10 effective ways to get smarter

1. Use your brain

Not literally, of course. If you have ever thought that, with some effort, you could become a little smarter than you are now, then this is already good. Reflecting on the development of intellectual abilities is the first step towards a goal.

Be more curious, constantly learn new things, figure out how the processes of interest to you function, get to the bottom of the incomprehensible things. You will be amazed at how much of the unknown surrounds you.

How to do it

Engage your brain in useful work, switch from the usual routine to something that you have not done before. Learning new skills will help your brain become more flexible and positively affect your mental performance.

2. Read books

It is scientifically proven that reading not only expands vocabulary and horizons, but also helps to develop the imagination of David Comer Kidd, Emanuele Castano. … … Reading books, we plunge into a new world and experience those emotions that we could hardly feel in reality. If you want to improve your emotional intelligence, read more good literature. This is one of the most powerful ways to improve brain function.

How to do it

Sign up for a library, purchase a subscription to a service where you can read books online, make a list of books that you have wanted to read for a long time, but never got around to it. Make it a goal to read at least one book a month.

3. Unleash your emotions

There is emotional intelligence, which helps us to control and manage our feelings, and there is rational intelligence, which is responsible for our ability to think systematically. As a rule, more attention is usually paid to rational intelligence, and this is not entirely true.

To feel comfortable, you need to remember about the emotional component, which can help you learn to adapt to constant changes and quickly solve emerging problems.

How to do it

Don't be afraid to talk about how you feel. If you are unhappy with something at work or at home, tactfully let others know about it so that you can work together to solve the problem. Of course, it is not always possible to find a solution, but at least you will not keep the negative in yourself forever.

4. Do the opposite

This method may seem rather absurd to someone, but it is quite effective. Try brushing your teeth with the wrong hand. Try to hold the mouse in your other hand. Can you?

When we make small changes to our usual actions, our brain is forced to think about how, taking into account all the changes, to get the same result as before. This has a beneficial effect on its functioning.

How to do it

Challenge your brain and make it look for unexpected solutions. Take a new route to work, learn to navigate using maps in an unfamiliar city, talk to your friends in the language you are learning.

5. Leave the search engines alone

We look for information every day and don't even think about how easy it is for us to get it and how quickly it disappears from our heads. Just a couple of clicks - and we already have answers to all your questions.

The Internet is, of course, the easiest way to find the information you need. But it makes our brain incredibly lazy, because we no longer need to think about the fact that we do not know something.

How to do it

Try at least for a while to give up search engines, automatic translators, converters and calculators. Try to do the math in your head, look up the answer in a book, or count the expenses in a column. Yes, it will take much longer, but it will make your brain work, and you - to be more careful with information.

6. Play mind games

Brain stimulation games and programs are usually developed by neuropathologists and cognitive psychologists specifically to improve the functioning of different parts of the brain. You can find a variety of games: some develop memory, others - attentiveness, still others improve orientation in space, and still others teach you to concentrate.

How to do it

Think about how you would like to pump your brain. Want to train your memory? Play games that teach you to memorize different sequences. Want to become more observant? Play games in which you need to search for various items. You can choose how to train your brain yourself.

7. Talk to yourself

Many consider self-talk as a sign of an unstable mental state, but, as has recently been proven, they largely stimulate brain activity M. Buschkuehl, J. Jonides, W. J. Perrig. … …

When you talk to yourself, you learn to organize and simplify information, which often helps you solve problems more effectively. Of course, it will be better if you still do not talk to yourself in some public places, but at home it is quite possible.

How to do it

Read aloud, say tongue twisters, memorize poetry, or sing songs. If you are trying to remember something, then try to retell it to yourself as if you are trying to explain an incomprehensible thing to a stranger. Present information in different ways: as if you are talking to a colleague, or as if you are communicating with a child. This technique allows you to better assimilate and understand information.

8. Learn to formulate thoughts concisely

This is where social media can come to the rescue. For example, on the social network Twitter, you can only leave a post that contains no more than 140 characters. It turns out that using Twitter, we learn to organize information and express our thoughts clearly and concisely.

If you do not want to share your thoughts on social networks, then you can just take a piece of paper, draw a figure on it and write down your thoughts without going beyond its boundaries.

How to do it

Create a Twitter account, find a piece of paper or open notes on your phone, decide what boundaries you want to set for yourself, and start writing. You can do this at any convenient time to distract yourself a little.

9. Learn languages

When we learn a new language, our brain is actively working: we train our memory by memorizing new words, we learn something that we have not done before, while training our conversational skills, we try to think in another language. All this sometimes helps to look at the world differently.

The brain of a person who speaks several languages works much more efficiently than the brain of those who speak only one language.

How to do it

Find services and applications that make learning foreign languages easy and enjoyable. There are many resources out there to help you start learning a new language. Remember to practice your speaking skills and be sure to find a native speaker with whom you can correspond or communicate in person.

10. Surround yourself with smart people

The environment sometimes affects us much more than we would like. Therefore, surround yourself with people who will help you become more aware of those issues that you do not understand.

How to do it

Expand your circle of friends and meet people from whom you can learn something good. You can also join some community of interests and find friends there.

We hope you will adopt a couple of methods from this article.