Memory Tips and Tricks
Short-term memory can be a very real challenge post stroke or traumatic brain injury. Your brain becomes a very noisy place after a brain injury and it is difficult to hold information that is not immediately pertinent. There are many reasons for this, but one compelling argument is the dominance of your sympathetic flight or fight system over your parasympathetic rest and re-set system. That is a whole subject to itself, but I mention it intentionally, because memory loss or difficulty can be one of the most stressful aspects of a post brain injured life.
This is one of the biggest barriers to returning to previous roles. It causes a tremendous amount of fear and stress for survivors that worry that they will not be able to take care of their responsibilities. The good news is there are A LOT of little ways to help with memory.
A desk calendar that your share with your family. Including your family in important dates or facts is one way to get reminders and to take some of the stress off of your shoulders.
A notebook/calendar with enough room to write notes and to keep your dates. I have patients write the items that they need to bring to therapy under the date and time of our session.
Brightly colored Post It Notes. These are tricky, because I find that patients often lose these. I have found them useful for color coding and remembering things that do not often occur.
Use your phone: I like to use the Evernote app to keep my thoughts in order, I also like reminders on the iPhone, and notes to quickly jot things down. If you are not using your hands quite yet, you can use an audio recorder. I really like the dragon app for voice to text.
Set Alarms: If you are having a tough time with recalling daily things like take your blood pressure pills or brush your teeth, using an alarm is a great idea.
Put items that you need to find and often forget like your keys, your glasses, and your jewelry in a specific place and be disciplined about keeping them in their places.
Consider clearing out clutter on your countertops. The less you have to visually scan the easier it will be for the neurons in your mind to send clear and concise messages. Having a tidy space also reduces anxiety and this will help you recall information.
Create lists. This can be a good opportunity to “brain dump” write down (or use a speech to text app) all of the things on your mind that are getting in the way of the information you are trying to retrieve.
When you can’t remember:
Relax. Do not force it.
Take a deep breath and follow this plan.
Write down a question regarding the person place or thing that you cannot remember.
Table it. You have written down as much as you can and can return to this thought.
Keep a notepad in your pocket, if a clue comes up, write it down, but other than that just breath and wait for it to come to you.
It will or it won’t come to you. Worrying will not help it.