A proven method for memorizing a sequence of tasks is the mental anchoring of each item in a specific location within a space—the technique of loci. For example, you want to remember that you still have three emails to answer. You choose the entrance door of the room as your location. You mentally visualize the door opening, your computer's Outlook system appearing, and it calling out to you: "You still have three emails to answer!" Or, you want to remember to make a doctor's appointment. On the empty wall of the room, you visualize a video of the doctor in a white coat with a stethoscope, waving to you and saying: "Make an appointment with me!" If you create a short imaginary film or image for each task and anchor it in a specific location within the room, you can effortlessly remember ten tasks, as in the example.

The art of this technique lies in developing the right images and stories. This can be practiced. Generally, when mentally walking through the room, one should always start at the entrance door. Numbers can also be transformed into images.

For example, if you need to remember the PIN number 1385, you can translate the individual digits into images. For instance, 1 = candle, 3 = three-legged stool, 8 = pretzel, and 5 = hand. Then you can create a little story: The candle is standing on a stool, on which lies a pretzel. I pick up the pretzel, take a bite, and clap my hands because it's so delicious.

Combining thinking and movement is also a useful way to train memory. The four words "I am in top shape" are associated with touching the knee, hip, and shoulder, or with raising the arm. The sentence "I am in top shape!" is expressed by patting the shoulder, raising the arm, touching first the hip and then the knee.

Coordinated hand movements also keep the brain active, because "finger exercises are brain exercises." Typing, similar to typing on a keyboard or piano, and moving the fingers of both hands asynchronously or in a specific, imagined sequence, promotes alertness.

Another exercise for the participants involved reading aloud the words red, yellow, green, and blue. However, the color of the written words did not correspond to the word itself. The word "RED" could be written in yellow or blue ink, and the task was to pronounce it as "yellow" or "blue.".

This exercise, in which you have to suppress the word you read in favor of recognizing the color, is quite tiring in the long run – you automatically take a short break now and then and relax by laughing briefly or taking a breath.

Concentration and relaxation are intrinsically linked. Anyone who feels they can't concentrate well should relax. Afterwards, concentration will improve.