Memorize More - Outsource Less

"Try using your memory more," Stephen DeMaio cautions in the Mangement Tip of the Day at Harvard Business Publishing. Though today's technology opens a warehouse of tools to keep schedules, records of life - text, photos and other archives, we're relying much less on our brain to store these. Can you recall phone numbers you use often or can you picture a visual map of where the doctor's located, whom you visit yearly?

When calculators came on the scene, memorizing multiplication tables became less important. PDA's, smart phones and GPS devices eliminatied the need to memorize schedules or phone numbers and to dicipher maps.

Why does it matter? "What we're outsourcing to technology," David Bucci, Dartmouth College observes, "we're not relying on our brains to do any more."

If we learn to use technology and new apps, doesn't that stimulate the brain to learn to do new tasks? Yes, but there's a downside as well... "Recording everything you do takes people out of the "here and now," Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College notes. "Constant documenting may make people less thoughtful about and engaged in what they're doing because they are focused on the recording process."

Here's the clincher about why committing more to memory and stimulating our working memory works in our favor... "The key thing is that the sedentary brain, just like the sedentary body, is going to atrophy," Bucci affirms.

Consciously challenge your brain to do more! For instance, create ways to turn boring tasks into fun at work. Memorize favorite scriptures, telephone numbers or friend and family birthdays.

As we age, the more we learn and put in our memory bank, the longer we'll enjoy mental acumen.