3 simple steps to help improve your memory | Wilnesh News

Over the past five years, I estimate I’ve made the same lemon bar recipe dozens of times, if not more.

While the steps were second nature to me, I couldn’t remember any of the measurements. Recently, when I found myself typing “Sally’s Baking Addiction Lemon Bars” into my browser again, I wondered, “Is my brain going to mush?”

It turns out that my inability to remember certain information may be due to a cognitive bias known as the “Google effect,” or digital amnesia: the brain’s tendency to forget information that is easily accessible online. It can weaken your memory, says Cynthia Borja, project leader at the Decision Lab.

“One of the things we know about the brain and memory is that ‘use it or lose it’ absolutely applies,” she told CNBC Make It. “For example, if you tend to always rely on Google to remember a particular fact, rather than ‘using’ your brain to remember it, then your brain will be very good at not remembering it.”

If you always rely on Google to remember a particular fact…your brain will become very good at not remembering it.

Cynthia Borja

Decision Lab Project Leader

Borja says it’s worth spending more time and energy memorizing information so you don’t have to rely on a search box so often.

Here are three simple steps you can take to get off Google and improve your memory.

1. Pause before reaching for your phone

Just because you can’t recall something immediately doesn’t mean you’ll never remember it. Before Googling a question you’ve searched for before, Borja recommends spending a few minutes trying to remember the answer.

“Even if it doesn’t work at first and you end up having to Google it, you’ll slowly strengthen your memory pathways and improve your memory,” she says.

2. Write down what you want to remember

If you find information online that you know you need to remember in the future, write it down. Taking handwritten notes “helps you retain information better and also means you have to be more actively involved in what you’re doing,” Borja said.

This is an expert-approved strategy. In a 2021 Reddit AMA, Bill Gates said that he takes handwritten notes while reading to help him truly absorb information.

“For a lot of books, it was key to my learning,” the billionaire said at the time.

3. Restructure your thinking

Next time you discover a new recipe you love or learn something new you know you don’t want to forget, act like you won’t be able to look it up next time. This shift in thinking can help you remember things.

“It’s important to use technology as an assistive tool,” Borja said, but he emphasized that it’s also important “to keep our brains and minds active, active and recalling things.”

This approach Challenging your brain to stay in good shape goes beyond the search box. “If we rely too much on calculators to help us complete basic math calculations, we may forget the multiplication tables we learned as children,” she said.

Next time I make one of my favorite baked goods, I will use Google as a last resort, not a lifeline. Maybe then I will finally remember how many lemons I need to buy at the store.