Improve Working Memory: Brain Training Tricks - ADDitude

Practice working memory skills. Use the brain training programs mentioned above or create your own. Write down six unrelated words. Start by ... FooterLogo ADHDAdults GettingThingsDone HowtoFocus ImproveWorkingMemory:BrainTrainingTricks Everyoneoccasionallylosesherkeysorforgetsanimportantdate.Butwhenit’sahabit,youmaybedealingwithpoorworkingmemoryrelatedtoADHD.Learnhowmakingchecklistsanddevelopingroutinescangetyouontrack. ByEileenBailey Verified MedicallyreviewedbyADDitude’sADHDMedicalReviewPanel UpdatedonJuly13,2022 Email Save StringtiedaroundafingerbelongingtoanADHDpersonasamemoryreminder Save Print Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Losingyourkeys,leavingyourwalletintherefrigerator,forgettingyourhusband’sbirthday,askingthestoreclerktorepeatthedirectionstothegift-wrapdepartment.Youmightthinkthattheseareallexamplesofinattention. Afterdiggingintoworkingmemorystudies,Ihaverealizedthat,whiletheseareexamplesofinattention,theyaremostlysignsofpoorworkingmemory.Workingmemorydeficitsareasymptomofattentiondeficitdisorder(ADHDorADD),autism,andlearningdisabilities. WhatIsWorkingMemory? Youmightbefamiliarwiththeterm“short-termmemory,”whichisusedinterchangeablywiththeterm“workingmemory.”Bothrefertothoughtsorinformationyouholdtemporarilyinyourmemory,sothattheyareavailablewhenyouneedthemtocompleteatask.Thinkofworkingmemoryasashelfinyourbrain.Imagineyouaregoingtothestore.Youneedmilk,eggs,andbread.Whileyou’reinthestore,yousuddenlyrememberyouneedcereal.Youheadtothecerealaisle,butasyoufocusonSpecialK,theeggsfalloffyourmentalshelf.Youarrivehomewithcereal,milk,andbread,buthaveforgottentheeggs. Thenumberofitemsyoustoreinyourworkingmemorymightnotbeasmanyasthenumberyourbestfriendcanaccommodateonhismentalshelf.Researchshowsthatyoungchildrenhavelimitedworkingmemoryskills,beingabletoholdonlyoneortwoitemsinmemory.WMcontinuestodevelopuntilaroundage15,butnoteveryonedevelopsatthesamepaceorhasthesameworkingmemorycapacity.Somepeoplecanstoremoreinformationthanothers. Researchersdisagreeaboutthenumberofinformation“bytes”thatcanbeheldbythebrain.Somesayit’sasmanyassevenitems,andothersclaimit’sfour.Youcanincreaseyourworkingmemorycapacitybygroupingitemstogether.Atelephonenumberistypically10digitslong,butweoftenbreakthenumberintothreegroups(555-555-5555),allowingustouseonlythreeworkingmemoryslotstoremember10digits. [Self-Test:DoYouHaveaWorkingMemoryDeficit?] WhenDoWeUseWorkingMemory? Youuseworkingmemoryeveryday,inmanysituations:toread,write,plan,organize,followaconversation,domentalmath,orfollowmulti-stepdirections.Ithelpsyoustayfocusedon,andengagedwith,atask. Workingmemoryisessentialatschool.Onestudy,doneintheUnitedKingdom,lookedat3,000grade-schoolandjuniorhighstudentsandfoundthatweakworkingmemorywasmoreindicativeofstrugglesinschoolthanwasalowIQ.Accordingtoresearchers,almostallthechildrenwithweakworkingmemoryscoredlowonreadingcomprehensionandmathtests. Thefollowingareexamplesofhowpoorworkingmemoryaffectsyourdailylife: