If you have had a faulty memory occasionally or even often, you're not alone. Many people do. Perhaps you have driven home from the store, only to remember something that you should've gotten but didn't. Or perhaps you've forgotten important dates, such as anniversaries or birthdays.

However, take heart, because you can improve your memory so that these types of things won't happen. There are a few easy training techniques that you can use to make dramatic improvements in your memory so that you never have to worry about forgetting things again.

Your memory utilizes several different categories for retention. These are: names and faces, factual information, lists, dates and events, and so on. Each of these areas utilizes different techniques and tools that you can also use for memory improvement.

For example, if you're someone who can't quite remember names, there are several techniques you can use that will improve this for you. One way to do this (and one that's commonly used) is to repeat a name when you're introduced to that person, such as saying, "Nice to meet you, Tony," when you're introduced to Tony. This will help you remember the name and solidify it in your short-term memory.

To make the person's name stay in your long-term memory, use a rhyme that helps you associate that person's name with something that's easy to remember. For example, "Tony" and "pony" rhyme, so you can associate Tony the person with the pony, the animal.

You can also use the rhyme you choose to associate that person's name (or the rhyme itself) with that person's appearance. For example, if Tony has a long mane of hair, this means that he can be associated with a "pony" in that way. This will help you recognize the person you meet in the future so that you know his or her name on the spot.

You can also make a word, saying, sentence, etc., out of the first letters of a list of things you need to remember. For example, if you have a grocery list and you need to remember the following:

Lollipops
Bread
Chocolate
Apples
Ketchup

Your list becomes like so:

B read
L ollipops
A pples
C hocolate
K etchup

You can see in the above that the first letters of each of the items in your list to spell the word "black." Keep the word "black" in mind, and when you get to the store, you'll know you have to buy five things (since the word "black" has five letters), each of which begins with one of the five letters in the word "black."

This is a relatively easy way to improve your memory, and that and the other techniques we've discussed will help give you a good memory in almost no time. All it takes is a little practice.

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