If you’re in school or university you don’t have to worry too much about making yourself smarter – there are teachers and lecturers for that. But if the memories of being sat in a classroom or lecture hall have all but faded away you might be thinking of new ways to educate yourself. Here are 10 ways you can make yourself smarter.
Go to bed
If you don’t get a good night’s sleep your mind and body won’t have time to rest. Many studies have tried to determine the optimum number of hours to sleep or when it’s best to lay your head, but most experts agree that adults need around 7-8 hours of sleep a night. If you’re fully rested your brain will have a much easier time concentrating and processing information during the day – and that in turn will help you get smarter.
Watch Television
Not just any television of course, but documentaries that teach you about the world we live in, the possibilities of the future, and what happened in the past. The Discovery Channel and the History Channel are just two channels that inform as well as entertain.
Brush your teeth with your left hand
If you’re right handed then using your left hand to brush your teeth can make you smarter (and vice versa). You don’t need to stop at brushing your teeth either – swapping from your right hand to your left for things such as brushing your hair or using the remote control (to watch informative television!) can also boost your brain power. This is because your brain is challenged by the unusual activity and is forced to adapt and grow new neurons.
Take a walk
Going for regular walks isn’t only good for the health of your body; it’s also great for your brain. One study showed that regular walking could slow the deterioration of the hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for memory and emotions.
Talk to yourself
Studies have shown that talking to yourself can help you perform tasks more quickly. Whether you’re trying to find something in a supermarket or you’re changing a spare tyre. You can’t just talk about anything however, instead you should say words that are connected with the task at hand. So saying ‘bread’ to yourself repeatedly if you’re looking for bread will help you find it quicker – leaving you with more time to do the things that make you really smart.
Download some apps
There are a whole bunch of apps designed to increase the depths of your knowledge. ‘Today in History’ is a great way to learn about significant past events while ‘Memrise’ can help give you the building blocks for learning a new language.
Visit a new country
Once you’ve started learning a new language why not put it to use? Visiting new countries and experiencing different way of life is a great way to make you smarter. For a start you’ll learn about things you would never encounter at home, whether that’s food you don’t know how to pronounce or a national holiday that you didn’t know existed. You’ll also have to think a lot more for regular tasks, such as paying for things in a shop with a different currency or working out how to use the public transport system.
Eat well
It seems that every day there’s a news story about how a particular food is good or bad for your body. If you want to give your brain the best chance of absorbing new information and learning new skills then you only need to make some adjustments to your diet. Oily fish is famous for healthy brain function, while there’s evidence that tomatoes, which contain an antioxidant called lycopene, could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
Log on to Facebook
Plenty of people think Facebook is a waste of time, but if you have hundreds of friends you’ll have a news feed mostly populated by posts from people you aren’t that close to. That means that you’ll be exposed to ideas, news articles and opinion pieces that you probably wouldn’t have come across otherwise. Spare some time to see things from someone else’s point of view or take an interest in someone else’s interests and you’ll find yourself learning all kinds of new things.
This post was written by Ben Skinner of online quiz site, Quiz Factor – take a quiz today for another way to help boost your brain.
