Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282
Originally posted by: Running
In the fish oil thread, it said that it can help with memory. so maybe get a bottle of fish oil? it might help.
I'm 22 and having the same problems as the OP. I'm constantly forgetting things, even things in my long term memory. Working out doesn't seem to help out, thought it definitely keeps me in a good mood. I just started taking fish oil so hopefully that helps a little.
Couple things that have been working for me
Working to eat better. I'm just eating fibrous carbs (vegies and fruits) and meats. Very little "comfort foods" like breads and potatoes.
Also, eating lots of fish whenever I get the chance to at the dining hall.
Taking vitamins daily,
Working out regularly (releases lots of chemicals good for your brain); I spend no more than 25 minutes working out a few times/week. Don't take long breaks between each part of a set, just do it, take a quick 15s break, and go do the next one. Takes very little time and trains your anaerobic capacity as well as your aerobic capacity, so there's no need to do anything stupid to your knees like running, or to your immune system like swimming (this would make me sick without fail every other time I went).
and getting regular, solid sleep. Go to bed when you feel sleepy, but wake up at the same time every day. Every day.
Especially the last one has been great; I used to wake up and be sleepy for at least 30 minutes; now I'm just about wide awake within a minute of hopping in the shower (first thing I do when I wake up).
Another thing I've been doing on and off is memorizing stuff. Last one I just finished was the first paragraph to John Keat's Endymion. Wonderful imagery and word selection; good rhyming and verse makes it easy to memorize. Get it down solid; so spend a few days memorizing it, and then for the next week all you've got to do is recall it to memory. This exercises your brain to not dump things it's just crammed in there, which is the problem I think I was having a lot of.
Note however, that this has in no way fixed my tendency to put my pencil/gadget somewhere and completely forget where it was. I have great spacial memory, but only when focusing, not on command.
The sleep thing seems to help the most; you feel much more enthused to do your job well, and thus it becomes much less difficult to focus.