Yunshan Li [Week 14]: Fixes for Bad Memory
Week 14: Fixes for Bad Memory – 4/6 - [3:08PM].
Growing up, I quickly realized that my brain is not the sharpest tool in the shed. If you were to ask me what I had for dinner last night or two nights prior, there is a big chance that I do not remember. Sometimes I forget to complete a homework assignment due to my short-term memory, while other times I can not remember what I was going to say to somebody mid-conversation and things take an awkward turn. The feeling of forgetting something that I desperately want to remember is one of the worst feelings in the world. It feels like a piece of me and my experience is lost forever to the passing of time, and nothing I do will bring it back. All this time, I thought bad memory was something determined by birth and an evil fate I can not escape. However, I recently came across an article from Very Well Mind by Kendra Cherry called “11 Methods for Improving Your Memory” that I am excited to try out.
The method that stood out the most to me from this article was “get some sleep.” Cherry stated, “research has shown that taking a nap after you learn something new can actually help you learn faster and remember better.” She referenced a 2014 study on mice which concluded that mice that are sleep deprived went through less dendritic growth compared to mice that got sufficient sleep. I am almost positive that the lack of sleep is the main source of my bad memory. As a junior in high school, I get an average of 6 hours of sleep a night; on days when I am extremely busy, I sleep as little as 4 hours. However, there are occasional days when I finish all my homework before 10 and get a healthy amount of sleep. On those days, I feel like my brain is clearer and I am able to remember things better.
Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/great-ways-to-improve-your-memory-2795356
Hey Yunshan! Sleep is extremely important and that will never change. However, our reality makes valuing this fact quite difficult. Almost all of us have taken on an absurd amount of AP classes and most likely have a whack sleep schedule. To be completely honest, I was one of 14 other students who recorded my POAS presentation at 4:30 AM despite having to get ready for school in less than three hours. Unless we start making a more conscious effort to start getting in bed earlier and controlling our workload, our sleep and growth will be seriously affected. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sophia, sleep definitely plays a huge factor in overall performance for the next day. Trying to remember something but not being able to can be really frustrating. I feel like my brain just erases a lot of minor details, even if they happen very recently. Sometimes I would think of something, then get distracted, and then will not be able to remember what I was thinking about. For homework, I mark all of the assignments I need to do on my calendar because I do not trust my brain to remember to do certain tasks by a certain date.
ReplyDeleteHi Yunshan! I completely understand your troubles with memory. I myself am known to often forget things as recent as what I had for breakfast by the time I have lunch. Getting sleep does seem like an effective way to improve memory, and I can see that (like how I can barely remember things when I have physics quizzes and I stayed up till 2 the previous night). Sleeping early is a luxury few of us get, so I guess we’ll just not have a good memory :(.
ReplyDeleteYunshan, the title of this blog post was definitely eye catching to me. I will admit that I do not have the best memory but not the worst, but with the help of technology it has gotten better. On my phone I use the reminders app to put all my assignments in for the week and each day I can see which assignments I have due that day. Without that app, I wholeheartedly admit that I would have forgotten about 30 percent of the assignments. Your point about sleep is really important; in today’s world, especially, so many kids do not get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep. On days that I did not sleep well, I can clearly tell the difference in my day; I am more tired and drowsy in all my classes and cannot pay attention in class. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHey Sophia, I can also relate to that annoying feeling you get when you feel like you forgot something but don’t know what it is. There have been occurrences where I would be talking about one thing and then just after a couple minutes later, I would forget what I was talking about which sometimes concerns me. I am definitely going to try to sleep earlier now that I learned more sleep can help with remembering things better. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Yunshan, the idea of improving your memory is one I have been wanting to accomplish for the longest time. Growing up, I often find it impossible to memorize the songs I play on the piano. I try to memorize them, but no matter how hard I try, it is ultimately impossible for me to memorize entire songs. I have also seen your suggestion of getting more sleep multiple times, but no matter how much sleep I get, I cannot seem to figure out a way to remember these piano songs. Maybe I simply need to brute force this memorization on a more repeated level. However, this suggestion definitely reinforced the idea that I need to get more sleep.
ReplyDeleteA lot of cognitive functions deteriorate with a lack of sleep. I know that, as someone with insomnia(pretty bad insomnia at that), I had a solid 4 year stint where I was practically a zombie from my chronic burn out and insomniac status. As I’ve gotten better at both of those things, I’ve seen that I’m able to think much clearer. Beyond cognitive functions, I can enjoy things, I’m mentally a lot better when I am taking care of myself. I will say, my insomnia and overworking are still very much things I am working on, I am a much better person when I have them under control.
ReplyDeleteHi Yunshan! Sleep is very important for a multitude of reasons, as we all know, but it certainly is hard for us to get a proper amount of it. I've heard that whenever studying for a test, it is more beneficial to study everything the night before and go to sleep, instead of waking up early in the morning to study. It can certainly help with memory and helping you function better throughout the day. This year, I found out that having an erratic sleeping schedule or sleeping very late on one day often has a wide-reaching effect, impacting me not just the next day but making me feel really tired throughout the whole week.
ReplyDeleteHi Sophia, I agree that as I have gotten older, I notice that especially this year, I have started procrastinating more and more to the point where I finish my assignments right before turning them in or study on the day of my tests. However, somehow it still works out for me and I do not end up failing my tests, but, I do notice that it is harder for me to hold the information in the long term since it leaves my memory the next day. I feel that in the future, I should improve my sleep schedule and study more often so that I am able to store useful information in my long term memory.
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