In todays article, I’m going to explain some basic ways you can start to think FASTER and CLEARER, so you can really focus and get more done. Your brain is a machine, and you CAN make it work better.
- Do you feel like it takes longer for you to learn new information or read a book than before?
- Does it take you longer to finish your work than usual?
- If it does, you should start working out your brain.
You go to the gym to train your muscles, so why wouldn’t you train the most important part of your body?
Why should we do that?
Why train your brain
By training your brain, you will:
- Avoid embarrassing situations – you what that feeling when you know a person’s face, you can remember when and where did you last saw them, but you can’t remember their name?
- Become a faster learner in every sort of skill – Wouldn’t it be phenomenal if you could learn a new language or new skills in just a few months? You could do it with a bit of practice.
- Avoid certain illnesses when older – In other words, it’s unlikely you’d get Alzheimer’s.
Activities that promote faster thinking
There ARE ways you can train your brain to think faster, clearer, and better.
Thees are proven methods and activities that are backed by science. People have been testing and practicing these things for a long time and they work.
Here they are:
1. Do something different and repeat it
By doing something for the first time over again, your brain wires paths that help you do it faster. It’s okay if you don’t have much faith in this, but we suggest you try it anyway.
This may sound silly, or like it would take too much time out of your life without any apparent benefit, but it really does work!
Can you just remember for a second, what is was like when you were a child?
You were able to hold a spoon and fork just fine, but when you needed to eat with it all by yourself, you probably created a big mess.
You repeated the process every day, and with time, you learned how to hold and use a spoon without breaking a sweat.
How does this apply to your life right now?
By doing something very small (something that you wouldn’t NORMALLY do) multiple times, your brain starts creating new pathways.
So don’t wait any longer, take a small step, and decide the skill you’d like to master. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated.
2. Learn something new
It may sound obvious, but the fact is that the more you use your brain, the better it’s going to perform for you. So, for example, learning to play a new instrument will improve your skill of translating.
How?
It’s as simple as translating something visual (something that you see), in this case, a sheet of music, to something you actually need to do, in this case, playing the instrument.
Learning a new language is also a great choice because it exposes your brain, pushing it to a different way of thinking. This also helps with learning different ways of expressing yourself.
It can be anything!
You can learn whatever you like, so enroll in that dance class or take Spanish lessons. Pick whatever you want, and make sure to stay curious.
3. Chew gum
Research shows that chewing gum increases blood flow enough to help you remember words faster. It’s a small hack, but one that’s very easy to do.
This is pretty handy in certain situations when you need to remember names, addresses, and more. The best part is that you will always have great breath. It sounds like a win-win situation.
4. Trust your instincts
Do you often find yourself in the situation when you can’t choose between two or more things?
For example, you’re at the supermarket and can’t decide among all the chocolates. The choice becomes that much harder to make the longer that you stand there.
If this happens to you often, you should stop thinking so much about it. Instead, you should trust your INSTINCTS. They know more than you can ‘think’.
If what bothers you are some more complicated choices, you should write a list.
Write a summary of the choices that you need to pick from, include the pros and cons for each, and choose the one that brings the most benefits.
By making a list, you can see the right choice easily so that it doesn’t take you as long to choose the next time. Either way, try to follow your gut feeling as it’s rarely ever wrong.
5. Work your memory
There are many ways in which you can do this. However, a popular example comes from a book called Creative Habits.
Find one performance video (people dancing based on choreography) on Youtube. Watch it once and try to remember the first 12 steps before writing it down.
Ask somebody to watch the same video and to do the same.
After watching it separately, talk about it with another person. Brain fitness studies have hugely supported the practice of remembering things that happened and discussing them with others.
If you’re into sports, you can do the same by choosing a video with a lot of complex action.
If you’re not into sports, you can, for example, visit a museum and ask a friend to go without you. You can then discuss what you saw or liked.
At this point, you’re probably wondering how this can help.
Memory activities such as receiving, remembering, and talking engage all levels of brain operation, helping to improve the function of the brain.
Another few ways to improve your memory are by playing memory games and solving puzzles. You might also want to consider trying a memory improvement stack of nootropics.
6. Spend time with loved ones
Meaningful relationships in your life create cognitive abilities.
Just talking with your loved ones or engaging with them will help you to think more clearly while lifting your mood. When your mood is high, that’s when you can make decisions faster.
If you’re extrovert, this is an even better way of training your brain.
Why?
Extroverts use talking with others to process and understand their thoughts.
7. Eat right – include dark chocolate
We all need some booster in our lives, and we can all agree that food is a big-time booster in an everyday routine. Food like fruit, and vegetables helps your brain to perform more optimally.
The best part is the fact that dark chocolate provides a quick boost of dopamine, improving brain functions.
Dopamine helps your brain to remember more and to think faster.
