Smartphones organize our lives, keeping us updated on news, in touch with our friends, remind us of the birthdays. When was the last time you could recall places, directions, reminders, deadlines, important dates, etc., Is it helping us or hurting us when it comes to developing and growing our memories?
Smartphones have been shown to harm the brain's ability to retain important details. People, when they rely on smartphones to remember things they fail to learn them. You are not training your brain to remember but rather training them to rely on external devices that do so for you.
Your memory is one of the most valuable assets you can build upon. It is vital to building yourself as reliable, trustworthy, and is even more important for any business relationship - team members, clients, customers.
Forgetfulness will erode all these desired attributes. Calling someone by the wrong name, mistaking their title, forgetting appointments can do major interpersonal damage. This would send the message that you are not interested in them as people or invested in their relationships. Remembering the personal details will help you in adjusting your communications and expectations around a person.
The power of recall is key to building and sustaining businesses that hinge on relationships. By making sure I can remember them, you will be able to stay connected. Develop habits and strategies to develop a strong memory and reduce reliance on technology.
Identify your learning style
People best absorb information depending on their learning style. learning styles can be classified as Verbal, Auditory, Read/wite, Kinaesthetic. You can adjust your interactions with others to optimize your ability to remember details about them, work and lives.
Auditory learners would benefit by repeating the names. Visual learners may prefer diagrams, figureset., Others may prefer reading, and writing down information helps improve their retention. Kinaesthetic
learners need hands-on experiences with models or activities that engage their bodies.
Be selective about what you delegate
The people you meet, your contacts you may delegate to someone to prepare contact list, index them, and group them. But doing it yourself paying particular attention to the names, contact numbers, other observations helps you retain it better in your memory. Remembering where and when you met the person helps to cement the details in your memory. This will help you strengthen your memory and improve recall.
You may delegate menial tasks. Evaluate regularly what you delegate actually benefits you. Tasks that help you repeat and recall information aid in memory consolidation. Repeatedly studying information strengthens the neural networks that form recollections and helps the mind to recall details better later on.
Prioritize information by newness, not importance
Committing something to memory as soon as you learn the information could be more beneficial than doing it later. When you shift your focus from one information to another, you slow down your memory encoding on the first item.
Instead of asking how important is this information ask yourself what can I do now to remember this later.
Look up new people you meet online. Seeing their names in different contexts help you commit them to memory. Ask a lot of information during conversations. This helps you remember them better.
On an interpersonal level, we need connections. The ability to remember names and other details is the ability to show people that they matter and that alone is something rare and invaluable in today's world that depends on digital accessories.
How to Build a Stronger Memory
by Philip White HBR June 17, 2020
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