How to make your brain work faster?
Our brain is a living organ and in which phenomena absolutely essential for our daily life occur.
If we make a metaphor with the computer world, we could say that the human brain is the CPU that governs and controls all the processes of the computer equipment, that is, of our body, our mental processes, our physiological, neurochemical processes…
In short, the brain is the executive organ that allows us to live, think, move, perceive through the senses and carry out any activity in our daily life.
There are a number of tricks and techniques to make your brain faster and more productive. Unfortunately, we often don’t pay much attention to the agility with which our neurons interact, and we repeat habits that negatively affect our brain health.
In this post we are going to answer the question ‘’How to make your brain work faster?’’ We will give you some tips that will help you maximize your mental agility.
How to make your brain work faster?.
- Get enough sleep.
- Eat the right foods
- Get moderate exercise.
- Make time to clear your mind.
- Learn something new. …
- Take some time off.
Having a good intellectual capacity and maintaining mental acuity is very important in all moments of life, not only during studies or in professional life. In all cases, a good memory depends on the health and vitality of the brain. But gray matter ages, just like the rest of the body.
The good news is that it is also possible to exercise the brain to keep it healthy and realize its potential, even improve it.
The human brain has an amazing ability to adapt and change, even in old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. Thanks to it, if properly stimulated, the brain can form new neural connections, alter existing connections and adapt to change.
First, experts say that you always have to keep learning something different. The good news is that this is inevitable: a lot of information comes to our minds every day, even if we don’t realize it.
And, as the phrase “you always learn something new.” From a street to how to prepare a dish, going through a word in another language to a rule of a sport, all this can go a long way to speed up your mind.
If you also pay attention to the following tips and comply with some of them, you can constantly learn and also keep your mind on the wonderful task of exploring and incorporating many things every day.
1. Use your “weak” hand
If you are right-handed, use your left-hand and vice versa. Spend a whole day (or at least an hour) doing things with your “non-dominant” hand. Open the door, try to write, use the keys, grab a spoon, all with your opposite hand. It will be a lot of fun and also with this simple task your brain will have to think in a different way than it is used to, establishing new connections in turn.
You will also have to “rethink” before sending the signals to the upper or lower limbs, something that you do not do often and that allows you to exercise a more forgotten sector. Put the watch on the other wrist to remember the rest of the change of hands in your housework.
2. Enjoy mind games
They are a great way to get your brain moving. For example, crosswords, sudoku, electronic games such as “brain training”, questions and answers, multiple choice, word search, etc.
All these games are great to speed up your mind, to increase it and at the same time have the ability to memorize more information. It is that they are based on logic and abilities (such as being mathematical or verbal). And there is no doubt that they are beyond fun.
Put aside the television a bit and get a magazine of puzzle games, it will be good for you and another for your brain. You get a lot of benefit for just 15 minutes a day.
3. Feed your brain
As with your body, your mind also needs to be well fed. Eat fats, but healthy ones. That is, those that contain fish (mainly salmon), dried fruits (especially walnuts) and virgin oils (such as olive or linseed).
Do not stop consuming them in your daily diet and reduce bad fats, that is, saturated ones. Eliminate all trans-fatty acids from your eating plan because they are not good for either the body or the brain.
4. Visit different sites
Do not always go the same way, be it on foot, by car or by bus. If possible, try to cross other corners, change the public transport line, get off earlier, or choose the side streets instead of the Avenues. It is a small change to the routine that will serve you for many things, from not getting bored to or from work to helping the brain to practice what is called “spatial memory.”
In addition you will learn new addresses and you will know places that otherwise not. Try even to change the sidewalk and change the order in which you go to a store. Instead of always going down a street with buildings, look for one that has parks or low houses.
5. Acquire a new skill
This will put your multiple brain areas into action. Memory is the one that will come into play, in addition to other benefits. You will in turn learn new movements, you will associate data and information about various things in a different way.
Learn to cook, take a language course, go to a dance class, a pottery class, a literature class. If you like to read novels, choose essays or vice versa.
Everything serves to “challenge” your brain and offer it new things to think about
Learning is considered as an aspect of neuronal plasticity, since it is the modification of the behavior of the person, based on previous experiences; This indicates that the brain learns and due to its plasticity it is modified, producing synaptic changes of an anatomical and functional order.
In this way, it is shown that through the learning of new skills, neuronal plasticity allows changes at the brain level.
Both the changes and the plasticity of the brain will help to maintain an agile mind. It should be remembered that the brain is a muscle, therefore, the more we train it, the more fit and agile it will be.
6. Break the routine
As mentioned above, it is good from time to time to change what is done “out of habit”. The more we get used to a task the more it becomes ingrained and the brain doesn’t have to do much to finish or carry it out.
If you really want to help your mind and keep it young, you need to challenge it to new challenges. Anything that forces your brain to wake up and let go of habits is welcome. You will have no choice but to pay more attention.
7. Learn useful phone numbers
Because of smartphones, people no longer remember the phone number of their parents, their partner, their best friend.
Everything is in that device. This is a wonderful activity to exercise the mind. You can streamline your mind by learning a new number each day, but being careful not to forget the old one.
8. Make lists
Streamlining your mind has never been easier than with lists, really wonderful because they help you relate one piece of information to another.
For example, create a list with the places you have traveled, the most delicious foods you have tried, the best gifts you have received, the names of your future children, etc. You don’t have to write it down on paper, the best place there is better to be “saved” in your memory.
9. Meditation
Although meditation is an ancient art and has been discredited on multiple occasions, it is actually a practice that improves our ability to concentrate and our memory.
Some brain regions develop better and information can be processed more quickly and efficiently. Meditation also prevents stress, which is a limiting factor when it comes to acquiring new learning.
10. Manage stress
Stress is one of the worst enemies of the brain. Over time, if left unchecked, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones. Relaxation techniques are very useful for this.
In addition to stress, depression, anxiety, and chronic worry are also detrimental to the brain and brainpower. In fact, some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety include trouble concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things.
11. Think positively
The Pygmalion Effect alerts us that if we propose that we will be able to achieve our objectives and goals, we are building the bridge so that our wishes can come true. On the contrary, those people who firmly believe that they are not capable of carrying out any project, it is very difficult for them to carry it out.
This is what is known as a limiting belief. To achieve a goal, it is important to think that we will be capable so that we have confidence in our possibilities and our attitude is focused on doing our best to achieve it.
In this post we answered the question ‘’How to make your brain work faster?’’ We gave you some tips that will help you maximize your mental agility.
If you have any questions or comments please let us know!
References
Cosgrove, K.P.; Mazure, C.M.; Staley, J.K. (2007). “Evolving knowledge of sex differences in brain structure, function, and chemistry”. Biol Psychiatry.
Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2008). Exercising your brain: A review of human brain plasticity and training-induced learning. Psychology and Aging, 23(4), 692–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014345
Al-Thaqib, A., Al-Sultan, F., Al-Zahrani, A., Al-Kahtani, F., Al-Regaiey, K., Iqbal, M., & Bashir, S. (2018). Brain Training Games Enhance Cognitive Function in Healthy Subjects. Medical Science Monitor Basic Research, 24, 63–69. https://doi.org/10.12659/msmbr.909022
