At this time of year many of us are preparing our bodies for the rigours of the summer season : getting into last year’s beachware, increasing stamina for all that air travel, looking good in public.

We sometimes neglect our minds though, forgetful that they need a bit of routine maintenance and TLC as well as the physical envelope.

Here’s an excellent checklist of how we might go about it :

1. Choose your direction
2. Make it happen
3. Slow down
4. Lose the negativity
5. Break your routine
6. Play to your strengths
7. Get out of your comfort zone
8. Surround yourself with inspiring people
9. Take control
10. Keep it fresh.

Number 8 might also include reading inspiring authors, watching inspiring films etcetera.

The list was compiled by Lizz Brocklesbury of www.themindgym.com

Can you recall when the Boxer Rebellion occurred but forget where you left your car keys? Do you remember the name of the 13th president but have a hard time bringing a specific word to mind when you need it? You may be suffering from too much memory.

Research at the Columbia University Medical Center indicates that the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain where learning and memory are seated, can actually cause you to experience more limited working, or short-term, memory.

Apparently, forgetting some information is essential to being able to access short-term memory. Storing too much information interferes with working memory. In experiments in which mice had the neurogenesis in the hippocampus blocked, they were better able to navigate a maze and locate food in the maze.

The researchers suggest that forgetting some older and useless information makes room for newer and useful information such as where your car is parked in a large lot.

But which information is useless, and is all older information just taking up storage space you could use for something newer and more immediate? It is said of Albert Einstein that he was often distracted and forgetful. He described his wild hairstyle as simply the result of doing nothing with it. But the man who reportedly never untied his shoes because he couldn’t remember to tie them again, was busy pondering the nature of the universe.

According to The Association for Distracted People, “distractedness actually reflects a high level of concentration (on something else)”.