Sigmund Freud once said: “The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
Your brain is seldom idle during all our waking hours. Unfortunately, only a fraction of what’s going in our brain is useful for you. This means, you waste most of the energy your brain spends in thinking unimportant things which could otherwise be used for more dynamic functions that are essential to bring out the best in you, whether at work, in leisure, or in your relationships.
Regardless how brilliant you are or how much experience you have had, you could still improve and expand y mind. Studies have shown that IQ levels depend on a variety of factors and events. Here are some powerful tricks to shift your brain into a higher gear.
- Train your brain to focus. One effective way to do this is watch 2 TV channels simultaneously. See how much information you can ingest from both channels without missing a thing. This exercise will train your mind to resist distraction. Instead of trying to take in everything from both programs, you will learn to concentrate only on one more important to you and ignore the other.
To take the exercise a notch more challenging, lower the volume of the channel that interests you and increase the one that you want to ignore. This technique will train your mind how to pay attention effectively.
Learn Speed-reading. Study shows that people normally read about 250 words per minute. This is actually just a fifth of their reading potential. Here are tips on how to improve your reading speed between 1000 to 1500 words per minute in a month’s time:
Scan. Skim over the article you are about to read. Look at the titles and the subheads which usually give a synopsis of the entire article. This helps you to subconsciously pick up on ideas, concepts and other essential information
Use your finger to run quickly over the text. This keeps you focused and concentrated, thus retaining more in your brain.
Read words in group, not individually. This means you do not verbalize each word in your head which slows you down. Rather, just see them. Contrary to common belief, you need not read every word in order to understand what you are reading. By reading words in groups, you absorb as much in less time. Start practicing this technique in groups of two’s, the three’s, and so on until your skill improves.
Practice vertical reading. Minimize the left-to-right movements of your eyes as you read. This makes you read everything on the line and slows you down. Instead, let your eyes go down the page that allows them to take in segments of up to 3600 words per minute.
Engage in computer brain games. Many dismiss these online word games as time wasters. On the contrary, these are effective way to de-stress you and at the same time improve your digital dexterity and speeds up your mental reaction.
- Put your thoughts in writing. Writing is actually speaking in slow motion so you have plenty of time to collect, compose, and revise your thoughts and ideas. The process of writing down you ideas trains your brain to think more clearly and effectively. Then read aloud repeatedly what you have written until it sounds natural. This is an effective way to improve the way you express yourself in writing and speaking.
- Regularly refresh your mind. Stress causes the mind to stagnate. It cripples your brain’s ability to develop. In order, therefore, to improve your mind and make it think more effectively, you must give it a rest regularly. Move away from your desk, and get plenty of sunlight and fresh air. It has been medically proven that fresh oxygen supply to the brain is excellent for your grey matter. Vitamin D from the sun not only strengthens your bones but fights depression as well.
- Get enough sleep. The 8-hour guide is an effective way to refresh the mind. It also stimulates the intuitive side of the brain to work and takes up where the logical side of the brain left off during your waking hours. Also, it has been scientifically proven that “sleeping” on a big decision is very effective in resolving it. Sleep actually provides sudden acquisition of explicit knowledge.
Listen to music. An experiment conducted by the University of California proved that the IQ on abstract reasoning of students who were made to listen to Mozart’s sonata exceeded those who did not listen to any music by 7 to 10 points higher. Music, especially of the classical genre, stimulates the mind to tackle mathematics, engineering, or any sophisticated problems.
By practicing these simple techniques regularly, you will master effective thinking that will improve your work, your creativity, and your relationships