Kick start to your brains

Lal Fonseka Productivity Consultant Brandix Lanka Limited

If you stop to wonder how many times your brain sort of goes blank, you would be in for a real surprise. Why does it usually happen just before you are about to face an examination and mostly you must have experienced that you are staring at a blank piece of paper struggling to make a start.

The author of The brain yields its secrets says that it is not that we are not intelligence but it is just that we need to improve on our ability to think. To enable one to think better, take a breather, and have a look at the following.

1. Work out on your own best ‘thinking time’, and set it aside for your most challenging brain work. In most factories, the first hour of the day is named as the Golden hour as they believe people can produce much better results early in the morning. Similarly the best time for studies may be in the early morning.

2. Knowledge is a must. But as psychologist Dean Keith Simonton saysputs it, doing anything more than required might damage your creative thinking. Do not overdo it. It must be remembered that you don’t become a great Novelist by getting a PHD in creative writing.

3. As the Chinese proverb has it, the weakest ink lasts longer than the best memory.

Confucius once said that you hear something, you tend to forget it very fast. But you see something, there is a possibility you would remember it. But if you ‘do’ something, you will understand it.

4. Another way of improving your memory is to think about what took place in the recent past. For an example, try to remember what you ate the previous day and day before.

5. Practice, practice, practice. Learning and repeatedly practising new skills appear to change the inner brain. Revise your home work or what you have done in the class room without procrastinating them. “Do It Now” Try to practice these three words every day every moment. ‘Practice really helps’, say Psychologist Len Giambra.

6. Have group and combined studies. Pick an intelligent partner and have constant combine studies. Marrying someone intelligent may also provide you with ongoing stimulation.

7. Pay attention. Do you sometimes find yourself ‘forgetting someone’s name second after meeting them? The problem is not your memory; it’s concentration. Unless you concentrate better in your studies, you will never be able to commit information to memory.

8. Exercise the body to improve mind. An increasing amount of research now supports this.

9. Try something new. Taking short notes, using different methods have provided effective results.

10. End distractions. Select a suitable place of study. If you are bombarded with irrelevant stimuli, it’s hard to focus. When you absolutely must do something (complete a report, for instance) try unplugging the phone and putting a do not disturb sign on your door.

Finally do not forget to follow your passion. Apart from the above, if you need achieve certain goals, you must be armed with the following three.

* Eagerness to study

* Willingness to study

* Determination to study.

Going through the life stories of the successful people in the globe it was observed that they had passion and demonstrated commitment to it. Passion may well be the key to creativity.

Keeping focus during study can be hard for most students but a few easy steps can be taken to avoid distraction.

Turn phone off

This sounds so easy but can be extremely hard for many students. The phone is their lifeline and without it, the world might stop! Most people know how to leave a message.

Keep away from the TV

The TV is one of the easiest distractions. Once you get addicted, your eyes will wander to the TV and hours might pass before you realize how much of your study time has been wasted.

Have snacks available

The kitchen and fridge in particular have a tendency to draw students out of chairs. Getting up every 20 minutes to get a snack or something to drink is just another excuse to take an unnecessary break.

Eliminate the problem by stocking up on snacks and drinks and taking them with you to your preferred study space.

Time Your Breaks

You must not sit near the window to study. When you start looking out the window or realize you have read the same line ten times, it is a good sign that you need a break.

However do not let time run off with you. Set a limit to how long the break should be. Go for a run or get something to eat and drink. Call that one person, who can’t wait until you are done studying and then return to studies.

No Internet

Besides the TV, Internet is most dangerous. This is the most time consuming device ever. You start by doing research for your paper and before you know it you have updated all your software, replied to all the messages from your friends and hours have passed with no studying done.

It takes willpower to stay off the Internet because a lot of studying is done in front of the computer and it is really difficult not to click that icon! Again allow yourself time on the Internet but set a limit to how much time you can spend and stick to it.