Many people are obsessed with improving their cognitive abilities to become more efficient, smarter, and more successful in their field. They are constantly looking for new ways to make their brains work, but not everyone finds them.
Realizing the importance of a productive lifestyle, we decided to talk about the most effective methods on how to pump up your brain and achieve high results in intellectual activity - from remembering someone’s name at a party to mastering the economic patterns of the stock market.
- FAQs 5 habits that are dangerous for the brain (you need to get rid of them urgently) The brain is one of the most important organs in your body.
So, here is a meaningful guide that will not allow your brain to become mothballed. Pay attention.
Try to improve your diet
Nutrition is one of the common weaknesses of IT specialists and creative people. Did you have breakfast again at 15.00 with corn from a can? But the brain needs enough protein and the right fats. The brain is one of the most energy-consuming organs. Products containing Omega-3 are especially important for mental performance. Lean on fatty fish. At least in canned form. This will not only help you think better, but also prevent the development of depression and reduce your stress response. Eat regularly, enough, varied and balanced.
Start your morning with pleasant rituals
If thoughts about a difficult project have been tormenting you for quite a long time, then getting up in the morning is sometimes very difficult. You know the day has come again and there's that protracted work involved. The mood is not the coolest. Therefore, rearrange your morning schedule - plan to get up an hour earlier than usual and do something pleasant for yourself at this time. This will both distract you and help give you a positive outlook for the day.
Developing imagination
How to develop your brain to its fullest? Ask yourself questions that have never occurred to you. Try to prove or disprove the existence of:
- ceiling lamp gnaw;
- aliens;
- computers that experience emotions.
If you are into some creative activities like drawing or writing short stories (or even large ones), then try doing a few works on a complex non-existent topic. Describe your picture of the apocalypse (for example, what will happen to Moscow if it is captured by pigeons? Or grannies at the entrances?), try to draw non-existent things.
The fact is that when our brain is given unusual tasks, it begins to search in the bins of memory for all the information that in one way or another relates to this issue. At this time, new neural connections are established between different parts and cells of the brain, which makes it easy to improve your own mental abilities.
Get inspired
There are many professional resources where you can easily get references, train your observation skills and good taste. If you look at them periodically, you will always have a desire to introduce some new feature into the project. Here you can see the links: “15 sites for web designer inspiration.”
But don’t forget about other sources of inspiration - the best things come to us at the intersection of disciplines or from other areas altogether. Notice interesting patterns in everyday things, transfer them to your project.
Physical exercise
If possible, you should exercise regularly. At a minimum, give yourself active breaks, practice a five-minute warm-up instead of scrolling through social networks. We can talk for a long time about the benefits and necessity of sports in life. What you at least need to know in the context of today’s topic is that without regular physical activity, overall performance and brain activity decrease, and the risk of depression increases.
Learn new things
Just like muscles, the brain needs to be trained. You learn poker combinations, but in fact you have made your brain more plastic. Learning new things helps you stay creative. It also prevents Alzheimer's disease. In this regard, the most effective activities are learning foreign languages and playing a musical instrument.
And if the ukulele becomes just a pleasant addition to your image, then knowledge of English or Chinese will be very useful in your work. Well, don’t forget about studying new products in your professional field, this is also a powerful workout for your brain. Watch our premieres! It's free and useful. Here, for example, is a good one: “How to make a lot of money as a web designer: tactics, tricks, nuances.”
Plan and write everything down
Planning is a very good habit. If you write a plan for the next day, the brain automatically relieves itself of the responsibility for remembering the routine. Of course, you won’t forget him, but you will stress less. It may seem like a small thing, but research shows huge benefits. And crossing small completed tasks off the to-do list also motivates.
After writing down tasks and plans, another useful habit usually appears on its own - writing down ideas.
2.Time management
Time management is the most important skill for a freelancer; you can’t do without it. Try not just to plan, but to do it with an emphasis on effectively using your internal resources.
To activate the brain, there is a simple and very popular “Pomodoro” method, invented by the Italian Francesco Cirillo. It is based on a simple approach - focus on a task for 25 minutes, then take a short break (3-5 minutes) and repeat. And once an hour take a break a little longer (10-20 minutes). To do this, use a kitchen timer or an application with the same functionality. You train your attention, become more disciplined and train yourself to turn on your brain when it clicks.
Digital detox
There is too much information noise around. Most likely, during breaks from work you “relax” on social networks, games or watching TV series. And this actually uses other areas of the brain, giving a feeling of relaxation. But this is only an illusion - the continuous flow of information leads to stress.
It's important to give yourself breaks from the digital world. This means you need to give up any artificial sources of information for a short time. No background music and especially no TV. Start with an hour a day of such unloading. Experts advise turning off everything an hour or two before bedtime. You can go without the Internet for a day on weekends.
Challenge yourself
Once a month, a new challenge or a useful habit - get a tracker and mark the days. Try to live 21 days without sugar, get up a couple of hours earlier for a week in a row, organize a marathon of reading stories, cooking new dishes for dinner, drawing with felt-tip pens, photography.
The main rule here is that you don’t need everything at once, otherwise you will quickly become deflated and tired. And don’t set too difficult goals either, start small. This will shake up both your brain and your body, give you more impressions, novelty and expand your boundaries.
The idea for the challenge is to complete the online intensive “Vector graphics in web design in 4 weeks.”
View training program
