For those of you looking to up your creativity and productivity as
you make yourself smarter, then this list of brain-improving activities
and ideas is for you. In fact, some of you might have already tried one
or two of these activities, but hopefully some others will surprise you.
And, of course, I’d love it if you could leave your own ideas after the
article, in case I missed any other good ones.
Learn a Foreign Language
Language acquisition is a very complex process, one that we most
often go through as babies and young children when our brains are still
developing. A way to again create a similar development in our brains is
to try to learn a new language when we are adults. Doing so will give
us a complicated task that will train our minds in new ways, while also
reinforcing our own understanding of our native tongue. It essentially sharpens our brains and helps us withstand memory problems as we age.
Create a Reading List
Reading lists give us a way to target our learning by helping us to
focus on the kinds of information that we consume. We can create reading
lists by subject area, by region or culture, and by time period in
human history. Any sort of focused reading will allow us to delve into
concepts to help us have a much better understanding, which helps our
brain focus on complex tasks.
Appreciate Culture
Another way to make yourself smart is to broaden your understanding
of culture, such as the fine arts. Watch movies, visit art galleries,
listen to music; cover your own culture or another culture. This kind of
appreciation for culture can expand your mind in ways that you don’t
often do, most likely, at your job. Understanding the arts will help you
understand how and why society’s sometimes act the way they do. Plus
you’ll be able to have great conversations at parties.
Get Enough Sleep
Have you ever tried to drive when you’ve had a bad night’s sleep?
Scary, right? Well, think of how not getting enough sleep can also
affect your mind’s activity. Sleeping at night gives our brain cells
rest so that they can recharge and clear our heads. Research, such as
that in this article,
shows that sleep will actually increase your brain’s ability to
function, thus making you smarter and able to process new concepts.
Eat and Drink Healthy
Eating and drinking healthy gives your body the nourishment it needs
to keep your brain in top shape. Furthermore, certain kinds of nutrients
can actually increase your neurons ability to function faster and more
efficiently. For example, this article
reports that food rich in magnesium can prevent migraines and food rich
in vitamin B12 can prevent loss of brain function in the elderly.
Engage in Social Networking
When you work to make social connections, either online or in real
life, you train your brain’s ability to understand the web of
connections between different people and where they come from. Plus it
will help you develop your ability to keep peoples’ faces with their
names and remember who they are. In fact, recent studies
on prisoners kept in solitary confinement show that brain activity had
slowed so dramatically as to mirror the brain activity of someone with
severe head trauma!
Play Video Games
Several recent scientific studies have shown that playing a certain
kind of video game can help you become smarter, because the video games
often train your hand-eye coordination, while also forcing you to use
your critical decision making skills to traverse the often now extremely
complicated worlds in these video games. Researchers in the UK found that children who played a brain training video game daily for 10 weeks actually dramatically improved their math scores.
Seek Out Educational Content Online
The internet can be a great source of distraction, but it also has a
wonderful amount of educational resources to choose from. Often, many
universities upload videos of lectures from their courses and visiting
speakers. There are also many sites that allow you to take free classes,
such as MIT’s OpenCourseWare programs. These resources can help you
supplement your knowledge of certain topics, whether they are related to
your career or your personal hobbies.
Watch Smart Television
Of course, I don’t mean you should watch crazy reality television.
No, instead, you should watch educational channels such as The Discovery
Channel or the History Channel, as these will often present in-depth
documentaries about all manner of interesting subjects. You can also get
away with watching intense and complex dramas or other fictional shows,
as the often complicated plot lines and relationships between
characters will force you to exercise your brain as you track all of the
drama. According to the author Steven Johnson, several television shows can increase the viewers “mental acuity.”
Solve Brain Puzzles
Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of brain teasers and
other puzzles, like crossword puzzles and numbers puzzles. While some
scoff at these kinds of exercises, they really can help you, especially
if you are looking for a way to pass the time on a plane flight. It’s
better to train your brain than to sit in the seat and watch the latest
romantic comedy. The Mayo Clinic says that these puzzles will especially keep your brain going through into old age.
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