To improve your sense of direction, lose the technology

Are you one of those people who get lost in walk-in closets? Do you build in extra travel time to account for getting lost? Is your sense of direction like a weather vane spinning in strong winds?

For the directionally challenged, getting from Point A to Point B can be a frustrating, time-wasting ordeal. If the idea of trying to get someplace unfamiliar makes you anxious, fear not: Experts say there are steps you can take to improve your sense of direction.

 Create a mental map

Review a map of your proposed route before heading out, and perhaps even trace it with your finger, Dr Brendan Kelley, a neurologist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said in an email. It will help provide context for the route. Once you arrive, review the map and the route you traveled to reinforce the memory of how you got there.

By reviewing a map before your travel, you can take note of “handrails” — landmarks such as bodies of water, stores and streets — that will visually guide you, Ben G Oliver, director of outdoor education at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, said in an interview.

Be mindful of place

Stop and enjoy the scenery. Set your phone to vibrate every 15 minutes to remind you to note where you are, Richard S Citrin, an organisational psychologist from Pittsburgh, said in an email.

Put the technology away

Experts say that technology like GPS devices or apps on smartphones can be crutches that inhibit the development of a better sense of direction.
The devices can be good “adaptive strategies” to navigate to unfamiliar places, Kelley said. However, it can be challenging to learn on our own if we rely too heavily on them.

Figure out where north is Sue Barry, professor emeritus of biological sciences and neuroscience at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, said in an interview that her sense of direction was “really quite pathetic.” She understood what was at her point of origin and what was at her destination, but had no understanding of what was in between or how the two points related to each other.
Her husband, Dan, an engineer, was inspired by a 2007 article in Wired magazine that described the “feelSpace belt,” which was outfitted with a power supply and 13 vibrating pads. A sensor detected Earth’s magnetic field, and whichever pad pointed north would buzz to alert the person wearing the belt.

As a Mother’s Day gift in 2010, Barry’s husband embedded compass circuitry into a sun hat. The circuitry was connected by a wire to a battery-powered motor, which she would hold in her hand or tuck into the hat. When she was pointing north, the motor would buzz.

It offered a tactile sense of where north was, she said, adding that the experiment had left her with a greater sense of “connectiveness to the Earth.” She said she started to gain an awareness of where she was in relation to streets, buildings and landmarks.

She also began to use the position of the sun and her shadow to plot north. She now carries a compass, and when she has difficulty sleeping, she works on building a “spatial memory” by mentally re-creating her trip and mapping what buildings appear in what order.