subject: The Power Of The Mind: Strengthen Yours With These Tips [print this page] It is perhaps a by-product of the accessibility of knowledge brought on by the internet that there should be such a massive amount of brain training solutions to be found on it. The glut of packages claiming to be brain training tools shows how readily we have accepted the need for this term to exist in the first place. The fact is that many of us recognize that there is work to be done in expanding the efficiency of our immediate brainpower. There are several ways to do this, and heres a concise list of those most readily practicable during the work commute, or to be worked around your daily schedule. A little perseverance and youll soon see the results for yourself, in your working life and in all other situations.
Crosswords: Though they might seem a little tame, good crosswords are all about mental flexibility and perseverance with a problem. Starting with the quick crosswords, youll soon see that your vocabulary is stored in levels of readiness, through which you must sift in a way you arent used to doing. Also, there are fewer pleasures to match that of finally filling a persistent gap in a crossword puzzle. Thankfully, many websites offer free crosswords (guardian.co.uk are especially fun) which you can save as a PDF and print out at your leisure.
Language Tagging: When learning a new language, especially one which you dont have the privilege of regular verbal practice, it is often hard to train your mind to remember simple concrete nouns, such as the words for utensils, furniture, foodstuffs, etc.. Try a week of giving one of each household item in your home a label with its name in the language youre learning. A labelling tool is cheap and gives the labels a uniformity that will stick out in the mind (especially with coloured labels). Even at the end of seven days, youll be much more ready to use your new language to describe your immediate surroundings. You could invest in a label printer to help you learn long term.
Memory Exercises: Since the advent of the internet, the amount of factual knowledge we need to have mentally at hand has significantly increased: we are less inclined to learn things verbatim, and therefore our capacity is weakened. Turn this around with a memorizing challenge pairing all the capital cities and countries in Europe, football trivia anything where you are forced to hold and reproduce exact information in your mind. Youll be amazed at how well this works after a little practice.
Logic and Problem Solving: Not everyone is blessed with a logical mind, and if youre of the vast numbers who are not, youll know that the effort of thinking logically can sometimes be incredibly strenuous. A great exercise is the chess problem, those artificial scenarios where you have to win checkmate in a certain number of moves. Many websites offer chess problems for free; print out a suitable problem and serve yourself up a real logic battle all you need is a printer and some brain power! The element of play should tether you to the exercise long enough to see some benefit!
Numerical Memory: This is something you can do anywhere you find yourself, and it will greatly improve your ability to treat numbers as memorable information, improving your efficiency in working with figures. Start by learning the date of a historical event (Birth of Einstein, 1879), giving you command over the fours. increase the size of the figures you need to remember, such as the first digits of Pi: 3.14159, or a list of home numbers. The deeper you go in memorizing numbers the greater the figure you can hold in your head at any one time.
Pick whichever of these tests suits you first, and set yourself a target. Dont be afraid to move slowly here, or to race ahead if youve got a taste for it - improving your mental capacity is all about patience and tenacity. It wont happen overnight, but without a doubt youll begin to experience a heightened flexibility of mind if you give just one of these puzzles a concerted try.
