Let's face it, very few people have a perfect memory, but many people wish it was easier to retain facts and figures. Fortunately there are plenty of things you can do to boost your memory power.

You'll often hear the phrase "the brain is like a muscle", swiftly followed by people declaring that it's rubbish. Confusingly, both are true.

The brain isn't anything like a muscle from a biological point of view. But it is true to say that memory performance can be improved with exercises - just not weightlifting.

Stay fit

Physical exercise is important though - even ancient Greek philosophers recognised that a healthy body led to a healthy mind.

Try to break routines every now and then and take proper lunch breaks. During short breaks, do something different for a few minutes as well as getting that desperately needed coffee!

For a novel way to give yourself breaks while remaining fresh and focussed, grab your kitchen timer and try the Pomodoro technique - timed work sessions interspersed with five minute active breaks.

Write, don't type

Studies have shown that students who write down notes rather than typing them on a keyboard have better retention.

The tactile experience and extra mental effort helps imprint facts on the mind.

Mind mapping

Popularised by Tony Buzan, who has presented various BBC programmes on mental performance, the Mind Mapping technique is a way to literally draw out a subject and all its components in a colourful diagram.

Paper and pencils work fine, or there are numerous mind mapping apps that can be downloaded. Although using an app rather than a pencil does seem to fly in the face of the previous tip! Find out more at Tony's site.

Stories and rooms

A good way to remember lists of items is to construct a story around them. So for a short shopping list, for example chocolate, milk, salad and chicken, you create a story where you spill some the milk on a salad which is then eaten by a chicken covered in chocolate - the more detail and colour you add the more likely you are to remember it.

A version of this developed by early Romans to remember important speeches is to construct a house full of detailed rooms in your mind. Then place symbolic objects representing what you have to remember in each room.

To recall the items, walk through the house in your mind and the placed objects should prompt recall.

Find out more

To delve into all of this a bit more, take a look at some of the sites we've featured. Tony Buzan's site is very good, as are his books, and there are other ideas on the Academic Tips site that work for non-students too.

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