5 Tips on How to Keep our Brains Active
Continuous Learning Benefits Both Mind and Body
Nature dictates the usual cycle of things: birth, growth, development and decline. These are normal occurrences that we all have to contend with. Yet, despite these cycles we still have some powers left in our system not really to avoid the unavoidable but to delay the obvious. This is especially true on the aspect of decline or in people, the stage of getting old both physically and mentally.
Our brains can stagnate or even deteriorate when we no longer use it in creative or analytical thinking. It’s like a muscle where it can grow weak due to lack of exercise and stimulation. As people say, we either use it or lose it. We also have to make our brains productive.
Listed below are five ways in which we can maintain the proper workings of our brain and prevent it from stagnating or deteriorating thus, allowing us to continue living healthy and productive lives.
1. Read – a good novel to read on a relaxing day is as good as eating a healthy and nutritious food but only this time our brain benefits the most. Aside from novels, informational books on general topics, politics, economics or science can make us think and at the same time also make us a good conversationalist. You will never know on when you can use that bit of information that you have just read to close a business deal or simply to impress somebody.
2. Enrol in On-line Classes – the need to keep pace with this fast changing times and learning new skills is not only an option but is already becoming a necessity as well. Aside from the benefit of taking on-line classes during your most convenient and available time, it will also allow you to update your skills and align it with what the market really wants. Being relevant because of your working knowledge in computer graphics or the extra inputs you’ve recently learned while taking an on-line writing course is beneficial not only to the brain but on the pockets as well. Learning new skills can allow you to land a part-time gig as a computer graphic designer or an SEO writer.
3. Do Crossword Puzzles – even if this sounds monotonous, a crossword puzzle will force us to clean the cobwebs out of our heads and keep the gears moving once again. Remembering the synonyms or antonyms of a word or remembering the place where an event occurred can really make our brain run into full throttle and creativity.
4. Learn a New Language – aside from forcing you to use the functions of brain like memorizing words and analysing sentence structure, learning a new language might prove to be useful on your next business or leisurely trip. This is also a good way to expand your perspective and learn a new culture altogether.
5. Teach – Even if you are not a professional teacher or lecturer, this should not stop you to impart what you know to a willing audience. Your actual experience as a manager for example can be helpful to aspiring new employees trying to climb the corporate hierarchy. You can act as a mentor to them or coach newbies and guide them towards a path that will lead them to success. An on-line coaching or mentoring portal is best suited for people who are still fully engaged in their professions but are more than willing to share what they know to willing learners. Teaching somebody allows you to think logically and systematically so that lessons are understood and well explained.
All these activities are meant to inculcate in us the value of continuous learning. Whether in our professional or personal lives the need to learn something new and wonder at how things work must never diminish even if we are maturing in psyche or in age. Being good or expert at what we do is no hindrance for us to be a beginner once again in other fields of expertise. Making our brains work thru the tips listed above will not only benefit us but more importantly allow us to help people and be a way to improve their lives as well. Indeed, we are truly old when we stop learning.
