Your Short-Term Memory Is Shorter Than You Think
Have you ever ‘crammed’ for an exam? I know I have. Those moments where you convince yourself that packing in most of your revision the night before an exam will get you the best result? You tell yourself that you have a fantastic short-term memory. For some information it’s right there when you want it and then there are the answers which completely elude you.
Well, guess what? You’re not really dealing with your short-term memory in this situation.
Your Short-Term Memory Is A Processing Unit
Your short-term memory deals with the manipulation or processing of current data. It is the thinking part of the brain. In fact, your short-term memory lasts about a minute. So, it’s not really a ‘memory’ as such. Well, certainly not from a data storage perspective. It’s more of a processing unit. It’s also a free-floating unit because it doesn’t have a permanent physical resting place.
Unlike the long term memory, which has a storage facility in the hippocampus, the short term memory is a neuronal memory, i.e. it operates only within the neurons (or nerve cells) within the brain. Whilst processing data it operates across the neurons with the help of chemical conduits called neurotransmitters.
Unsurprisingly, you can only process a few things simultaneously in your short term memory.
Can't Hear Yourself Think?
Your short-term memory is constantly managing the inordinate amount of data that you’re subjected to from the outside world on a moment by moment basis. Everything you see, hear, smell, taste, feel and try to consciously think about is simultaneously being interpreted by your short-term memory. Imagine how challenging it can be to process this amount of data purely through the transmission of data across your neurons using neurotransmitters.
Your brain then has to filter your experiences and decide which of the data needs to be stored in the long-term memory. The one which actually has a physical storage location in the hippocampus. Now that’s a lot of decision-making to make in a very short period of time.
So, if you’ve ever experienced the feeling of sensory overload; perhaps you were in a loud place, or in a meeting when many people are trying to project their ideas at the same time and you have what feels like a brain freeze. You may even have said “Can I just have a moment of quiet? I can’t hear myself think!” This is your short-term memory speaking, as it feels the overwhelm from data overload and the attempt to process too much data at the same time.
Constant Data Overload Is Stressful
It doesn’t take a genius to understand that operating in environments where there exists the potential for constant data overload will, most probably, increase our stress levels.
What’s more, those stress levels trigger new chemicals or neurotransmitters in the brain. And unsurprisingly, the brain can become used to those stress chemicals and you may even become addicted to feeling them; feeling abnormal if they’re not there.
It’s a great argument for giving yourself some quiet ‘alone-time’ every single day to replenish and relax your ever-moving short term memory.
Where is your quiet place?
If you don’t have one, create one. Go there every day and leave your phone, and everything else, outside.
Why Is My Phone in The Fridge?
What’s more, because the short term memory is in constant use, even when we’re sleeping, it’s working. It can be quite chaotic with all the information coming and going, filtering and processing. It’s only meant for rapid processing and it can certainly make mistakes.
Have you ever put your mobile phone in the fridge, or the milk in a cupboard? Have you ever walked into a room and then asked yourself “what did I come in here for?”
Miller Law - 7 +/- 2
In the 1950s, George Miller conducted many experiments and came to the conclusion that we can hold a variation of between 5 and 9 things in our memory at one time. Hence, the 7 +/- 2.
Current research (2018) suggests that our short term memory can hold a maximum of 4 items simultaneously. We manage this limited capacity by chunking. For example, when I was studying history at school it was far easier to remember the names of Henry VIII’s wives by the manner in which they died: Divorced, beheaded, died / Divorced, beheaded, survived.
Mnemonics, are very powerful memory tools indeed and those which rhyme, or that you can sing can be even more so. The auditory or sound anchor gives us another tag with which to ‘jog’ our memory. They help us by chunking the material, so that we can remember more.
If you grew up in the UK you might remember The Generation Game. One of the tasks was to remember all the items moving past you on a conveyor belt in order to win the grand prize. Quite easy when you’re sitting in the stress-free environment of your living room. Less so when you’re the one under stress on TV.
How To Use This Information To Improve Meetings
- Keep meetings short and focus on one topic. Be ruthless about keeping people ‘on-topic’.
- Keep phones off the table and out of sight.
- Be clear about the purpose of the meeting and the expected outcomes.
- Pre-frame everyone by email in advance and send as much information to ensure meetings are for discussion and decision-making, rather than information.
- Only involve relevant people.
- Use meeting facilitators for longer meetings. An independent facilitator keeps their eye on the time, the focus purposeful and ensures everyone contributes.
- Know your team. Some people operate most effectively when they physically connect in meetings. Others don’t need the physical proximity and an email or phone call can deliver equally high quality outcomes. Know your team.
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