How to Focus: This Book Includes - Photographic Memory, Laziness, Overthinking and 10X: Fastlane to Success

Photographic Memory:

What Quick Learners Do That You Don't. Unlocking Accelerated Learning, and Improved Memory to Increase your Skills, Productivity, and Success in Life

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Basics

1.1: Photographic Memory

1.2: The Benefits

1.3: Application

1.4: Your Quick Start Action Steps

Chapter 2: Getting Started

2.1: Linking Memory and Emotion

Reasons for Sensory and Physiological concepts in Related Literature

2.2: Steps to Improve Basic Memory

2.3: Your Quick Start Action Steps

Chapter 3: Techniques Explained

3.1: Sensory Considerations and Physiological aspects

3.2: Memory Advancement Techniques from the Sensory and Physiological Field

Mnemonics

Repetition

Morning coffee

Choline

Increased consumption of berries

3.3: Your Quick Start Action Steps

Chapter 4: How to Achieve Eidetic Memory

4.1: Processing

4.2 Explaining the objectives of processing techniques

4.3: Semantic encoding

Analysis

Types of Attentional Capture

Processing

4.4: Quick Action Steps

Chapter 5: Quick Application

5.1 Speed Memory Training

5.2: Cost-Benefit Analysis

5.3: Appropriate techniques for speed memory

5.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 6: Remembering Numbers

6.1: Memorizing digits

6.2: Benefits of different approaches

6.3: Detailing approaches

Sensory approach

Coding mnemonically

The phonetic number system

Conversion of numbers to words

6.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 7: Remembering People’s Names

7.1: Name memorization

7.2 Shortfalls and benefits

7.3: Easy techniques

7.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 8: On Studies

8.1 Study application

8.2: Potential advantages in class

8.3: Aligning physical and mental approaches

8.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 9: At Work

9.1: Maximizing Memory for the work environment

9.2: Enhancing the Decision Making Process

9.3: Detailing Work Place Approaches

9.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 10: In Your Business

10.1: Advanced Memory in Business

10.2: Improving the Entrepreneurial Experience

10.3: Scenario Techniques

On Brain Games

10.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 11: Maintaining Your Photographic Memory

11.1 Adapting Improved Memory

11.2: Need for internalization

11.3: Analysis

Breaking Inhibitions

11.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Chapter 12: Developing Laser-Sharp Focus for Better Results

12.1: Advancing Focus for Memory Improvement

12.2: Why Improve Focus

12.3: Approach analysis for Focus Improvement

SMART

12.4: Your Quick Action Steps

Summary

Conclusion

Description

© Copyright 2018 by Anthony Heston - All rights reserved.

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Introduction

Imagine that you are capable of retaining vast amounts of information and learning new things without much effort. How different would your life be? Our brains are something of an unsolved mystery. Studies on the human brain have been going on for centuries, yet even with the present technology, scientists have not been able to decipher most of the processes that take place in the brain nor have they unlocked the brains full potential that can help advance society by leaps and bounds. One can compare our current understanding of grey matter to going out and getting the best computer in the world, only to find upon reaching home that one does not have the proper instruction manual. Hence, the device sits on the table indefinitely, unused, because you do not have the keys to unlock it.

The brain has been claimed to be far better than any supercomputer ever created. Researchers claim it has an estimated 10¹² active neurons at any given point, which means the number of potential combinations and computations among them is far greater than the number of particulate matter in the universe. For the majority of people though, memory is not something that can be fully maximized. The objective of this book is to help you get to the full potential of your brain’s memory capacity with the use of a two-pronged process, one of which is to consider your well-being and how it relates to your mental status.

The theme of this book is to exercise the mind while keeping the conditions around you at a stable level so as not to have too many stressors that could interfere with the process. The practical portions act as the building blocks toward the memory-practicing activities. The interesting aspect is the fact the brain attains information through every sense; therefore, memory advances depend on concepts which will entail the addition of sensory perception to the equation.

The first chapters of the book consider how photographic memory works. They also dispel the notions that have been set forth in most literature which contend that photographic memory is a set of magic secrets that allows one to sculpt their mind into a camera. In fact, the book endorses a lifestyle to which one should adhere if they want to significantly improve their memory. Thus chapter 1 and 2 set out to show how photographic memory works through the removal of excess noise from the mind through focusing habits. The first two chapters will also explain how photographic memory is improved by utilizing more of the senses rather than just one when you need to retain information.

Committing an event to memory would then require eyesight, hearing and touch if possible. The more senses that one actively utilizes the better the chances of remembering more details concerning that particular event. These points are explained further in the third and fourth chapters which incorporate lifestyle habits into the mix as well. There are certain foods which are good for the memory including choline, fish oils, and multivitamins. Exercising is also promoted as a means to keep the mind healthy and promote memory. The fourth chapter also considers processing means which is the way the brain internalizes information. The second part of the book considers how to utilize improved memory in practical applications. The same is denoted by the chapters which detail how to learn to remember things quickly or how to recall numbers, names and how to apply memory in business, work and studying. The final chapters in the book conclude on what it takes to have a quick memory and reiterate the importance of matching physiological practices with the mental ones in order to keep things in balance. The bonus chapter considers focus which is mentioned throughout the book but whose importance has not been emphasized enough. The fact is memory settings require the individual to be attentive. All of these methods that have been given to improve a person’s memory would be for naught if the person does not practice focusing techniques.

