I always looking for ways to improve my personal memory because I want to remember the lessons longer, get more knowledge and valuable information to apply in real life.

Because as Warren Buffett says

The more you learn, the more you earn.

It is totally right, but if we just learn and can not remember the things we learned to apply in life, to solve the real issues, the second part of “the more you earn” that Warren Buffett said will not work.

Therefore, having a good memory is always been my priority in my goal list. Because it helps me to do more things in a better and faster way.

Let say, when I learn Chinese and I have a good memory that can remember all the words just after a couple of times read it. So I can read the stories with these words easily without spending time searching in the dictionary the meaning of words again.

And as learning Chinese now, I know how it takes time for searching for new words when I don’t have a good memory to remember the Chinese characters.

Time is money and energy.

If I can improve my memory better. It means that I can save more time, money, and energy to do the other things that I need to do.

In this list, these are 4 methods that I’m using right now to improve my memory daily. All of them have scientific evidence to show the benefits of each method.

As I am a person who is very careful about the origin of the methods that I use to make sure if I choose any to apply in my life and make it to my habit, it must be a good one with having the scientific backup.

1. The first method to improve memory ability: Recall by doing exercise

I love to do exercise. This is the truth.

But I didn’t know that doing exercise actually can improve my memory until the last 2 years ago when I have read a study about regular exercise that can improve memory recall.

In particular, spatial memory is the most beneficial when we keep a habit of daily training. Because training frequently helps the brain to increase the size of the hippocampus — the part of the brain that plays a vital role in remembering the information.

Personally, after doing exercise, I normally feel very inspirational and exciting to learn something new.

It looks like the morning workout is my fuel for a day, and when my “mind tank” has full fuel, I am ready to learn and remember anything in a better way.

But I also know that many of my friends don’t familiar with doing exercise daily, and think that just need to read more books, spending more time on learning can help them to boost their memory without needing to take care of their physical health.

Well, actually, it is not true!

Because your body will control your mind and vice versa.

None of them can lack.

2. The second method to improve memory ability: Drinking coffee. 

A cup of coffee per day for memory consolidation

I’m a big fan of coffee for years. So, I totally love this technique when hearing it for the first time.

Yes, that’s true.

Coffee can help to improve memory consolidation. And in a study that is published on Nature Neuroscience, the scientists found that taking a caffeine pill after a learning task actually improved memory recall up to 24 hours later.

For me, every morning will start with a cup of coffee to refresh my mind and get inspired to start working on my creative job.

And whenever I feel tired or forget what I need to write down or do, just take a rest for a couple of minutes while enjoying a cup of coffee that helps to bring me back and remind me what I really need to do or focus on.

This is a great personal experience that I have had with coffee for years. But I also know that overusing coffee is not good for me. So I try my best to limit only one cup per day is enough for me.

And sometimes, I also try to use tea instead, especially when I come back to my hometown with my grandparents. Because tea is also very good for the memory, as I also see my grandparents used it for years.

Now, when they are both over the 80s and 90s, they still have a very good memory and good health. And what they love to have every day for years is a bottle of tea every morning.

3. The third method to improve memory ability: Reduce sugar intake

When I was a kid, I’m a sweet lover and it was very hard for me to say NO to sugary foods.

But after a year of studying for my second master’s degree in fitness and learning about the negative impact of sugary foods on physical and mental health. I know that I must reduce it as much as I can.

As research from 2017 shows that a diet with high sugary intake has a link to Alzheimer’s — one of the diseases that reduce the memory ability of patients.

And whenever I really want to enjoy sweet things, I try to use natural sweet foods like fruits, not processed sugars. It helps me to have a healthier diet while still can enjoy the sweet.

4. The fourth method to improve memory ability: Eat dark chocolate

This is a habit that I keep for nearly 3 years until now. Eating dark chocolate every single day. Because this is a superfood for the brain. And keep eating daily this kind of food will be great for brain health.

As research about the impact of cocoa flavonoids on brain function that is published in 2011. It evidences that the active compounds in chocolate will help to boost brain memory and other functions effectively if the number of dark chocolate is consumed daily.

But before, I also wonder if eating chocolate more will be good while chocolate normally has a high sugar intake as I ate when I’m a kid?

Well, let clarify it a little bit. What I mean here is “dark chocolate” — normally use for chocolate with 72% cacao content at least. This kind of chocolate doesn’t use added sugar, instead, they use real cacao as the main ingredient.

So now, I normally choose the 95% cacao content from Lindt that I can buy for 5$ a pack in the supermarket. As I did, one pack I normally divide into 7 days to complete. This is a good amount of intake for me daily.

And if just 5$ for a week for dark chocolate to boost your brain function and memory, I don’t think it is expensive, right?

To sum up,

These techniques are great for me to apply on a daily basis to improve my memory and brain functions.

Maybe for some, all of them will work very well while some people will just adapt to one or two methods. And it is totally fine.

If someone has an allergy to chocolate, I can’t tell this person that

Hey! You MUST eat dark chocolate to boost your memory ability.

It’s not work in this way.

But all of these 4 techniques to boost the memory that I recommend are the best fit for me and what the scientists also highly recommend.

And I just remember a very famous sentence of Lao Tzu is

The journey of thousand miles begins with a single step

So, a good memory is built up just from the small adjustment in the daily routine that I started for a couple of years until now. And you also can make your memory to be better by changing your daily habits a little bit from day today.

Anything wants to be better all need to take time, and the process to improve your memory ability is also no exception.

If you want to read more about personal development topics, let check it out at “Wiki Personal Development”.