Tips to Stay Smart, Sharp, and Focused
Your daily habits can have a big impact on your memory, focus, and mood. Here's what to do to help keep your mind sharp.
Use Your Brain
It's
true: Use it or lose it. Stretching your brain keeps your mind sharp.
People who are more active in mentally challenging activities are much
less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. Try these:
- Read a book.
- Go to a lecture.
- Listen to the radio.
- Play a game.
- Visit a museum.
- Learn a second language.
Mix Things Up
Remember
trying to talk backwards as a child? Researchers at Duke University
created exercises they call "neurobics," which challenge your brain to
think in new ways. Since your five senses are key to learning, use them
to exercise your mind. If you're right-handed, try using your left hand.
Drive to work by another route. Close your eyes and see if you can
recognize food by taste.
Work Out to Stay Sharp
Exercise,
especially the kind that gets your heart rate up like walking or
swimming, has mental pluses, too. Although experts aren't sure why,
physical activity might increase the blood supply to the brain and
improve links between brain cells. Staying active can help memory,
imagination, and even your ability to plan tasks.
A Healthy Diet Builds Brainpower
Do
your brain a favor and choose foods that are good for your heart and
waistline. Being obese in middle age makes you twice as likely to have
dementia later on. High cholesterol and high blood pressure raise your
chances, too. Try these easy tips:
- Bake or grill foods instead of frying.
- Cook with "good" fats like oils from nuts, seeds, and olives instead of cream, butter, and fats from meat.
- Eat colorful fruits and veggies.
Watch What You Drink
You
know that too many drinks can affect your judgment, speech, movement,
and memory. But did you know alcohol can have long-term effects? Too
much drinking over a long period of time can shrink the frontal lobes of
your brain. And that damage can last forever, even if you quit
drinking. A healthy amount is considered one drink a day for women and
two for men.
Video Games Train Your Brain
Grab
that joystick. Several studies found that playing video games
stimulates the parts of the brain that control movement, memory,
planning, and fine motor skills. Some experts say gaming only makes you
better at gaming. The verdict may still be out, but why let kids have
all the fun?
Music Helps Your Brain
Thank
your mom for making you practice the piano. Playing an instrument early
in life pays off in clearer thinking when you're older. Musical
experience boosts mental functions that have nothing to do with music,
such as memory and ability to plan. It also helps with greater hand
coordination. Plus, it's fun -- and it's never too late to start.
Make Friends for Your Mind
Be
a people person! Talking with others actually sharpens your brain,
whether at work, at home, or out in your community. Studies show social
activities improve your mind. So volunteer, sign up for a class, or call
a friend.
Stay Calm
Too much stress can hurt your gray matter, which contains cells that store and process information. Here are some ways to chill:
- Take deep breaths.
- Find something that makes you laugh.
- Listen to music.
- Try yoga or meditation.
- Find someone to talk to.
Sleep and the Brain
Get
enough sleep before and after you learn something new. You need sleep
on both ends. When you start out tired, it's hard to focus on things.
And when you sleep afterward, your brain files away the new info so you
can recall it later. A long night's rest is best for memory and your
mood. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
Memory Helpers
Everybody
spaces out now and then. As you get older, you may not remember things
as easily as you used to. That's a normal part of aging. Some helpful
hints:
- Write things down.
- Use the calendar and reminder functions in your phone, even for simple things (Call Dad!).
- Focus on one task at a time.
- Learn new things one step at a time.
The Name Game
Have
trouble recalling names? Always repeat a person's name while you're
talking to them -- at least in your head, if not out loud. Or invent a
funny image or rhyme that you link with their name. For example, think
of Bob bobbing out in the ocean.
