Episode 61

Could workplace stress be affecting your memory? Have you found yourself asking someone: “What’s your name?” What are some tips that can help you manage this stress and improve your retention?

Host(s): Jonathan Saar from Market Me Social and Mark Howell from Howl Creative Concepts

Show Highlights

We have all done it. Walked into a room, stood there, and realized we had absolutely no clue as to why we went there in the first place. What about you? Do you feel like your brain is a little fuzzier than usual? Take comfort; you are not alone! 

A recent article on LinkedIn highlighted that stress can damage our memories. Considering we are coming out of what is probably the most stressful past two years, it stands to reason that we are all struggling to keep our thoughts straight. This article will drill down on some of the triggers that can up our stress and share tips that we personally use to give our brains the breaks they genuinely deserve.

Key Questions/Topics Covered

Let’s talk about workplace stress and forgetfulness

The pandemic didn’t do us any favors as far as stress is concerned. As we slowly move out from the Covid shadow, workplace stress may be be lessened, but it will still exist. Our world has this crazy expectation that we need to remember every little thing. Every person’s name we have ever met. Every story we have ever been told. It just isn’t realistic. If anything, it just adds to our stress which in turn increases our forgetfulness. Face it; we can only cram so much information into our brains at any given time before it starts waving a white flag.

Here is a funny but eye-opening experience I had that really illustrates this. It was a few months back, and I was under a considerable amount of stress. I had just finished another marathon work session when I got up to go to the kitchen to get some water from the fridge. I didn’t make it. Instead, I found myself at the front door with my thermos pressed firmly to it, expecting it would somehow dispense water.

After I was done laughing at myself, I got to thinking: How many other things had I forgotten? I was a living example of the connection between stress and forgetfulness. It made me realize that there has to be a better way. Simply put, we need to reduce our stress and boost our memory skills. But how?

Mark’s tips and tricks to help you remember and stay on track

Mark meets an innumerable amount of people while training or at conventions. Is it possible for him to remember every individual’s name? Of course not! But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t try. The first tip he shared is that he immediately sets a precedent whenever he engages with a large audience, which is a stress reliever in itself. He simply states that he will do his absolute best to remember everyone’s name, but if he happens to forget to, he asks that people please share where they are from or perhaps the conversation that took place to help jog his memory.

Another trick Mark uses is to try and relate the person to a familiar person in his life; for Mark, it’s usually a movie character. He also tries to remember something that stood out to him—a piece of clothing or certain mannerisms or comments that the person made. These little mental exercises have proven to help him retain information.

Mark is also a huge proponent of effective time management.