While it is true that many of those that have eidetic memory are unique, ‘exceptions to the norm’, many of them actually use elaborate techniques to help them remember small details. Others have strengthened the neural pathways in their brains for so long that it actually opens new parts in their brains that have not been previously used to full potential, giving them a distinct advantage over their peers in terms of information storage and learning speed.

The great news is that you can learn how to develop something that is very close to what we think of as eidetic memory. Lots of people that participate in memory style competitions are ordinary people that became ‘memory athletes’ after a few weeks of training.

In this short guide, I’ve compiled some of the most effective ways to learn at an accelerated pace and remember information without much effort by harnessing the power of our brain’s ability to adapt and change. It is possible to develop an incredible memory through the use of mental conditioning, mnemonics and brain training that can be seamlessly adapted to your lifestyle.

Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoy the journey!

Chapter 1: The Basics

1.1: Photographic Memory

To start, we need to consider how memory works. The general consensus is that memory works like a camera and records things as they happen, though there is a loss of details as time passes. It would be great if people were able to capture all of these details and hold on to them forever.

On the contrary, though, memory is more like attention, except in the past tense. That is to say, what an individual is paying attention to at the present is what you will likely remember in the future. The brain being efficient may tend to fill in details where there are blanks and then serve them as part of the memory. That selective attention concerning what gets filtered into the long-term storage is what assists the conservation of mental resources considering how our brains are working on a million different operations at the same time. The brain includes practical information attained from the sensory centers which are interpreted in the brain to provide their perspective of events. The inclusion of other senses brings the brain to full potential as it now has different reserves to draw from.

When someone is described as having a photographic memory, it is not to say that they remember every single thing about an event as if they were looking at a photograph. The brain generally does not work like that. The individuals who claim to have photographic memories rarely hold up to scientific scrutiny as they tend to be unable to reproduce these results in front of experts.

As mentioned previously, what is colloquially known as photographic memory is likely to be eidetic memory. There are some who have this rare skill that describes viewing photo-like after-images in their mind about a sequence of events they have just experienced. The question this book tries to answer is how one goes about getting a memory which happens to be as close to that as possible.

1.2: The Benefits

The study of techniques to enhance mental strength to create a form of photographic memory is great for both social and career purposes. Skilled memorizers, for example, are more confident and tend to have a lesser amount of anxiety concerning preparation. It also helps the individual have a better ability to take on short-notice tasks which require the retention of large quantities of information.

Committing something to memory is a process wherein the event’s details are transferred from the short-term to the long-term memory. There is a bit of speculation about the contents that enter the long-term memory and whether they are always stored within the brain. Perhaps what we are missing is the way to retrieve the information. The memorization process of an individual could be semantic in nature, as memories of knowledge, understandings, and meanings, but it could also be episodic in nature, especially when memorized in a way that entails spatial relations.

Thus far, eidetic memory has been likened to a muscle which can be trained and strengthened up to a certain point. The benefits of an enhanced memory can help you do better at work and in your social circles. The benefits of an improved memory can also improve other cognitive processes because you’ll have attained a wider base of information in store. This is especially beneficial when you’re dealing with things that would require drawing on large amounts of information.

1.3: Application

At times, memory may pertain to spatial or visual memory. Our short-term memory may only be able to hold so much at one time. Usually, individuals have the ability to hold between five and nine things in their minds at a time, though seven is the average. For instance, phone numbers are usually seven digits long. Number sequences are also more easily memorized when they are in chunks. That is to say, 2345 is easier to memorize than 2-3-4-5. The process concerning chunking is an essential tool for someone who needs to memorize large bits of information.

There are said to be about six major reasons as to why things stick within the short-term memory. For one, it is much easier to remember the first part of something that one is learning, in part because it had been new and unique and the focus on it was still fresh, but the material may also be internalized using primacy where the person only remembers the first and the last things about an event. At the same time, the last thing that you learn may be memorable as it has been within the mind for the shortest bit of time, which usually means it still has not had time to degrade. Events that trigger emotion such as bawdy humor may also be easier for the person to remember.

Repetition is significant as well, considering that the more the details of the event are repeated mentally, the better the chances it would stick to the memory. Linkages are significant because the more links there are, or the more connections you make between ideas and images to the text as well as the phrasing, the easier they will be to remember. These links could be explanations that are closely related to the text, or they could be information linking the text with images and ideas from one’s experience.

The information on the real world application of photographic memory above is just a glimpse of what’s in store for you in this book. The fundamentals of photographic memory, techniques, actionable objectives, and training await you in the following chapters.

1.4: Your Quick Start Action Steps

At the conclusion of each chapter, you’ll notice the Quick Start Action Steps.

The quick action steps are practice assignments that you can follow and apply as an implementation exercise on the chapter’s content. 

Before getting into the thick of the principles and fundamentals of photographic memory, keep in mind that it would take a lot of discipline and motivation to begin the task of memory enhancement since this is usually an innate gift. There should be a commitment to being fully prepared so as to create effective memorization at the basic level. A thought-out strategy is also required to commit information effectively to the short-term memory and to convert them into the long-term memory. As such, it is imperative for you to fully realize the significance of actively improving the skill as an individual.

Chapter 2: Getting Started

2.1: Linking Memory and Emotion

Have you been in a situation where you could not recall something, but