Test Your IQ

Brain is very similar to a muscle. Like muscles, brain also needs the right kind of exercise and nutrition. The more you use your brain in the right direction, the more you will enhance your ability to focus and think sharply. On the contrary, if you feed your brain the wrong chemicals you will harm its functioning and your thinking capabilities.
Listed below are 5 easy techniques to extract a little more of creativity from your gray cells.

1. Avoid Watching Television : This is perhaps very tough to convince people about. Many people including myself love to just sit in front of TV. Watching TV is not at all productive. It neither enhances your mental capability nor recharges your brain. It is very similar to having all energy drained out of your brain without reaping the benefits of exercise.

TV does make you feel tired after a few hours. Don’t you agree? Eyes hurt and crave for rest after you watch TV for a long time. You are not left with any energy and motivation to read a book.
A good way to relax is to read a book. If not a book, then listening to music is a great idea to relax. Whenever in the company of friends and family have a chat with them instead of watching television. This will utilize you mind more than when you watch television.

2. Work Out: Earlier, I used to think that reading a book is more useful than exercising. But over time I realized exercise is more helpful since it helps you learn more in the long run. A work out is a good way to cleanse your body and rejuvenate it. You will find that exercise helps you focus for longer periods of time.

3. Read books that stimulate thought: Fiction is what most prefer to read, but it is hardly useful for enhancing the thought process. Reading books which are mentally challenging will help you improve your ability to read and write. Classics will improve your vocabulary to think in English and may even change the pattern of your thinking. Never ignore the words you don’t understand. Look up for their meanings. Also put all your effort in understanding paragraphs which appear complicated. Read them again and again to understand the full depth. Cultivate this habit and you will soon be able to grasp any complicated matter.

I am sure that once you get hooked to stimulating books, you will no longer be tempted to read fiction. Learning and imbibing fresh ides is far more thrilling than reading a fiction novel.

4. Sleep Early, Rise Early: Insufficient sleep is the main cause of people not being able to focus for extended periods of time. Sleeping early and rising up early will keep you very fresh and active. Remaining awake till late in the night , you will end up waking up late and feeling lazy . Moreover, you ability to focus will also take a hit. Waking up early in the morning enhances your productivity and keeps you alert all through the day.

If you feel tired and sleepy, take a nap which is not longer than 20 minutes. Anything more will make you lethargic. Short naps do rejuvenate you.

5. Find Time to Introspect: We become so much involved in our daily life that we don’t find time for ourselves. Concentration reduces. Find time where in you are alone and can think about issues. This will help organize your thoughts and you can prioritize your tasks and duties. You will be able to make clear cut decisions and focus on the most important issues. You cluttered mind will be a lot more clear and you will know why you are doing activities when performing them.

All said and done, I am not advising that you do yoga or chant some mantra. Any technique that allows you to sit alone and think is good. Personally , I prefer talking a long walk all alone. Experiment and try out new methods to find out which one suits you the best.

Recommendation: I am sure you do appreciate the techniques that I have suggested above. Remember, it is more often that things which sound simple turn to be most relevant. The crucial part is to implement them for longer periods. Follow the above 5 and I am sure you will greatly enhance your mental abilities and ability to reproduce what you have imbibed. From time to time test your intelligence- you can take our test to estimate your progress.