Do you tend to forget the things you should remember? Poor memory may be related to depression (have you taken a free depression test?) Depression is however not the only cause of poor memory recall. You may not be using your own mind to the fullest of its abilities, because your own mind can be the greatest search engine on earth – if used as intended.

There are basically two things that can go wrong when you are "processing your searches" 1) You do not save what you learn 2) You cannot recall what you have stored.

1) The former. I focus on the most important thing when it comes to successfully storing new information – attention. Your mind has this use it or lose it feature. If you do not use what you have saved, then eventually you will discard that knowledge. This is particularly important for new data you save. If you don't give it some attention, then you will quickly discard the knowledge.

Small breaks and repetition are two things you can use to give attention to the new knowledge, you want to remember. Yes, it is counter-intuitive, but breaks are great for giving attention to what you have just learned. Even though you quit reading the new knowledge, you do not quit processing it for a little while. The reason this works is because you do not take away your attention to other new knowledge that also must be processed and saved. Taking many small 5 minute breaks while learning lots of new knowledge will enable you to better store the new information.

2) The latter. What do you do when you use a search engine on the Internet to find what you are searching for? If you want to find what you are searching for, then you must already know what you want to find! It's the paradox of search.

You need a search phrase to locate what you are looking for. The text you enter into a search engine that describes what you are looking for is named a search phrase. It is something that you think is associated to whatever it is that you want to find. If a person has put the knowledge you need to find on the Internet and also has attached the same search phrase to that piece of information, then you are able to find it. If he has not assigned the same search phrase to that knowledge, then you will not find it using that search phrase.

Your mind is the greatest at associating what it learns. How you recall knowledge is like how it works with the Internet search engines. If you have attached a number of search phrases to the information you need, then you can use either one of those to recall the data at a later time.

You associate a search phrase to what you later need to recall by first thinking of your search phrase, and then thinking of what you want to recall, when you later think of your search phrase. Your search phrase does not need to be a word; it can also be a picture or a sound.

Finally, I conclude with a simple example. If for instance you need to remember to buy a tooth brush the next you are at the supermarket, first recall a picture of your supermarket (your search phrase) and then recall an image of your toothbrush (what you want to remember). Next time you enter your supermarket, you might find yourself thinking you need to remember to buy a tooth brush.

Your association ability may be very useful if you understand how to use it. Go play with it.

Posted under Depression