Well, it looks like you are also having problems with your short-term memory. Welcome to my club. And, be sure that you and I are not the only ones having issues with our memory. Thankfully, I have had that problem for a while and have learned some tricks along the way that have helped. Logically, I think they can help you, also.



If you have been researching this topic for a while already then you've probably heard people mention that the brain is like a muscle. Well, when I was growing up that was usually considered to be something of an insult. I guess it was said more about jocks, or athletes, as a way of insulting their intelligence by implying that they had more muscle between your ears then brain.

Although that can not be literally true I do have to admit that if I were honest I would have to say that my brain used to occasionally function as if there were more muscle between my ears than brain. I had so many memory problems it seemed like it was going to drive me crazy with frustration.

Really, I don't have and have never had a problem with losing my wallet or my key ring. I guess that it's a guy thing but all of my pants have pockets in them. If I have pants on then I have my keys in my wallet. It would be kind of unusual for me to go somewhere without my pants. (Yeah, that was a joke.)

I did however have a lot of problems with remembering instructions, for instance. In business, for instance, my business partner would ask me to do A, B., and then C. It seemed like sometimes by the time she got to C I had forgotten half of the detail related to A and B. talk about frustrating! It used to drive me crazy and probably drove her a bit bonkers as well.

The source of my short term memory problems is unknown. My guess is that the excessive negative stress in my life had a lot to do with it. I knew that I could not remove all of the negative stress in the short term but I knew that I had to do something about my memory problems and so, quite simply, I did.

One of the tricks that I picked up quickly would probably help you as well. Now since I am not a physician I really cannot comment on whether this would help someone with a brain injury but the following trick has helped me and I suspect it would help you, also.

This is a quick and easy trick but it's also very effective. I simply take a photograph from our family photo album and study it for a few minutes. After a few minutes I set it aside and then write out as many details as I can remember about the photograph. Occasionally I use black and white pictures, yes I am that old, but color pictures can add an additional challenge as we try to remember not only specific details but also colors. To expand this trick as your memory gets better simply lessen the time during which you allow yourself to study the photograph. Works like a charm. Hope you have fun with it.