Thanks to television, radio, and the Internet, everyone is afflicted with information overload. And thanks to the anxiety caused by the frantic lives we lead, our capability to focus our thought processes, absorb information, and recall it later when needed has been shattered.

I would like you to consider this for a minute. As you sit there right now reading this expose, bits and pieces of information are entering your brain through your sense of sight. But you are also absorbing sounds, experiencing physical feelings like the force of the chair touching your butt and back, the touch of the clothing on your body, and the air temperature and movement on your skin. You are also in receipt of data by way of your nose in the form of aromas. And of course, you're taking in information in the form of the various tastes on your lips.

And how about the emotional thoughts that you are presently feeling? That's also information that you're presently processing. We live in an information intensive world. Thanks to the Internet, almost no matter what a person might ever want to know is only a few clicks of the mouse away.

I recently read a piece that said that even in a calm and peaceful setting, we are bombarded by sixty thousand stimuli per second. And that's happening sixty seconds out of each and every minute, and sixty minutes out of each and every hour. And it goes on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, week in and week out for the length of our entire life.

And happens to be a big part of the problem. We are all suffering from "information overload." And that makes it very difficult to memorize all of the information that we want to memorize or need to remember.

All too often, while we are reading, we realize that our eyes have been traversing the sentences on the page, while our conscious mind has been off somewhere else on a tangent. When we get to the bottom of the page, we become aware of the fact that our eyes have seen the words, but we have no conscious remembrance of what we have just read. That's because our mind has been somewhere else mulling over a problem, or working out a scheme.

Today it's widespread to hear even young people state things like, "I'm having a senior moment." Regardless of your age, and whether you are a student, part of the work force, or a retired senior, I'm sure that you understand what I'm talking about. In our frenzied world it is often quite difficult to focus your attention.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS YOUR PROBLEM?

A. Your mind starts to meander as you read or study, and then all of a sudden you recognize that you have no idea what you've read.

B. When you are in a social environment and you are introduced to new friends, you find that you forget their names as quickly as you hear them.

C. You remember that you have a task to do in another room; however, as soon as you start to go to the other room you totally forget what that job is.

D. You are able to stay focused and understand new information. But when you take an exam, "Test Anxiety" rears its ugly head and causes a mental block, and you aren't able to recall the answers to the questions on the test that you in fact know.

The prime cause of a person's failure to focus their attention is that people are suffering from too much tension. And the prime cause of a mental block to recall is also tension. So it stands to reason that the more relaxed a person is, the better they will be able to focus their concentration, absorb information, and then be able to recall it at a later date.

Today, hypnosis and memory enhancement has become a popular topic. That's partly because hypnosis is a first rate instrument for causing a relaxed state of being. In fact, the very fundamental nature of the hypnotic state is relaxation. And as the mind becomes serene, the facility to keep the mind focused increases. Similarly, a tranquil mind enhances the facility to retain information, and remember it when it is needed.

Hypnotic memory improvement is a powerful modality for eliminating test anxiety and mental blocks. There are several hypnotic techniques that can be used to program a student with the positive expectancy of relaxation, self-reliance, and achievement while taking tests.

People can take a course on how to apply hypnosis simply and economically in the privacy of their own home by purchasing hypnotic CD's. It is easy to locate more information on hypnosis to improve memory and recall in the Hypnosis Article Index located on my website.

Alan B. Densky, CH has specialized in the practice of hypnosis and NLP since 1978. He offers self-hypnosis CD's for memory and recall enhancement. Visit his Neuro-VISION Hypnotherapy site for free resources & MP3 downloads, and his Video Hypnosis Blog for tips & tricks.