How to Improve Working Memory

Working memory is what you use to complete most daily tasks. Whenever you read, remember a list or recall someone's phone number, you're using your working memory. There are lots of theories on how much information this important part of our minds can hold, but most point to a general limit of between 7 to 9 individual bits of information. With the right exercises and regular practice, you can improve your working memory.

Instructions

1. Read challenging books. Newspapers, magazines and modern-day novels tend to use short, simple sentences to convey their points. Look for older books or academic papers that use long, complicated sentence structures.

2. Spend some time each day doing simple memory exercises. One of the best working memory workouts is memorizing and recalling short lists of numbers. The more numbers you can memorize, the stronger your working memory is.

3. Play multiplayer first-person shooter video games. These challenge your working memory to keep track of the other players in the game, as well as the changing environments and game conditions.

4. Use video games like "Brain Age" to exercise your brain every day. These fun programs include challenges like number recall, reading comprehension and simple arithmetic that maintain and improve your working memory.

5. Do all of your basic daily arithmetic in your head instead of on paper. Whenever you calculate a tip, estimate a shopping bill or give someone exact change, work with the numbers mentally.

6. Practice pieces with multiple parts, if you're a pianist. J.S. Bach's preludes and fugues are especially good for improving working memory, because they often feature up to four voices playing at once.

Resources

• Train your working memory in the Memory Gym.