain area of the room, or even a specific seat and continue to sit there every time you go? It becomes a kind of habit, or even ritual for you. And I’d be willing to bet that if someone else beats you to your favorite seat, you are somewhat displeased and feel a bit unsettled for the remainder of the class. Am I right? Most students feel a bit territorial about the spot they have chosen, they develop a sense of familiarity and comfort in it, and often really resent a disruption to their ritual such as the presence of another person there.
However, in reality, if someone sits in your favorite seat, they are actually doing you an enormous favor. They are forcing you to find another place. That lecture or class will stand out more strongly in your memory simply because you were forced to sit in a different place.
Go ahead and give this a try for a few classes or lectures and see how your memory improves. When you walk in the room or lecture hall, and you feel that pull in your feet to go to your favorite spot, move out of your comfort zone and deliberately choose another. At the next class, you may be tempted to return to that new seat, but that is just the start of a new comfort habit. It is in your best interest to deliberately choose yet another seat, and a new place in the room every time you go there.
In addition to helping you remember what you learn in each class, there is an additional benefit. Chances are good that unless your classmates read this, they are going to stay in the same place. This gives you the opportunity to meet many new people and begin friendships with other classmates that ordinarily you might never create an opportunity to talk with.
So get out of your rut of sitting in the same seat all the time, and sit in a different location each time, and make some wonderful new friendships as you improve your memory!
Here’s to your success!
Copyright © 2005-2006 by Teresa Bolen. All rights reserved.
Teresa Bolen is a teacher at Todaiji Academy, one of the top 5 schools in Japan, and the author of Master Plan to Master Exams: How to Discover Your Hidden Abilities to Create the Success You Desire. You can get her FREE ‘Academic Excellence Report’ at http://www.MasterPlanToMasterExams.com
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