7 Days of Speedy & Savory Memory Challenges
Stimulate your mind (and your appetite) with a week of quick daily memory challenges…
We hope you’ll find these speedy daily challenges a flavorful way to start your day! Challenge your recall abilities, stimulate your prefrontal cortex, and get inspired to nourish your mind and your taste buds…
A few tips before you dig in:
Aim to set aside a few minutes at the same time each day (approximately) to engage in these memory-strengthening exercises.
Keep a notebook or journal to keep track of your progress and to help you celebrate your consistency.
Share the challenge with a friend! Research shows that those who engage in collaborative learning remember more information for longer periods of time! And while research failed to measure the fun factor, we’re guessing they probably enjoy the experience a bit more too!
Let’s get started…
Day 1 - Create a Rainbow of Foods
Strengthen your recall abilities! Write down as many foods that you can think of that are the color RED. Try not to spend more than 1-2 minutes…you can set a timer if that is helpful. Next, move on to the colors ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN AND BLUE, (one at a time) writing down as many foods in each color category as you can recall. Again, set a one-minute timer or simply try not to spend more than a minute or two each time. Keep your lists in a location you will remember…you will be using them all week!
Day 2 - Chunking
Commit the list of red foods you created on day 1 to memory using the chunking technique. Sorting the list you created into smaller, more manageable groups. For example, if your list contained the words to the right…
…you could create the categories
1) Sweet, 2) Fruits & Veggies, 3) Savory
By sorting the list into the three categories (see below), you end up with three much shorter and more manageable lists for your memory! Try to commit the entire list of words to memory by mentally sorting rehearsing the items on each of the smaller lists.
*Even if you only had a few words on your list, see if you can sort them into categories. Practicing with short lists helps you apply the strategy for longer lists!
Day 3 - ABC’s of memory
Set a timer for 1-2 minutes, and briefly review the list of orange foods you created from day one. At the end of the review, turn the list over, and write down the list of words from memory IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
Day 4 - Acronyms
Use the list of YELLOW foods you created on day 1. Create an acronym to commit the foods to your memory, in any order!
A few well-known Acronyms include, S.C.U.B.A. (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), A.W.O.L. (Absent Without Leave) and T.G.I.F (Thank Goodness It’s Friday).
After you create an acronym that works for you for your yellow foods, set a timer to rehearse the foods using your acronym at a regular interval during the day! Repetition is a KEY to memory!
Day 5 - Getting Sensory
Review the list of green foods you created on day 1. Today will be an exercise in connecting your powerful sensory system to your memorization efforts. As you review each item the list, take a few moments to recall a personal experience eating or cooking with the item.
Visualize the look and the texture of the food…
Imagine the smell and taste of the food…
After you get through each word, turn the list over. Try to recall each word on the list by writing down a sensory descriptor in lieu of each food. For example, for the foods; lettuce, pistachios, broccoli, and creamed spinach… you might write; crisp, salty, dense, warm
Day 6
Review your list of blue words from Day 1. As you do, visualize each food in a row on your kitchen counter or table. Next, turn the list over, and write out the list from memory. Using familiar locations help access a strong memory retention strategy, utilizing our ability to conceive of geography to pair items that we wish to remember.
Day 7
It’s time to put your memory to the test!
Write down (without peeking at your previous days of work), as many items from each color of the rainbow of foods as you can recall. After you complete the exercise, match your day 7 lists to the ones you created on day 1.
Great work! Celebrate your efforts towards recall, retention, and new memory strategies.
Refer to the Rainbow of Foods document below, and add the brain boosting foods for memory to your existing lists as you continue to build your most memorable lifestyle!
In case you’re wondering, “what is the use of memorizing these random lists of words… I don’t need to remember them!” be reminded that every time you challenge your brain to learn new things, to recall words on demand, and to apply new memory retention strategies, you enhance your brain by creating new neural connections and strengthening those you already have. Not to mention, you are actively developing a new set of memory retention strategies for future use.
With exercises such as those you completed this week, you not only build up your cognitive reserve, but you also develop your mind and your memory to better recall those items that you truly WANT to remember…the names, places, directions, and moments… all of the ingredients to your memorable life!
If you want more quick daily exercises, try 7 days of fast and festive memory challenges, or browse all of our memory challenges for more ideas…
