Do you feel like, as the day goes on, you begin to lose your ability to think as decisively, clearly, and quickly? Naturally, we all get more tired towards the end of the day, but if you’re not careful, you can find yourself a lot more mentally sluggish for the majority of your day. Mental sharpness is something that you can work at, however, and it doesn’t have to be overly taxing. If you don’t want to feel like a brain-dead zombie in your evenings, try adding the following habits to your day.
Have Lunch With A Friend
Don’t underestimate how important it is to connect with the people in your life. Aside from helping you unwind and maintain your relationships, face-to-face conversations with people offer variety and stimulation, especially if the majority of your day has consisted of working alone up to that point. Talking to someone engages different parts of your brain than solitary work. It requires listening, empathy, language processing, and sometimes even memory recall. While you might be having a great time and enjoying the restorative effects of good company, you’re also working out parts of your brain that you might not get the chance to exercise as often throughout the day. It doesn’t have to be a particularly deep or philosophical conversation, but you do need to make an effort to actively listen.
Play Card And Board Games
Whenever you get the chance for a break, spending a few minutes playing a card game can help you do more than pass the time; it can offer a workout for the brain. Playing the right games, like a bridge game, can get your brain flexing its strategic muscles (so to speak) and helps to improve your pattern recognition and critical thinking. What makes these games special is their combination of logic and unpredictability. You have to think ahead, remember previous plays, and quickly adjust to new situations. They can be a lot more cognitively engaging than more passive activities like watching TV or scrolling through social media, making them a lot more worthwhile.
Learning A New Language
Learning a new language is like opening a gym membership for your brain. It’s one of the most comprehensive cognitive workouts you can give yourself. From vocabulary memorization to grammar construction to listening comprehension, language learning demands that your brain stay flexible, focused, and engaged. You don’t need to become fluent or spend hours practicing every day to enjoy the benefits. Rather, as with all things, consistency is the key. Even 10-15 minutes a day can have a serious impact on your memory, problem-solving, and mental organization skills. There are plenty of language learning apps and language podcasts that can help you get to grips with the language of your choice, helping you fit the seemingly major task of learning a whole new tongue into any schedule.
Get Some Exercise In
Physical activity isn’t just about keeping your body active. It helps to keep your mind active, as well. As we get moving, we improve blood flow to the brain, delivering the oxygen and nutrients that keep it engaged, improving our memory and mental performance. Exercise is also great for triggering the release of endorphins and other neurochemicals that help you think clearer, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. You don’t need to climb a mountain to enjoy the benefits of exercise. Even 20 minutes of walking, some gentle stretching, or a quick bodyweight routine can raise your heart rate and switch your brain back on, and the effects can last for hours.
Sit Down And Write
Your brain stores a lot of information throughout the day, and it can start to get sluggish when it’s at its capacity. Sitting down to write, aside from being a creative outlet, can be a great way to shrug off some of the load. Whether you’re jotting in a journal or putting out a blog post, organizing and writing down your thoughts and experiences helps you re-engage with them from a distance, which can be more helpful to truly process them. What’s more, writing down what happened also improves your ability to recall it in the future, which can be great if you’re trying to engage with your lifestyle analytically.
With the tips above, you can add a few habits to your daily routine the challenge, stimulate, and help reset your mind, keeping your brain sharp for longer. Persistence and consistency are the keys to building that long-term mental resilience that gets more important as we get older.
