40 Ideas — How Many are Concerned About the Loss of Cognitive Ability
By: Regia Marinho
Tags: Ideas, Inspiration, How To, Mental Health, Psychology

What to do? Force yourself to use your brain more.

If you answered… “Yes, I am concerned about it. Go ahead and read.

“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” ~ William Shakespeare

The important thing you can do is to break your routine to maximize your cognitive potential.

New experiences benefit your brain.

Because it needs new things to grow.

Anything that makes you very comfortable is not really good for your brain development.

If what you do is too easy for you to do, and doesn’t challenge you… it doesn’t change you.

Illustration by René Descartes of how the brain implements a reflex response.

The more you pick up a new skill, learn to use a new software program, new apps, new ways to make your art, or study a new subject, the stronger your mind becomes.

The mental muscles you should be exercising frequently are Creativity. Focus. Logic. Strategy.

Things you can do:

1 — Break your routine. If you take shower in the morning, instead take in the evening.

2 — Sign up to use a new Internet platform.

3 — Create a new website or reinvent the one you already have.

4 — Start a passion project, something you want to do because you love…a craft work, write in another subject, make a new form of art.

5 — Take a class online. Anything on skillshare, for example.

6 — Share your work on different social media.

7 — Take a different route when going for a walk. Look to the sky. Pay attention to the noises around you.

8 — Set a new goal, make a new plan.

9 — Read a book in a subject you don’t usually read about.

10 — Begin a new side gig.

11 — Take a long walk and use the time to think, or to take pictures.

12 — Change your sleep routine. Wake up or go to bed earlier or later.

13 — Answer a question on Quora, or in a Facebook group.

14 — Learn to play pans or piano. Whatever you imagine and want.

15 — Switch up your playlists if you have one.

16 — Do a different art project, using different surfaces, different tools, different colors, and sizes.

17 — Read differently. Read a paperback book and read a book on your device.

18 — Don’t ask for help, figure it out! Go ask Google or Siri or other AI assistant or go to Youtube to learn how to do that.

19 — Exercise for 10 minutes longer or more than normal you do.

20 — Give someone you know a great compliment.

21 — Learn a new word in another language or your native one. Expand your vocabulary.

22 — Try out to create a new kind of podcast.

23 — Try out a new way to make a video. And upload to different platforms.

24 — Figure out what you’re scared of… and do it anyway.

25 — Read more articles than you normally go for, from a different writer.

26 —Take a break to improve your focus.

27 — Help somebody without being asked.

28 — Zoom a friend instead of text or vice versa.

29 — Watch a TED talk every day for a week. Broaden your mind!

30 — Reach out to a mentor and ask for advice.

31 — Express gratitude.

32 — Switch around your morning activities.

33 — Spend at least 15 minutes reading something that is unrelated to your things.

34 — Take a productive pause and go for a walk in the woods.

35 — Keep a notebook handy and write about your daily experiences.

36 — Embrace doodling. I used to make a doodle on an index card while riding in the subway, or while sipping coffee in a Starbucks but not anymore.

37 — Take a class you’ve always been curious about.

38 — Bike, walk or use patins to get around.

39 — Use your spare time for self-investment.

40 — Create and find new activities that improve your mind and body.

Staying sharp has great long-term benefits for you.

Trade your time and effort now for increased knowledge and your results can improve how you think.

Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, published in 1543. It shows the base of the human brain, including optic chiasma, cerebellum, olfactory bulbs…

Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, published in 1543. Digital colored by RegiaArt.

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells — called neurons — lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it. ~William Allman

Conclusion.

The idea is that you need to move, and change, and try and read and learn, and create, to maximize your cognitive potential.

Thank you and have a Happy New Year. Stay safe.

This story is related to a post by my friend Petronio V. on a WhatsApp group. Thank you!

December 24, 2020