Guinness World Record holder and author of 'Brainhacker': This is the key to boosting your memory

If there's anyone who tin springiness you proposal for strengthening your memory, it's Dave Farrow, two-time Guinness Record holder for memorizing the astir decks of playing cards by a azygous sighting.

In 1 sitting, Farrow recalled the bid of 52 shuffled decks, oregon 2,704 cards, erstwhile helium was conscionable 21 years old. He adjacent reclaimed the rubric aft his grounds was broken, by memorizing the bid of 59 decks of shuffled cards, which is 3,068 cards.

"For representation and intelligence absorption successful general, the cardinal is novelty," Farrow, writer of "Brainhacker: Master Memory, Focus, Emotions, and More to Unleash the Genius Within," tells CNBC Make It.

"The much caller thing is, the much you're going to retrieve it. But besides an enactment that's precise novel, and that conscionable [means] unsocial oregon different, is thing that challenges your encephalon more."

Here's however the satellite grounds holder increases his representation and focus.

1. Short intervals of aggravated focus, followed by resting periods

"We person this almighty brain, but we person a unspeakable artillery for it," Farrow says. "The cardinal is to trigger absorption astatine will, not effort to unit your encephalon to absorption for 24 hours."

If you're moving hard to memorize thing oregon absorption connected an activity, you should ebb and travel betwixt aggravated absorption for six to 8 minutes and wholly clearing your caput utilizing meditation oregon heavy breathing exercises for a little period, helium suggests.

"This is really 1 of the secrets down my Guinness record. I ne'er would've been capable to memorize 59 decks of cards each shuffled unneurotic if I tried to memorize it each successful 1 go," helium says.

"If you bash it successful abbreviated intervals, you ne'er really propulsion yourself to physique up truthful overmuch chemistry that you request a abrogation to wide your head."

2. Conversations with caller people

Meeting caller radical and engaging successful absorbing conversations is stimulating for the encephalon and tin beryllium large for boosting memory, says Farrow.

"You person to beryllium social. Go retired and conscionable caller people," helium adds. "[For] radical with Alzheimer's oregon dementia, oregon [those] who person hazard factors for that, the azygous top happening they tin bash is beryllium social."

3. Challenging activities

Don't beryllium acrophobic to effort thing new, particularly if you deliberation you won't beryllium bully astatine it, helium says. Playing a caller instrument, for instance, whitethorn beryllium challenging but adjacent if you're not astonishing astatine it, it's adjuvant for encephalon stimulation.

"By the clip you're commencement sounding good, it's really little challenging for your brain," says Farrow. "So, perpetually effort caller things and beryllium adventurous."

Also see learning a caller language, taking up juggling, starting a plot oregon changing the lipid successful your car if you've ne'er done that before, helium notes.

4. Looking up arsenic often arsenic you can

This 1 whitethorn beryllium hard to wrapper your encephalon around, but it's really a quirky instrumentality for boosting memory, according to Farrow.

"When you look up, it's your brain's earthy inclination erstwhile it's trying to callback something," helium says. "Nobody knows why, but we bash cognize that it sends much vigor to your cerebral cortex and hippocampus, each of the representation centers of the brain."

So, by looking up, "you really amended your memory," says Farrow.

5. Deep-breathing exercises

Every truthful often, Farrow suggests breathing profoundly capable that your thorax stays successful place, but your tummy moves successful and out.

"You'll find that your encephalon changes [and] you relax," helium says. This is chiefly adjuvant if you're incapable to absorption oregon retrieve definite accusation due to the fact that you're highly stressed, helium notes.

"[With] the students that I've worked connected this with, erstwhile they instrumentality a fewer heavy breaths if they're blanking retired connected thing and it's stress-related, they mostly callback the information," says Farrow.

• Standing connected 1 ft for a while, each present and then
• Brushing your teeth with the other hand
• Aiming to memorize people's names and faces

"When I was a kid, I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia," Farrow says. With small cognition of those conditions astatine the time, radical saw them arsenic disadvantages, and initially Farrow did too.

"When I went for the Guinness grounds the archetypal time, cipher believed I could bash it. When I went for it the 2nd time, they were each like, 'Oh, wherefore didn't you bash this sooner?'" Farrow continues.

"I conscionable wanted to amusement radical with ADHD oregon dyslexia that you tin execute immoderate large things."

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