BrightStar's BrightInsights

Improving Memory with Shelley Peterman Schwartz

Memory Tips for Making Life Easier ^TM by Shelley Peterman Schwarz, (Attainment Company) delivers just what the title promises. It's full of practical, everyday tips to sustain a strong and supple memory and to aid professionals in working with clients who struggle with memory issues.

1. Do it now. This is probably the most important memory enhancement technique. If you act immediately, you have no need to remember.
   
2. Write it down. Write notes, make lists, create "cheat sheets" and construct timelines.
   
3. Visualize. Form a picture in your mind. Use your imagination to add humor, action or exaggeration.
   
4. Create rhymes and tunes. Use rhyming words or create new words for familiar tunes to help you remember tasks, sequences, dates and facts.
   
5. Make up stories. Link items together in your mind by putting them in story forms. (Remember how story problems helped you learn math?)
   
6. Develop acronyms. Using the first letter of each item you want to remember, create an acronym or funny phrase such as KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
   
7. Make associations. Relate new information to something you already know.
   
8. Group like items together. Organize your mind like a grocery or department store, with similar items or categories all in the same aisle.
   
9. Divide and conquer. When learning something new, break up the subject into manageable sections and concentrate on one section at a time.
   
10. Retrace your steps mentally to retrieve a thought, remember where you left your coffee cup, remind yourself what you were looking for or recall what you wanted to do next.

Shelley Peterman Schwarz was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1979, while working part-time as a teacher of the deaf. Despite being severely disabled, with only limited use of her left hand, she has published more than 500 articles and is the author of 7 books, including the bestselling Multiple Sclerosis: 300 Tips For Making Life Easier^TM, Arthritis: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier^TM, and Parkinson's Disease: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier^TM. As president of Meeting Life's Challenges, LLC, Shelley, as well as her staff and Web site provide information to help people living with chronic illness and age-related limitations cope with the challenges they face.  She is also the host of the monthly Tips for Making Life Easier^TM TV segment on the CBS affiliate in southcentral Wisconsin, as well as the host of the Making Life Easier Internet radio show (podcast). To sign up for the monthly e-zine, to listen to podcasts, to read Shelley's blog, and to learn about tips and products to help you on your journey, visit www.makinglifeeasier.com.