SMARTEN UP @ THE ADULT SCHOOL
October 3, 2019
Rose Bennett Gilbert

Think your memory's not so good? Forget about tying a string around your finger. Memory maven Marc Sky has a better use for that index finger: point it at whatever you're trying to remember. Such as, where you put your car keys.

"The problem is not your memory," says Marc. "It's absent-mindedness. You're not paying attention to such a routine thing as dropping your keys or glasses or phone. The solution: "Focus on what you are doing. Step back and take a second to register what you're doing. Pointing at it will freeze it in your mind."

On Oct. 17, Marc will be sharing other "Superpower Memory" tips in a 90-minute session at the South Orange-Maplewood Adult School. A professional consultant who frequently lectures at corporate workshops and sales-training sessions, Marc says he discovered his psychic gifts as a boy growing up in Vineland.

"Playing hide-and-seek I always knew where the other kids were hiding," he reports. "It took the fun out of it for the other kids. They got so they didn't want to play with me." Once grown-ups started calling attention to his gift, "which was as natural as breathing to me," Marc set out to develop his psychic powers. Now he says he can even use his mind to move objects (and will teach others how-to in another Adult School class, "Psychic Reading," on Oct. 29. It's a psychic trick that is "more entertaining than useful," he admits.)

No so with Marc's tips on how to remember important things, like to-do lists, homework assignments, names and faces, "so important, especially to sales people." His three-step process will work for everyone who's convinced themselves that they have a bad memory for names: 1. Listen intently when you are introduced. 2. Repeat the name out loud. "How nice to meet you, (person's name)." 3. Say the name again to yourself "as if your life depends on it."

If it's an unusual name -- these days we meet many people from other countries, Marc points out -- "Spend time talking about their name. Let it be a topic of conversation. The other person will be flattered, and you will find it easy to remember them and their name."

Whatever it takes to trigger your memory, use it, says Marc. He's all for Post-Its, cell phone reminders, and any kind of mnenonic device (his own phone number ends in numbers that correspond to "E.S.P"). To help remember a to-do or shopping list, Marc creates a chain memory of outlandish associations. Say, you're going to the bank, then to the store for a quart of milk? Picture that quart of milk sitting in your safety deposit box.

What about so-called memory-enhancing supplements? "There's no magic pill, but some things can help," Marc believes. Not ginko biloba, once recommended but now proven useless as a memory booster. On his Yes list: fish oil ("Just a normal dosage; don't go crazy!"), folic acid -- get it in leafy greens, like spinach and broccoli; and aerobic exercise. "Tests show that once you get your pulse beating faster -- climbing the stairs, or cycling -- the good effects last six hours."

There's only one no-no in Marc's prescription for a better memory: multi-tasking. "People really cannot multi-task. You need to focus on one thing at a time. Focus! Then move on to the next thing."

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Rose Gilbert no longer ties a string around her finger after interviewing unforgettable March Sky.

'SUPERPOWER MEMORY' CLASS (DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP)