Wake Up Your Memory: The Mental Fitness Plan Your Brain Needs

Let’s be honest — there’s no magic pill, no secret shortcut, and no five-minute hack that will suddenly make you remember everything. Building a better memory takes effort. But here’s the truth: your brain can get sharper, stronger, and faster at recalling what matters — if you give it the right kind of workout. 

A good memory isn't something you buy; it's something you build. 

Think of it as being similar to keeping your body in shape. We all know the benefits of regular cardiovascular and strength training exercises to stay fit as we age, to prevent muscle and bone loss, and to reduce the impact of stress - but the brain is often ignored and left sitting on the bench, deprived of all the fun.  

You keep your body in shape - why not keep your brain (and your memory!) in shape as well?  

And the payoff? A clearer mind, quicker thinking, and the confidence of knowing your brain is working at its best.  

But, a better memory doesn't magically appear after doing daily online games like card-flipping or matching tiles. Sure, they're great for improving attention, response time and sharpness related to those specific games, but the scientific consensus is that these skills are rarely translated to everyday life. 

Instead, consider something called Structured Cognitive Training. Used clinically, it has benefits in occupational therapy, speech therapy and learning disabilities, but it's also equally effective in educational programs and...wait for it... healthy ageing! 

Let's break down the differences between Structured Cognitive Training (SCT) and Casual Brain Exercises (CBE), like online games, in terms of building a better memory:

Structured Cognitive Training (SCT)	Casual Brain Exercises (CBE)
Targets a specific function, such as improved information retention.	Focuses on general mental stimulation.
The practice is systematic and structured.	Is typically informal and unstructured.
Involves active strategies such as self-quizzing and retrieval of the material over time.	Is a passive, short-term process of performing given tasks.
The goal is for long-term, measurable outcomes that are relevant to real life.	The goal is short-term stimulation with no appreciable benefit to daily tasks.

How can SCT build a better memory? 

We'll use the example of remembering the content of a news article. How many times have you read something interesting and found yourself unable to recall it during the perfect moment in a conversation that would have made you look impressively knowledgeable? Most of us can't remember much of the content we read without a certain amount of effort. But it's absolutely possible to develop the skills to quickly achieve this, with practice. And the good news is that it doesn't involve expensive memberships or complex routines. You can do this on your own! 

How to Use This Every Day 

Retrieval vs Reviewing 

Reviewing (re-reading over and over) is a passive strategy that is mostly ineffective – because it's passive.  Furthermore, if you're reading and re-reading simply to try to mechanically memorize gobs of material, you'll soon hit the limit of what your brain can store.  

Retrieval (closing the book or article and quizzing yourself) is an active process which is much more effective. This method offers you the chance to practice being that impressively knowledgeable person at the party because you're essentially re-telling the material to yourself as you would to a group of friends. Being able to wow the crowd with interesting facts at your fingertips is pretty powerful motivation to use this memory training method. 

1. Start by reading the entire article to get the overall picture and the basic concepts.  

2. Then go back to the beginning and pick out the most relevant or important parts. Subject or paragraph headings are usually key. Rewrite these key concepts in your own words. 

3. Next, close the article and quiz yourself. Try to simply remember the subject headings or the key points you picked out. By learning the key points, it forces you to understand the entire concept, which is easier to remember than specific details.  

4. Finally, go back and refer to the entire article again several times, section by section, now quizzing yourself on the content of each section. When reviewing the material, the key here is to space the retrieval sessions at increasing intervals, like a day later, then 3 days after that, then again in a week.   

This sounds like a lot of work, and it is at first, but you're not doing this with everything you read! Choose the material worth remembering, and once you get into the habit of identifying the important parts, the repetitive quizzing gets easier – just like any habit! 

Pro Tips 

Elaboration 

This is the process of connecting new information with something you already know. With SCT, elaboration helps the brain move new information from working memory (limited, short-term storage) to long-term memory (vast, permanent storage). For example, after reviewing the subject headings of an article and getting the basic concept (now something that you already know), subsequent retrieval sessions of the details of each heading adds layers of complexity and nuance, building on the initial reading, and helping it 'stick' in your brain. Similarly, if you can relate it to another article you've read or a conversation you've had with someone, that makes it even easier to stick by putting into a context you're already familiar with. 

Teach it 

During the retrieval process, imagine you're teaching the material to a child or someone completely naïve to the subject matter. You can do this with a real person, or if there's no one to 'teach', simply say it out loud to yourself, in your own words. This forces you to truly understand the concepts, because you can't teach something you don't know. Once you understand the material in the simplest way, it's also easier to remember.  

Challenge yourself 

Once you get better at recalling short articles or stories and it feels easy, don't stop there. Challenge yourself to tackle longer pieces, even entire books. Here's where you can leverage other memory tools like linking or memory palaces (contact me to learn more about other memory tools) to help you remember book chapters, or even long lists of items or names.   

Putting in the effort for lasting results 

The best part about using SCT to build your memory muscles is that once you've done the work to remember the material, it's there for good! This recall strategy isn't part of a complicated learning program requiring hours of studying, but rather something you simply incorporate into your daily life. Remember though, that results take time, so it's important to set very reasonable expectations for yourself to avoid failure and disappointment. Start off with small recall exercises to increase your confidence and skill, then gradually tackle larger recall exercises. Staying consistent and practicing a skill is like developing a new habit...eventually this retrieval strategy becomes second nature. Yes, this takes more work than passively reading something, but unlike quick hacks that you drop and forget about after a week or two, this method pays off in the long term by training your brain for a better memory with lasting results. Passive reading will help you recognize something when you read it again later, which feels like learning, but with the active recall technique, you'll be able to retrieve that information at will, and that's impressive. 

Why Does SCT Work? 

The structured practice of active recall strengthens the specific brain pathways that are responsible for storing and retrieving information. When these pathways are strengthened, it becomes easier to retrieve the memory you're looking for. Additionally, the act of re-writing the key points in your own words and then quizzing yourself incorporates more neural pathways and brain regions than with passive recall, helping to reinforce the learning. The key here is putting in enough effort to make it feel challenging – like lifting a heavy dumbbell. If you used 5 lb weights that didn't challenge you, you wouldn't develop those impressive biceps. The same concept applies to your brain.  

Keeping your brain in good shape should be part of your daily routine, just like exercising, getting enough sleep, and maintaining a healthy diet (which, by the way, are also good for your brain!) By committing to learning new things and remembering as much as you can, you're not only staying sharp, but building the important cognitive reserve that you may need to draw on in your later years. 

Want More Memory Tools? 

If you're curious about how to leverage other memory tools to elevate your Structured Cognitive Training, you can contact me for one-to-one private sessions, or consider booking me for a presentation to your social or work group. With Five Steps To A Better Memory, I'll take you through even more science-backed strategies for improving your memory and confidence in a 1-hour interactive learning session. Great for lifelong learners! 

References and Further Reading 

1. Sylvie Belleville, Marc Cuesta et al. (2024). Five-year effects of cognitive training in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Alzheimer's Association, Vol.16:3. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12626 

2. Peter Brown, Henry Roediger III, Mark McDaniel (2014). Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Belknap Press, Cambridge MA. 

3. Best Ways to Revise/Spaced Repetition 

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