Luckily, you can test this at any time by just having a quick bite of dark chocolate when you need to decide something fast.
Now, this might not work right after you have chocolate. Instead, try to include a bit in your everyday diet, and you’ll notice some results over time.
You might also want to consider going plant based, if you have some time to look at the research around it, and the many benefits.
8. Work your body
You probably saw this coming, but exercise improves the fitness of your brain as well as the body. It’s actually pretty logical when you think about it.
When you work out for a certain period, you’ll be able to, for example, stretch more. The same happens in your brain.
By exercising, you’ll be able to use your brain better because it will work faster. You’ll also be able to get into FLOW state more easily.
You don’t need to hit the gym five times a week, or to work out for an hour to achieve this.
A simple 20-minute exercise will make it easier to process and remember information.
On top of that, when you exercise, your brain creates new pathways.
Now, if you’re not that regular with training, you can always try brain-training exercise programs. In other words, use apps to train your brain.
Still, it’s not as easy to think clearly at times, especially when you’re feeling down or stressed. If you have a hard time to focus, you should take a moment to relax and deal with your thoughts.
While that’s a short-term solution, the long-term solution is to keep your body and brain healthy. Minimizing the distraction can help your mind to think clearly when you need to decide something big.
Exercises to improve brain speed
From time to time, you need to flex your brain and train it properly. We have some tips on how to achieve this, so take a minute to check them out:
These are in no special order by the way:
Just pick the ones that feel right for you.
1. Clearing your mind in a moment as a short-term solution
The first thing you should do is take deep breaths.
Stop what you’re doing and just breathe through your nose and breathe out through your mouth.
This will give you more oxygen that you need to focus on.
If you’re feeling uncomfortable or it’s tough for you to concentrate on anything at all, you should deal with your physical need.
For example, eat a nutritious snack if you’re feeling hungry, but you don’t have time for a break. Also, put on a jacket if you’re cold or open a window if you’re feeling warm.
If none of that is working, you should give yourself some silence.
Stop what you’re doing and listen to the noise around you. If you feel more uncomfortable, leave the room for 5 minutes.
If you can’t close the window or do anything about the noise, you should try to distract yourself. Take a piece of paper and try to write the things you need to do.
By organizing yourself, you’re calming your mind, while also sharpening your brain to start thinking clearly.
2. Adopt some healthy habits
The healthiest habit you should try to adopt is sleeping at least seven to eight hours.
To sleep better, you should make sure that your bedroom is dark and quiet. Also, establish regular “going to bed” time, take a hot shower or bath if you like and be sure to turn off the screens (TV, mobile phone, computer…).
Consider eating something healthy for dinner – something that will nourish your brain.
Nuts and seeds such as walnuts and chia seeds are very efficient when it comes to improving brain functions. You can eat more vegetables such as greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, and beans as well as brown rice.
Remember, having a little caffeine – like a cup of tea or coffee can help you focus and improve the health of your brain. However, it might make it difficult for you to fall asleep, so try not to drink it before going to bed.
If you don’t want to use caffeine, you could try a nootropic like the Mind Lab Pro range or Qualia mind (they have a caffeine free version of their nootropic).
Lastly, 150 minutes of exercise each week will improve memory function and reduce stress. Exercising will also help you sleep better.
3. Stay focused and well-organized
Having your time organized and approaching each task individually will help you to think more clearly. You can use a planner or download an app to organize your time.
The essential part is to break down all the big, important tasks into smaller tasks. Having a small task will definitely pressure your brain to stay focused until you complete it.
Breaking it into pieces is crucial because it allows you to see what needs to be done and how.
This can be hard if you’re in an active environment.
For this reason, the best thing to do is to limit your access to digital distraction. Put away your phone, don’t mess with the internet, and don’t search for websites that aren’t about the problem or job at hand.
Having a tidy desk and room is important as well. It will help you limit distractions and boost your mental ‘bandwidth’ because there are less stimulating objects on your desk.
Turning off the notifications will clear your mind in a second. Make your workspace comfortable and likable for you and your brain.
Also, remember not to push too hard. Take 20-minute breaks from your work every two hours – it’s healthy, and it will clear up your mind.
Summary
At this point, you probably have a good idea of how to TRAIN your body and brain to think and perform faster and better.
However, you need to start practicing right away for any of these methods to work. In other words, don’t just read the content, consume it.
Put the knowledge to test and make the action.
By starting now, you’ll notice that you can think faster and memorize more in just a few weeks. In other words, you have the power to become smarter than ever, so is this the first day of your change or what?
And remember:
We wrote a long post about creating a nootropic stack to boost your memory.
Nootropics are ‘smart drugs’ that can help you boost your brain and bodies performance using natural compounds. They really work, and I’ve been using them for a LONG time now.