Can You Remember?

We’ve all been there. Walking into a room only to forget why we came in. Searching everywhere for our glasses then remembering they’re on our head. We laugh, and tease ourselves that we must be getting old – but the reality is that our memories do get worse as we age. Fortunately, there are plenty of things we can do to minimise the impact of that process.

Many aspects of modern life can affect brain function, including poor diet, stress, insufficient sleep and urban living. So the first step you can take to improve your memory is to eat right, try to avoid stressful situations, get eight hours of shut-eye each night and spend time in nature. Being outdoors is crucial, in fact, as we need sunlight to make the vitamin D essential for brain function. Exercising is also thought to be beneficial, since it encourages nerve cells to multiply. The more of these cells you have in your brain, the more mental connections you can make. Once these basics are in place, there are lots of specific techniques you can use to train your memory.

The first techniquehing you can try is to stop multi-tasking. We live in an information age, and it’s affecting our ability to concentrate. Millions of companies compete for our attention as we use laptops, tablets and phones at the same time. A typical online habit is to read one-third of an article before being distracted by something in the sidebar. Be honest: how often do you click the new link instead of finishing the original article? Psychologists liken this behaviour to addiction, because it seems we need more and more entertainment. Whenever possible, prioritise your tasks and give yourself quiet space to complete each one, with social media switched off for the duration.

Another thing you can do is to challenge your brain regularly. You may remember the sudden trend for brain training apps that promised to improve thinking speed, logical deduction and recall. Sadly, scientific studies suggest these apps rarely deliver what they promise – but the good news is that other activities really can help. More traditional brain workouts such as playing chess, completing puzzles or learning a language have been shown to have a positive effect on brainpower, including memory.

This is where mnemonics come in. A mnemonic is a device that helps your brain to remember particular information. For example, the word ‘necessary’ is hard to spell, so you might memorise the phrase Never Eat Cheese! Eat Salmon Sandwiches And Remain Young! to help you. Experts say that rhymes and mental images are especially useful mnemonics. Let’s say you have a colleague whose name (Joan) and birthday (8 March) you want to commit to memory. Depending on her character, a rhyme such as Joan, Joan, on the phone or Joan, Joan, loves to moan can help with the name. A visualisation of Joan with the numbers 8 and 3 above her head, meanwhile, could help to fix her birthday in your mind.

We cannot escape the effects of ageing, but forgetting where you left your keys need not be a cause for despair. If you follow the advice given here, most importantly taking care of your physical and mental health, you may yet become a 90-year-old with the memory of an elephant!

Working from Home

The world of work is changing. More and more people are rejecting the traditional 9-5 and choosing to work from home, which offers greater independence. But what kind of jobs can you do from the comfort of your living room? Jess Bennett shares a few ideas…

A. TRANSCRIPTION
The great thing about transcription is that you don’t need any previous experience. All that’s required is an internet connection and a decent pair of earphones. A company will send you a video or audio file, you listen, and type the text. Easy, right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that – you need to have fast fingers and reasonable spelling and grammar. But transcription is still a good choice for anyone dipping in their toes into the world of home working for the first time. You can earn around $20 an hour, with slightly higher rates available if you have a legal or medical background and can deal with the specialised language of those fields. While there will be deadlines, you can generally choose your own schedule. This makes transcription a good choice for those who already have part-time jobs offline, or parents looking to make some extra cash.

B. ONLINE TEACHING
There are millions of potential English students all over the world, from kids in China to CEOs in France. Why not help them improve their language skills? Of course, for this kind of work it helps a lot to have a teaching certificate, but some people just want conversation practice with a more advanced speaker. There’s less freedom with teaching than with transcription, as lessons have to be delivered to a schedule and take into account global time differences. However, you should have some input on this to avoid dragging yourself out of bed at 3am! Rates vary enormously, but even an unqualified teacher should expect $15 an hour or more. You don’t have to be a native speaker – you just have to be a confident user of English. And of course, you should be friendly and willing to offer useful feedback.

C. CUSTOMER SERVICE
In the past, companies would have huge call centres with hundreds of operators on hand to speak to customers. These days, organisations save money by recruiting freelance customer service assistants, who take calls from their own homes. The work can be challenging, as people usually get in touch to complain, so you need a calm phone voice even when you want to scream. Conflict resolution is the skill that recruiters prioritise for this work! You will need to make yourself available for a block of time each day, say four or five hours, and be prepared for a remote supervisor to listen in to your calls occasionally. You might be provided with a headset, or be asked to invest in one yourself. But you can make up to $20 per hour once you have some experience under your belt, and there’s no complex software to learn.

D. VOICE ARTIST
Have you ever fancied being an actor? You can make money by lending your voice to advertisements, short films, online courses and more. This job really has the fun factor. And in case you’re worried that your accent might be a barrier, a surprising number of jobs ask for people with specific accents. The main thing is that you can speak clearly, and of course you’ll need a quality microphone at home. This type of work tends to be varied and you’ll find yourself learning a lot about random subjects! The downside is that the jobs are usually short-term. Voice artists often register with a website, and then bid for individual projects as they come up. Again, pay varies according to the client brief and your level of experience, but $30 is average and some voice artists report earning as much as $50 per hour. Next stop, the Academy Awards…