Treating something as a game and adding the element of fun to it, instead, is a rather effective way of bringing about results.

Activities and Games to Improve Working Memory Looking at something as a task that needs to be done, often proves to be a discouraging factor. That's why introducing activities that focus on improving your working memory in your daily routine are highly recommended. Map a Film One of the best strategies to improve working memory is to develop the power of recalling. Recalling lessons or things related to work are boring, so we won't go there. What you can do instead is pick up a subject that you love. For example, your favorite film. Choose a film that you've watched over and over again till you know it inside out. Then simply close your eyes and start recalling the film from its first scene till the end. Go back to the film and check the details that you missed. Do this exercise over a couple of days picking a different film every time. You'll find that your capacity to recall information will have improved greatly. Mental Imagery of the Closet Zero in on any wardrobe or cupboard in your home and then draw a mental imagery of the same. Start out with the top shelf and work your way through the whole wardrobe. You could also make notes and lists of the same. This will challenge you to recall and retain in a much better manner. Recall a Radio Show Tune into a radio show that essentially features a countdown of songs. Listen to the program with the intention of recalling the details. When the program is over, try to make a list of the descending order of the songs along with the accompanying details like the artist and featured actors and actresses in the song. This will add to the difficulty of the exercise and help in memory improvement. 

Miscellaneous Games There are a number of Nooflex other activities that can be brought into the picture. Here are some of the same: Upturn a pack of cards and then go about finding the pairs by upturning only a pair at one time. Solving varied kinds of puzzles is a great way to work the brain and improve working memory. Picking out random objects and then observing the same for 10 seconds or so before making a list of the same. Learning a new language or learning the lyrics of a song is a great way to bring about an improvement in working memory. These games and activities are quite effective when it comes to improving your working memory. You need just bring these activities into play and you'll see a marked improvement in your ability to recall, recollect and comprehend. And is that not what you want? Your dad calls you frantically and rattles off a phone number. You have no time to run and get to a pad he says, so you're forced to keep it in mind. When the phone call ends, you run to find a pad and paper that you can use to note the number down. A good 10 minutes lapse before you are able to find the needed apparatus. But you know what? Even after that lapse, you are able to remember that number and note it down. How did that happen? It's because of your strong auditory memory. Look at it this way, when someone talks to you, what do you do? You listen to it, take in that information, process it and you store it in your memory. And you store it in such a manner that you are able to recall it for later use. That is exactly what auditory memory involves -

The information that has been presented orally, has to be processed, analyzed and then stored so that it can be recalled later. The ability to store this maximally well will determine the power of your auditory memory and how strong it is. A skill such as this one needs to be perfected and honed throughout ones life because it basically determines how well you are able to grasp something and remember it for later. In the direction of improving your auditory memory then, there are certain auditory memory games that can be used. In this following section, we will give you some of these auditory memory activities that can be made use of. Auditory Memory Strategies and Activities Having a strong auditory memory is very important because a certain portion of the concepts that we learn depends on the same. That is why we find that children who suffer from an auditory memory disorder will find it difficult to grasp and process things that they hear and therefore they cannot learn particular concepts in life. In order to hone this skill then, here are a list of games that you can use. Tap This, Tap That Have the child sit with you. Then use a flat base and create a rhythm, something like one slow beat, then two fast ones. Ask the child to repeat what you did. When the child has been successful in doing the same, add more taps and beats and vary the rhythm to make it more difficult. This allows the child to listen and keep the rhythm and sequence in mind, which automatically increases the child's auditory memory. 

Repeat After Me For this one, you start off by telling a simple story to the child, nothing with too many details. Then after you're done, ask questions that are related to the story and the characters or you could ask the child to repeat the gist of the story. Increase the difficulty of the story as the child gets better. Help the child along the way if he makes mistakes. There are a lot of ways to improve your working memory with technology. Lumosity is an online program designed to help train the brain in speed, memory, attention, flexibility and problem solving. For a monthly fee, anyone can sign up and play games such as “Memory Matrix” or “Memory Match” that will improve their working memory. In education, if funding isn’t available to create an account for students, Memory-Improvement-Tips has games very similar to Lumosity. The “Brain Sequencer” game trains memory for visual patterns and location of objects. The following video explains the game and it’s advantages: When Stephen Gill and I were researching and writing our latest book, Only Smart Companies Win, about what it means to create and work in a “Learning Culture”, we tried to imagine what it would mean to develop training programs in that culture. In the current Training Culture's formal[1] ‘push’ model, training is pushed or chosen for the trainees. They go back to work as soon as the formal classroom or online program is finished. The expectation is that they can do their jobs as a result of their training. They are getting ‘just-in-case training’, just in case it was needed someday. We know from the research that this model does not work. As far back as 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus extrapolated the hypothesis of the exponential nature of forgetting. The following formula can roughly describe it: R=e^{-\frac{t}{S}} where R is memory retention, S is the relative strength of memory, and t is time.

A typical graph of the forgetting curve purports to show that humans tend to halve their memory of newly learned knowledge in a matter of days or weeks unless they consciously review the learned material. Yet we have persisted for more than 100 years in using the formal approach as the only way to train. Further research, initially done at IBM in the late 1980’s, and many others since then, show a disproportionate amount of learning – anywhere between 70 to 80 percent - takes place during the informal phase after the more formal classroom-based or online learning is completed[2]. The upshot is eye-opening. What little learning we get (20-30%) during the formal training stage is rapidly forgotten. This means every $1.00 spent on training returns on average 20¢ - 30¢ of value. Plus the majority of training programs today are based on the old push model. The training stops when the initial, formal 20% training period is over. Learners are on their own as they enter the workplace with 70-80% left to learn. In a Learning Culture, the training would be designed to catapult the learner into the more critical period of informal learning, where the research tells us that as much as 70-80% of the learning occurs[3]. We imagined a future in a Learning Culture’s ‘pull’[4] model in which learners could get the information they need whenever and wherever the information is necessary. That would be just-in-time learning. A training program in a Learning Culture would focus on how employees can get the most from informal learning. 

It could include: Key Takeaways from the formal training Using formal training materials at work Applying learning and getting feedback Where to find useful apps How to best use just-in-time tools How and when to find the experts Remembering basic procedures from training How to experiment, fail and learn Collaborating around learning Teaching what you know The preview, view and review of learning Testing yourself on learning Keeping a learning journal We quickly realized the implications for change between the old and new models of training is significant. The old Training Culture push model delivers formal training and stops. The new Learning Culture pull model uses formal training as a jumping off point for informal learning. Formal training in the Learning Culture is just the beginning. Formal training programs would be the first step in the learning process[5], and would be more focused on laying the groundwork for the skills that need to be adapted, tested and acquired. In the new model there is a clear continuum from formal to informal. And that was the problem we uncovered. 

How do you identify the switch from formal to informal learning? What do you need to do to create the most useful bridge between these two aspects of the learning process? We call this the “The Pivot Point”. The Pivot Point is the moment formal training ends and informal learning begins. Focusing training on the Pivot Point is important for several reasons: Learners need to be aware of what is involved when they pivot from formal to informal learning (and back again). The focus on the Pivot Point will make sure employee’s training is supported when they return to the workplace.