You can start by observing just one person per day. If you’d like to be a better observer of the world around you, noting and visualizing details will help far better than brain training software like Cogmed. I teach you all about how to do that with these 3 simple visualization exercises. We also fail to observe things that we aren’t seeing – making it impossible to make mental pictures of them. It matters because we don’t ask our minds to practice observation enough.īecause we don’t practice observation, we fail to observe and receive the memory exercise benefits we get from simply asking our brains to recall information. Gary Small talks about memorizing four details of people you encounter out in public.įor example, let’s say someone is wearing a black hat, has blonde hair, a triangular ring, and a green sweater. In fact, by interleaving them, you’ll get even more benefits. Let’s get started! How to Exercise Your Brain: The 15 Best Brain Exercises For Memory ImprovementĪs we go through this list of brain exercises, there’s no special order of important. I’ll link other resources as we go through each of the recommended exercises below. In case you’re wondering where I’ve drawn my own research from, here’s just a sampling of the research papers I’ve studied to discover what really works to improve your mind and memory. Without following these rules, it is unlikely any exercise in an app will improve your memory.īut I promise you the brain exercises and memory exercises below will stimulate and grow both your short-term memory and long-term memory. It is always reasonably complex (and sometimes unreasonably complex).To do that, any routine you select needs to follow these four rules: You need to completing memory exercises that give your memory a real world workout.
The Real Definition of Brain Exercise & Memory ExerciseĬontext dependence means that if you want better focus and clarity, you need to be doing real brain exercises. So any mental fitness you enjoy from using any software rarely applies to the aspects of your life where you need to be sharp, such as during conversations or on the job. Their skills were “context dependent” on using the app. I met many people who could win all the shiny coins and medals in language learning apps.īut actually speak the language? They could not. To give you a quick example of context dependence from the world of language learning, I used to go to a lot of polyglot conventions. In other words, although you might remember where objects are located in a brain training app, there is no evidence showing it will help you better remember where you left your keys. Daniel Simons and his research team have found that there is no meaningful evidence supporting that any skills you gain from within an app environment transfer to other skills in life. Instead of helping you, brain game apps train you to get good at completing tasks within the world of those apps. If anything, they yank your brain’s dopamine around.Īny exercise you get is quickly wasted on the ads you’ll be shown and tracking graphs that no robot can accurately help you understand. Smartphone-based brain games don’t exercise your brain at all. How To Stimulate Your Brain To Be Smarter and Fasterīrain Exercise And Memory Exercise? – What Makes A Mental Fitness Routine Good?.What Is The Best Brain Activity For You?.The 15 Best Brain Exercises For Memory Improvement.Brain Exercise and Memory Exercise? – What Makes Them Good?.To help you navigate this post, here’s a preview of what you’re about to discover: This work is an extension of my PhD research, which involved looking at the role of language learning in developing the mind. Why should you listen to me? As the author of the bestselling book, The Victorious Mind, I’ve been researching memory and brain exercise for over a decade. I’ll show you how to put them into action and also help you understand why they boost brain health. That’s because the mental fitness routines you’ll discover on this page really do exercise your brain. I’m about to reveal some memory exercises and brain exercises that actually work. You might think that practicing remembering objects are hidden in a game, but often it’s actually harming your memory. Worse, it can be harming your focus and concentration, instead of healing it. Even if it feels that way on the surface. It might not even be mentally stimulating. Playing mental exercise games on your “smartphone” is not necessarily brain exercise! That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s a catch: Lots of people do brain exercises and memory exercises, often in the form of brain games. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS