Upgrade Your Brain, Memory and Focus

From ep. with brain coach Jim Kwik

How many times do you walk into a room to do something, but once there, you forget what you needed to do? Or maybe you’ve been reading a book and when you finish a chapter, you realize you haven’t retained anything on the pages? Now you are questioning your memory, your mind, and maybe even your sanity at times. But fear not. You aren’t alone and you aren’t broken. 

During a recent episode of Simplexity, I sat down with brain coach Jim Kwik, once called the “boy with the broken brain”, to uncover the intricacies of our minds and how we can strengthen them through training just like we do with the rest of our body. And I discovered there are many easy ways to start flexing our mental muscles while improving our lives in the process! 

Our brains are often likened to complex supercomputers, capable of processing countless pieces of neural input (or data) throughout the day and instantaneously converting much of that input into thoughts, ideas, questions, and even memories. 

With the piles upon piles of incoming data we receive, we subconsciously filter out the “noise” so our supercomputer doesn’t become overloaded with unimportant details. While you’re engrossed in a movie, a dog barks outside yet it doesn’t even register to you. Or your roommate comes home, but you don’t notice. You are selectively filtering out that data because it isn’t useful to what you’re focused on. But what if you realize that you also are filtering out data you actually need? Data that is useful?

Don’t give up on your brain and write your troubles off by automatically giving in to the belief that you have a bad memory or short attention span. Jim, our friendly neighborhood brain coach, would be the first to tell you: memory and focus aren’t something you have, they are something you do. We just need the tools to do it effectively. So let’s talk tools.

What do you do right after you wake up in the morning? If you’re like the majority of people, you reach for your phone. On the podcast, Jim made a compelling point on this all-too-common habit. Though we are getting a dopamine rush by scrolling our phones in bed to catch up on all we missed in the world while snoozing, this is actually rewiring our brains to be distracted and reactive. When it comes to upgrading your brain, one thing you can do starting now is avoid reaching for the phone for 30-minutes after you wake up. Use the time instead to drink some water and hydrate, meditate, or even think out how you want your day to go and what you want to do or accomplish until hopping back in bed at night. Then, go ahead and grab that phone!

We are innately talented at distracting ourselves thanks to a perfect combination of human nature and the endless external inputs that fuel our brains like delectable candy. Being able to focus at the drop of the hat seems like a pretty amazing superpower to have. But it is more achievable than it seems. To get better focus when you need to concentrate, reduce possible distractions. This means closing tabs in your browser. Leaving your phone in another room (on silent!). And decluttering your workspace as much as possible. Set a reasonable amount of time that doesn’t feel overwhelming. Then tell yourself and your candy-brain that you can check those tabs, your emails and texts, and watch TV after that time is over. You are the boss.

Do this regularly, even if it’s just for 20 minutes a day. By repeatedly doing focus exercises, not only are you accomplishing the task you set out to work on, you are training your brain. And focus will keep getting easier through practice.

While focus allows you to get through tasks, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll retain it. Upgrading your memory is what you’ll need to help in that department. In addition to engaging in self care, another way to begin improving memory today is to start practicing visualization exercises to recall lists, names, orders, and other information through association with a visual image you’ve created in your mind. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

For a simplified example, when you meet someone, picture a word you can associate with their name. If you meet a woman named Catherine with red hair, take a few moments to picture an orange cat while repeating her name. These associations can be expanded upon to recall large amounts of info. And like the daily focus routine, this memory tool will get easier the more you practice training, and upgrading, your brain. 

How to Be Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Memory, Focus, Motivation and Productivity (Pt. 1) ft. Jim Kwik WATCH / LISTEN