Many people have a hard time remembering things and are constantly looking for ways to improve short term memory. Some people believe that taking medications and herbal supplements are the best way to help your brain to remember things easier. Much like a muscle, any amount of medication will only be able to help your brain so much. It is up to you to work that muscle so that you can recall the things that you are trying to desperately hard to remember.

The Importance of Focus

One of the biggest reasons that most people can’t remember things and wish to improve their short term memory is simply due to a lack of focus. Take this situation: you see an advertisement pop up on the television for a show that you want to record later in the week. At the time it pops up you’re getting yourself (and possibly children) ready to head out for the day and are thinking about tons of other things. The advertisement comes on right before you turn the television off, so you make a "mental note" to record it when you come home. The day goes by and you finally return home. This goes on for a few days until you realize that you never taped the show that you wanted to see. What happened?

In the time that you were glancing at the television when the advertisement came on, you were focusing on doing a number of other things and were trying to remember to do a half a dozen more things. Because you couldn’t focus only on the advertisement, you were unable to remember it. A huge part of remembering things in your short term memory rests on being able to focus on them in the first place.

How to Focus

There are a number of ways that you can train your body to focus. To begin with, find a quiet place where you can be alone for a a bit. Get a list of items that you want to remember, such as ingredients or simple words. Make sure that there are no visual stimulations or auditory stimulations present and, for ten minutes, work on remembering the list. Focus on nothing but the list.

Chances are high that when you look at the list and try to concentrate you will think about a dozen or so other things. This is normal during the beginning and is what you are trying to eliminate. Whenever something pops into your mind that is not on the list, clear it out and refocus back on the list. Doing this for a few weeks will make it easier to train your mind to focus on a specific task or object that you want to remember.

When it comes to being able to improve short term memory, learning to focus your mind on the task at hand is a big step in the right direction and can help your brain to get the exercise it needs.