10 Brain Fitness Tips You Can Start Right Now

Brain fitness is a hot topic at work. Our jobs require sharp intellectual performance for everything from recalling important client or product information to learning training materials or just keeping track of key documents. No wonder corporate leaders and entrepreneurs alike have taken notice of this current health trend.

Although the science of brain health remains young, the research clearly indicates that there is much we can do to improve how well we multitask and remember details such as names. Building better brain health can help us boost these skills and also lower our risk of serious memory loss.

The findings can be surprising, as they often suggest activities that we don’t usually associate with brain fitness, such as staying socially active or getting regular exercise.

Here are 10 brain-smart things you can start doing right now to boost your brainpower at work. You can do them in five minutes, or spend more time on them over the course of the day if your schedule allows. All are geared to giving your brain an awesome on-the-job workout.

1. Rearrange Your Desk

Clear some clutter from your life. Folks who are organized remember better. Why? Because they have mastered one of the secrets to better memory — getting organized. Spend five minutes organizing your desk, getting rid of what is non-essential. Keep out papers that require immediate attention, filing away what you can. Look over how your desk is organized and see if you can think of a better way to put it all together.

2. Read a Poem

Reading poetry gets us to think out of our workday “box” and is a wonderful source of intellectual challenge and pleasure. Find a poem and spend five minutes reading and musing it over. Bring a book of favorite poetry to keep on your desk or visit the website of the Academy of American Poets at www.poets.org. You can even sign up for their “Poem a Day” program and get a poem sent to your inbox each day.

3. Take a 5-Minute Yoga Break

This tip is all about bringing a little “ohm” into your life. Yoga is the perfect brain-health exercise. It supports aerobic workouts by building strength and stamina, trains our focus, and is a terrific resource for maintaining emotional balance. The Kripalu Center offers a series of such breaks you can download to your computer or other media player on their website at www.kripalu.org.

4. Doodle

Do you doodle? Many of us (including folks such as Bill Gates and former President Clinton) do. But did you know that doodling is good for your brain health? Recent research suggests that doodling helps us maintain focus and remember more effectively. A recent study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology found that subjects assigned a doodling task performed 29 percent better than their non-doodling counterparts on a surprise memory test covering the material they were learning simultaneously. Doodling improves attention, making it more likely that you will acquire things that you later want to recall. So when you are in a meeting or on a conference call, go ahead and doodle — no need to apologize.

5. Keep Up Your Social Network

Studies have shown that folks who are more social have an associated reduced risk for memory loss. In one recent study, Harvard researchers found that persons with lower levels of social interaction were much more likely to show memory problems after six years than their more social peers. Remember, no man — or woman — is an island. Reach out from behind that desk and connect with your family and friends for five minutes. It’s good for your soul and good for your brain.

6. Play Online

Research has shown that we can better maintain intellectual skills critical to our work performance by giving them a good “workout.” One of the best ways to keep these skills sharp is to play games against the clock, since timed activities force us to focus, think fast and be nimble in our approach. Games we play online tend to be timed and can give our brains a terrific skills challenge. So take a few minutes during lunch or as your schedule permits to get your brain in the game.

7. Jumping Jacks

Here’s a tip that’s pretty basic, but packed with brain boosting power. Aerobic exercise is one of the best things we can do for our brain, as it revs up our daily performance and reduces our long-term dementia risk. Jumping jacks are a simple calesthenic exercise you can do in a small space that will quickly get your blood pumping.

8. Wear Your Watch Upside Down

Give your brain a little stretch each time you check your watch by wearing your watch upside down. This subtle change doesn’t take much effort, but will force your brain to think out of its comfort zone in making sense of time gone a bit topsy-turvy. These kinds of “neurobic” activities may seem simple and fun, yet are a terrific way to challenge your brain’s flexibility and routine.

9. Plan Some Brain Healthy Meals

Invest five minutes in laying out a meal plan for the upcoming few days. Giving some thought in advance to what you are going to eat will increase the chances that you will make brain healthy food choices. Deciding ahead can also get you organized and save you time shopping and cooking your meals (and who doesn’t need more time?).

10. Learn How to Remember a Name 

Here’s a smart tip we can all really use: Spend time learning some simple memory strategies to boost your memory for names. For example, try repeating information as you hear it. This easy technique will force you to focus on what you are learning and give you the chance to rehearse it, increasing the odds that you’ll remember it. Or use my Connections Technique and make a connection between what you are learning and something that you already know. Meeting Florence? Connect her name to a famous Florence, such as Florence Nightingale, or to the city of Florence in Italy.

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Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized clinical psychologist and brain health/memory fitness expert, and the founder of Memory Arts. Dr. Green is also the author of several books, including “Total Memory Workout: 8 Easy Steps to Maximum Memory Fitness” (Bantam Books). Read more about her on her website www.totalbrainhealth.com.