5 Methods to Enhance Your Brain for Greater Productivity

Just as your exercise your body, you must exercise your brain

Amy Voss //September 17, 2019//

5 Methods to Enhance Your Brain for Greater Productivity

Just as your exercise your body, you must exercise your brain

Amy Voss //September 17, 2019//

You may have heard of someone referring to the brain as a muscle, and if you have, they would be correct.

Just as exercise is essential to stay healthy, you must also exercise your brain. For that matter, physical exercise can boost your brainpower too — but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The fantastic thing is that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to enhance your brain for higher productivity. It’s all about finding specific methods that work for you. Below are five methods that will allow you to tap into your brain and improve your efficiency in everything you do.

Stay Inspired

Staying inspired probably isn’t always top of mind when it comes to productivity, however, it has everything to do with productivity.

If you’re not motivated to get your work done, then it’s harder to do much of anything. You can solve that by figuring out what inspires you   ̶ such as art, playing an instrument, or listening to a motivational speaker.

Is your motivation lacking? Focus your attention on how the task at hand will help you achieve your goals and dreams.

If you’re happy, then your brain will be too, because when you stay motivated the dopamine in your brain spikes and overtime, the brain continues to feed off this motivation.

Get dopamine flowing by staying inspired, setting goals, recording accomplishments and rewarding yourself for following through. 

Increase Your Focus Through Meditation

If you’d like to work on ways to focus more at work and home, take the time to meditate. Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated.

One of the easiest forms of meditation includes closing your eyes and concentrating on your breathing. Do this for ten or fifteen minutes to help clear the mind and feel rejuvenated and ready for activities that require your attention.

If you practice meditation regularly, it corresponds to increased gray matter density in your brain stem. Meditate, and you’ll improve your brain power and increase your productivity.

Meditation is free for you to learn how to focus during a stressful time. Plus, it also helps you stay on task when work needs completing.

Experts reveal that meditation may also help improve your health. 

Exercise More Often

If you’ve ever experienced what some call “brain fog,” then you know how frustrating it is to try to work through it.  That’s why you should be exercising regularly to improve productivity and banish brain fog once and for all.

 Workplace studies reveal that a ‘sit less, move more’ interventions significantly improves workers’ ability to accomplish more throughout the day.

Scientifically speaking, working out on a consistent basis increases brain function, because exercise helps your brain safeguard thinking and memory skills. When you’re trying to focus, both these skills are vital.

And, it improves and maintains your memory and concentration.

Write It Out

No, you don’t have to be an expert at writing to improve your brain function. However, taking the time to write tells your brain what’s important.

This is because working your memory helps you decipher your thoughts, remember things in the future and it motivates you to be more creative.

UCLA did a brain imaging study on how putting thoughts into words can help the brain better process feelings of anger, sadness and pain.

It also revealed that when you write things down, you reduce the activity where your brain processes emotions. This place is known as the amygdala, and it controls any emotional responses you feel.

A few ways that you can write include starting a blog, writing in a bullet journal, using a planner, getting a diary, writing a story and taking notes during podcasts or online classes.

Remember, you don’t have to be a Pulitzer prize winner to write. Taking a couple of minutes each day to articulate your thoughts can improve your brain.

Laughter is Good for the Soul (And the Brain)

Like the production of dopamine, endorphins are released when you are happy. Just as exercise helps you get more work done, so does laughter.

When you release endorphins through laughter, your brain stays healthy. Being happy and laughing regulates your mood and improves your brain health. It can also help improve your career.

An assistant professor at Harvard Business School did a series of studies on the benefits of humor in the workplace. The study found that when a worker makes a joke, it not only makes them look competent and confident, but over time, it can help improve their career. 

When you laugh, you’re more productive and open to learning more, both professionally and personally.

Summary

You might think you won’t have time to apply all these methods, but the good news is these are things you probably already do.

If there are brain-enhancing techniques you should be zeroing in on, such as meditation, don’t let your busy life to get in the way. You have the chance to enhance your brain muscle and improve your life. Strengthen your mind and be amazed when your productivity improves tenfold.

Amy Voss is the senior business manager for the Novel Rio Community. With over thirteen years of experience in the industry, she begins and ends each with the professional knowledge requires for the benefit of the residents and community.