Youwanttojoininaconversation,but,bythetimetheotherpersonstopstalking,youforgetwhatyouwantedtosay. Youconsistentlyloseyourkeys,cellphone,orwallet. Yougetlosteasily,evenwhenyouwerejustgivendirections. Youhavetroublefollowingaconversationbecauseyouforgetwhattheotherpersonhasjustsaid. Youhavemanyunfinishedprojectsbecauseyoubecomedistractedandforgetaboutthefirstproject. Youplantodosomeworkathome,butyouforgettobringneededitemswithyou. Youhavetorereadaparagraphseveraltimestoretaintheinformation. Youmissdeadlinesatworkbecauseofyourdisorganizationandinabilitytofollowthroughonprojects. Nomatterwhatyoudo,youneedyourworkingmemorytohelpyoudoit. [TotalRecall:GreatGadgetstoJogYourMemory] Thereareanumberofproductsandservices,suchasCogMedandPlayAttention,thatyoumayusetohelptrainyourbrainandimproveyourworkingmemory.Someresearchhasshownthattheycanincreaseyourworkingmemory,butthatthebenefitsmaynotlastbeyondthetrainingsession.Otherresearchhasshownthatbraintrainingdeliverssignificantimprovementsinworkingmemoryifyoucommittostickingwithit. Thefirststeptobetterworkingmemoryistounderstandhowmemoryworksandtoacceptyourlimitations.Thatdoesn’tmeansaying,“Oh,Iforgot,”toexcuseyourself.Itmeansdevelopingandusingstrategiestocompensateforforgetting.ManypeoplewithADHDuseremindersystemstokeepthingsinorder.Theymightuseanotepadappontheirphoneortablettokeeparunningto-dolistoralistofitemstheyneedatthestore.Theymightuseatimerorcalendarapptoremindthemofappointments. HowtoImproveWorkingMemory Breakbigchunksofinformationintosmall,bite-sizedpieces Focusononeortwoofthembeforemovingontothenextinstruction.Supposeyouaregettingreadytohostapartyinyourhome.Youareoverwhelmedwitheverythingthatneedstogetdone:shopping,cooking,cleaning,andsettingupfortheparty.Focusononearea,suchasshopping.Ignoretherestofthetasksuntilyouaredoneshopping. Usechecklistsfortaskswithmultiplesteps Youmightcreateachecklistforyourfirsthouratwork.Itmightinclude:listentomessages,returncalls,checkandanswere-mails,reviewyesterday’sprogress,checkwithsupervisorforimportanttaskstobecompletedimmediately. Developroutines Createaroutinewhenyoureturnhomefromwork.Placeyourcellphoneandkeysinthesameplaceeverytime,assoonasyouwalkinthedoor. Practiceworkingmemoryskills Usethebraintrainingprogramsmentionedaboveorcreateyourown.Writedownsixunrelatedwords.Startbytryingtorememberthefirsttwowordswithoutlookingatthepaper,andaddanotherwordasyousucceed. Experimentwithvariouswaysofrememberinginformation Youmayrememberalistmoreeasilyifyoucreateasongormakeuparhyme.Othersfindthatvisualizationhelpsthemremembermultipleitems.Whenyouareheadinghomefromwork,visualizeyourselfstoppingatthestore,pickingupmilk,cheese,bread,andyogurt.Imaginegoingtoeachsectionofthestore,andseewhatitlookslike.Becauseimagesaremorepowerfulthanwords,youareapttoremembereverythingyouneedatthestoreasyoufollowyourvisualization. Reducemultitasking AccordingtoastudycompletedattheUniversityofSussex,multitaskingcanactuallyshrinkcertainareasofyourbrain,andislinkedtoshortenedattentionspans.Completeonetaskandthenmoveontothenext. Usemindfulnesstominimizedistractionsandsharpenworkingmemory Astudy,completedatMassachusettsGeneralHospital,HarvardMedicalSchool,andtheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,foundthatdailymindfulnessexercisesincreasedrecallandallowedparticipantstotuneoutdistractionsbyregulatingsensoryinput. Addexercisetoyourdailyroutine Somestudieshaveshownthatworkingmemoryincreaseswithdailyexercise.Whilethereasonsforthisaren’tfullyunderstood,scientistsbelievephysicalactivityimprovesthehealthofbraincells.Itcanalsoindirectlyaffectmemorybyimprovingmood,helpingyousleepbetter,andreducingstress–areasthatcanaffectcognitiveabilities. [SolutionstoYourWorkingMemoryProblems] SUPPORTADDITUDE ThankyouforreadingADDitude.TosupportourmissionofprovidingADHDeducationandsupport,pleaseconsidersubscribing.Yourreadershipandsupporthelpmakeourcontentandoutreachpossible.Thankyou. 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