How to Make a Short Term Memory Better

Short-term memory is your mind's ability to store information for a matter of minutes. According to Dominic O'Brien, author of "How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week," you are not meant to be able to remember everything with your short-term memory. The average person can remember seven things over a span of three minutes. If you have difficulty recalling things from one minute to the next, you can take steps to improve your short-term memory.

Things You'll Need

• Multivitamins
• Notepad
• Pencil

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Instructions

• 1

  Sleep at least eight hours a night to be sure your mind is well rested and ready to function at maximum capacity. According to John B. Arden PhD, author of "Improving Your Memory for Dummies," if you are tired, your mind will have to work harder in order to remember things throughout the day.

• 2

  Take a daily multivitamin to ensure your body has everything it needs to function. If you have a nutrient deficiency, it can slow down your brain and impede your short-term memory, writes O'Brien.

• 3

  Focus when you are learning something you need to remember. If you do not pay attention, you will not learn and therefore you will not remember. As you are reading or listening to something important, be sure that your mind is not distracted by other things. Focus solely on the material you need to remember.

• 4

  Use image association when you learn something you would like to remember. Associating an image with a fact will help you find small triggers that help you recall. For example, if you need to remember your friend wants a book for her birthday, focus on the image of her reading with a birthday hat on. It might seem silly at first, but when you search your mind for what she asked for, this image will trigger the memory.

• 5

  Write down the facts you need to remember, even if you know you will never look at them again. Writing something down is a method of enforcing the memory through repetition, says Dr. Arden. Keep a small notebook and pencil with you, and when you hear or read something important, jot it down.