Here’s a quick exercise to get your brain and memory working faster and more efficiently. It’s basically an acknowledgment of the way the human brain works. Exercise makes the brain stronger, faster, and work longer.

Start with a simple observation – any will do. Maybe look out the window and say, “My, what a sunny day it is today!” Keep it simple.

Next, append to that observation with a recalled memory, “That reminds me of the time…” – linking to the the observation in a meaningful way. For example, after saying the statement in the previous paragraph, you might append with, “That sunny day reminds me of the time we went fishing at Fishermen’s Bend and I caught that big steelhead salmon…”

Next, append to your last memory statement in the same way you just did. For example, “Steelhead fishing at Fishermen’s Bend reminds me of the time we went out of Newport and the boat engine died and we had to row back in…”

Keep going with, “…and that reminds me of the time…”

Don’t worry about whether or not the linked memory makes sense in the context of the previous linked memory, just speak it anyway and keep going. Speak your statements out loud to yourself or someone you trust. I like the idea of speaking out loud to yourself – it keeps others off balance about you…

Do the exercise for as long as you wish. To exercise your mind and brain cells, you only need to do this exercise for 5 minutes or so a day. Within a month you should see dramatic improvement in memory and recall skills.