| Here are 120 things you can do starting today to help you think faster, improve memory, comprehend information better and unleash your brain’s full potential. |
| 1. Solve puzzles and brainteasers. |
| 2. Cultivate ambidexterity. Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse. Write with both hands simultaneously. Switch hands for knife and fork. |
| 3. Embrace ambiguity. Learn to enjoy things like paradoxes and optical illusions. |
| 4. Learn mind mapping. |
| 5. Block one or more senses. Eat blindfolded, wear earplugs, shower with your eyes closed. |
| 6. Develop comparative tasting. Learn to properly taste wine, chocolate, beer, cheese or anything else. |
| 7. Find intersections between seemingly unrelated topics. |
| 8. Learn to use different keyboard layouts. Try Colemak or Dvorak for a full mind twist! |
| 9. Find novel uses for common objects. How many different uses can you find for a nail? 10? 100? |
| 10. Reverse your assumptions. |
| 11. Learn creativity techniques. |
| 12. Go beyond the first, ‘right’ answer. |
| 13. Transpose reality. Ask “What if?” questions. |
| 14. SCAMPER! |
| 15. Turn pictures or the desktop wallpaper upside down. |
| 16. Become a critical thinker. Learn to spot common fallacies. |
| 17. Learn logic. Solve logic puzzles. |
| 18. Get familiar with the scientific method. |
| 19. Draw. Doodle. You don’t need to be an artist. |
| 20. Think positive. |
| 21. Engage in arts — sculpt, paint, play music — or any other artistic endeavor. |
| 22. Learn to juggle. |
| 23. Eat ‘brain foods’. |
| 24. Be slightly hungry. |
| 25. Exercise! |
| 26. Sit up straight. |
| 27. Drink lots of water. |
| 28. Deep-breathe. |
| 29. Laugh! |
| 30. Vary activities. Get a hobby. |
| 31. Sleep well. |
| 32. Power nap. |
| 33. Listen to music. |
| 34. Conquer procrastination. |
| 35. Go technology-less. |
| 36. Look for brain resources in the web. |
| 37. Change clothes. Go barefoot. |
| 38. Master self-talk. |
| 39. Simplify! |
| 40. Play chess or other board games. Play via Internet (particularly interesting is to play an ongoing game by e-mail). |
| 41. Play ‘brain’ games. Sudoku, crossword puzzles or countless others. |
| 42. Be childish! |
| 43. Play video games. |
| 44. Be humorous! Write or create a joke. |
| 45. Create a List of 100. |
| 46. Have an Idea Quota. |
| 47. Capture every idea. Keep an idea bank. |
| 48. Incubate ideas. Let ideas percolate. Return to them at regular intervals. |
| 49. Engage in ‘theme observation’. Try to spot the color red as many times as possible in a day. Find cars of a particular make. Invent a theme and focus on it. |
| 50. Keep a journal. |
| 51. Learn a foreign language. |
| 52. Eat at different restaurants – ethnic restaurants specially. |
| 53. Learn how to program a computer. |
| 54. Spell long words backwards. !gnignellahC |
| 55. Change your environment. Change the placement of objects or furniture — or go somewhere else. |
| 56. Write! Write a story, poetry, start a blog. |
| 57. Learn sign language. |
| 58. Learn a musical instrument. |
| 59. Visit a museum. |
| 60. Study how the brain works. |
| 61. Learn to speed-read. |
| 62. Find out your learning style. |
| 63. Dump the calendar! |
| 64. Try to mentally estimate the passage of time. |
| 65. “Guesstimate”. Are there more leaves in the Amazon rainforest or neuron connections in your brain? (answer). |
| 66. Make friends with math. Fight ‘innumeracy’. |
| 67. Build a Memory Palace. |
| 68. Learn a peg system for memory. |
| 69. Have sex! (sorry, no links for this one! |
| 70. Memorize people’s names. |
| 71. Meditate. Cultivate mindfulness and an empty mind. |
| 72. Watch movies from different genres. |
| 73. Turn off the TV. |
| 74. Improve your concentration. |
| 75. Get in touch with nature. |
| 76. Do mental math. |
| 77. Have a half-speed day. |
| 78. Change the speed of certain activities. Go either super-slow or super-fast deliberately. |
| 79. Do one thing at a time. |
| 80. Be aware of cognitive biases. |
| 81. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. How would different people think or solve your problems? How would a fool tackle it? |
| 82. Adopt an attitude of contemplation. |
| 83. Take time for solitude and relaxation. |
| 84. Commit yourself to lifelong learning. |
| 85. Travel abroad. Learn about different lifestyles. |
| 86. Adopt a genius. (Leonardo is excellent company!) |
| 87. Have a network of supportive friends. |
| 88. Get competitive. |
| 89. Don’t stick with only like-minded people. Have people around that disagree with you. |
| 90. Brainstorm! |
| 91. Change your perspective. Short/long-term, individual/collective. |
| 92. Go to the root of the problems. |
| 93. Collect quotes. |
| 94. Change the media you’re working on. Use paper instead of the computer; voice recording instead of writing. |
| 95. Read the classics. |
| 96. Develop your reading skill. Reading effectively is a skill. Master it. |
| 97. Summarize books. |
| 98. Develop self-awareness. |
| 99. Say your problems out loud. |
| 100. Describe one experience in painstaking detail. |
| 101. Learn Braille. You can start learning the floor numbers while going up or down the elevator. |
| 102. Buy a piece of art that disturbs you. Stimulate your senses in thought-provoking ways. |
| 103. Try different perfumes and scents. |
| 104. Mix your senses. How much does the color pink weigh? How does lavender scent sound? |
| 105. Debate! Defend an argument. Try taking the opposite side, too. |
| 106. Use time boxing. |
| 107. Allocate time for brain development. |
| 108. Have your own mental sanctuary. |
| 109. Be curious! |
| 110. Challenge yourself. |
| 111. Develop your visualization skills. Use it at least 5 minutes a day. |
| 112. Take notes of your dreams. Keep a notebook by your bedside and record your dreams first thing in the morning or as you wake up from them. |
| 113. Learn to lucid dream. |
| 114. Keep a lexicon of interesting words. Invent your own words. |
| 115. Find metaphors. Connect abstract and specific concepts. |
| 116. Manage stress. |
| 117. Get random input. Write about a random word in a magazine. Read random sites using StumbleUpon or Wikipedia. |
| 118. Take different routes each day. Change the streets you follow to work, jog or go back home. |
| 119. Install a different operating system on your computer. |
| 120. Improve your vocabulary. |
| 121. Deliver more than what’s expected. |
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