A Week of Colorful Challenges to Tone your Memory
Living memorably is a colorful endeavor.
Colors - an essential and delightful aspect of our visual experience - evoke emotion, seduce our attention, and create the literal and figurative contrasts in our daily life.
These daily challenges are so quick that they will fit into your busy schedule, and so colorful that they are sure to stir up your spirit of creativity! Grab your memory journal (or a few pieces of paper), a pen, and a timer, and let’s get started!
Day 1
Set a timer for 1 minute. Write down the names of as many colors as you can until your timer indicates your minute is up. If you get stuck, think outside the rainbow and scan your memory for unique or more obscure colors. Think paint samples, catalogues items, color wheels...
Count how many colors you were able to list, and circle the number on your page. Color yourself a success for your recall challenge and your first day of a more colorful memory! Be on the lookout through the coming days for more unique colors and shades you can add to your color vocabulary, along with any you were unable to recall today.
Day 2
Set a timer for 2 minutes. Grab your list of colors from day 1, and commit as many of the words to memory as you can for the allocated time.*
When the timer goes off, turn your list over, and write as many of your colors down as you can remember in alphabetical order. When you have exhausted your mental recall, refer to your list and celebrate all of your robust efforts. Sorting a list alphabetically from memory is an advanced challenge!
*Hint: Reach into your mnemonic toolbox and apply a memory strategy! chunking, acronyms, acrostics, association, and even the journey method are great options to try
Day 3
Take a quick tour of your living space, and select an item that is a color you love. It could be a towel, an article of clothing, a piece of furniture, a dish… anything in a hue you enjoy!
Set a timer for 3 minutes. Seated comfortably, fix your attention on the item of choice for the allocated period of time. If you notice your attention or thinking wandering off, simply retrain both back onto the item and color until the timer goes off.
At the end of your few moments of mindful contemplation, grab your memory journal and write down as many descriptive words as you can think of that you associate with the color. For example, if you had used a purple item, some of your descriptors could include:
Reddish, spiritual, intense, strong, deep, floral, inquisitive, rich, soft, passionate, dark, feminine, warm, soothing, creative, inspired, inviting, textured…
Count how many descriptive words you were able to note, and take a moment to thank your increasingly colorful and connected neural net!
Day 4
Grab your list from day 1. Set a timer for 1 minute. Below the existing list of colors, write down as many additional colors that you can think of in the allocated time. Any new colors you have encountered, along with any you didn’t recall. Count how many colors you now have TOTAL from both days 1 and 4.
Using the chunking technique of mentally sorting this large list into smaller, more manageable “chunks”, take a few minutes and try to commit as much of this new expanded list to memory as possible! When chunking your list, consider sorting by color family, first letter, or even by your color preferences.
Day 5
Without referencing your combined list from days 1 and 4, turn to a blank page in your journal and write down as many colors as you can recall from your chunking exercise the prior day.
But wait, there’s more!
Write your list of colors in order from the LONGEST word to the SHORTEST word. Once you have recalled as many colors as you can, reference your list once more and see how you did! Give yourself a mental high five… your brain is a rainbow of colorful neural connections today!
Day 6
Find a photograph or piece of art in your living space (not black and white). Set a timer for 3 minutes. Seat yourself comfortably, and focus your attention on the art or photograph until the timer goes off. If you notice your awareness or thoughts drifting away, draw them back to the image.
After your attention-building exercise, remove the image or move to another space so it is no longer in your visual field. Write down as many colors as you can recall from memory that existed in the picture. You can include shades, hues, etc. When you have completed the list, proceed to write down as many color combinations that you can recall from the piece.
Nice work! Drawing specific visual memories from a mindful exercise improves spatial awareness, trains attention, and increases the minds ability to recall details in our daily experiences.
Day 7
Set a timer for 3-5 minutes. Find a comfortable place to sit, and scan your mind for a mental image of the color you love the most. Now close your eyes, and allow your mind to give its attention to your mental image of that color for the allocated time. See if you can catch any thinking that pulls your attention away… and gently draw it back.
At the end of your period of mindfulness, list as many emotions, sensations, physical or mental feelings that you are able to conjure about your personal response to the color.
This exercise combines attention building, an exercise of recall, increased vocabulary, and body awareness to round out your week of memory challenges to a close, and to bring your memory to full color!
Want more memory challenges? See our full list of challenges here!