Wix comments on Open Thread, August 16-31, 2012 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 15 August 2012 03:25AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 16 August 2012 11:35:59PM 2 points [-]

I'm looking for strategies/techniques to manage/improve poor working memory, I currently find myself in situations where I forget to do something I thought about doing just a minute past or so. If anyone have any worth trying out, I'd love to here about them.

Strategies that I already use are:

  • Visual ques, putting things in positions that make me notice them hence remember.
  • Domino-ques, i.e. focusing on remember one thing that will remind me of a number of things.
  • Outsourcing, pen and paper mostly.
Comment author: siodine 17 August 2012 06:23:38PM 3 points [-]
Comment author: [deleted] 20 August 2012 11:44:42AM *  0 points [-]

Oh I didn't know gwern had written about it! Thanks, I'll try to implement it best I can.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 17 August 2012 07:13:44AM 3 points [-]

My impression is that a lot gets "forgotten" because it wasn't noticed in the first place. Have you tried mindfulness meditation?

I don't know whether your mind works the same way, but I find that sometimes (if I remember to check!) I can tell whether I've actually done something by checking for tactile/kinesthetic memory in addition to visual.

Comment author: [deleted] 20 August 2012 11:39:54AM 0 points [-]

My impression is that a lot gets "forgotten" because it wasn't noticed in the first place. Have you tried mindfulness meditation? It has been suggested to once or twice, but for other reasons, I might give it a try. What kind of benefit/time invested ratio can I expect?

I don't know whether your mind works the same way, but I find that sometimes (if I remember to check!) I can tell whether I've actually done something by checking for tactile/kinesthetic memory in addition to visual.

Hmm well, I can tell from the feel of my hands if I have done something that requires me to wash them even if my hands are not visual dirty. Do know any particular technique that enables you to assign feels to preformed actions?

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 21 August 2012 05:46:35PM 0 points [-]

I'm not sure whether you can expect memory improvement from mindfulness meditation-- I was suggesting it as something plausible rather than proven. The most detail I've seen about the benefits of mindfulness meditation are about calmness rather than memory.

I think kinesthetic and tactile memories get saved for me of things I've actually done for a short time. I'm not sure how long it is, but it seems to be more than half an hour and less than a day. I recommend exploring whether there are memory differences between what you intend to do and what you've actually done.