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How to Exercise Your Brain

As a kid I loved the card game Concentration. And I noticed that the more I played it, the better I got. Eventually I was able to remember where almost every card was - and it was effortless!

Lately, though, the weirdest mental software defects are emerging. Sometimes I can't remember simple nouns. I'll be speaking along, and then it's "um.. what is that.. oh, you know.. darn.. it's that thing you stuff files into - oh yes, a file cabinet." Whoa.

Not going to let this get bigger. Last year I signed up for an online French course from Rosetta Stone (www.rosettastone.com). It wasn't cheap, but it sharpened up my mind a great deal. My subscription ran out and I was able to find many online language courses that are free. Some are FWP's Free French Lessons (http://www.france-pub.com/french/index.html), and French Assistant (http://www.frenchassistant.com/). I used French, but there are just as many Rosetta Stone and / or free language sites as there are languages to learn.

More Brain Workout Ideas

Memorize everything! What you use, you keep. Try saying aloud and repeating the license plate number in front of you at a red light - and then say it from memory. Keep it in your memory for five to ten minutes. Put faces to "hello tags" at networking lunches and repeat them in your mind until you know them. Memorize your favorite poem. Stop using speed-dial. Know your own cell phone number.

Do word or number games regularly. If you have a child or grandchild, you've got a perfect playmate. If not, do them by yourself.
Crossword puzzles - need I say more?
Creative writing. It doesn't have to be good. Journal, poetry, and short story writing all work well to keep the brain sharp.
Reading something difficult and analyzing it. I've been reading Shakespeare, my Sig.O. went through Canterbury Tales, and my photographer friend reads technical books with her yellow highlighter in hand. I tried Proust's Remembrance of Things Past and loved what (little) I could get through.

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I hate to say this, but study after study suggests that alcohol is bad for the brain. It's also important to get away from junk food. According to NewScientist.com, "kids breakfasting on fizzy drinks and sugary snacks performed at the level of an average 70-year-old in tests of memory and attention."¹

I've also found that when I'm in "creative mode," my memory is sharper. Writing, painting, and dancing can all be done in private, without an audience, so you don't have to worry about being judged. You can build furniture. Invent things. Solve little problems around the house, like improving traffic flow, or organizing a key rack.

Brain calisthenics are difficult in the beginning, but as with my Concentration card game, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. (Anything's easier than lifting weights, right?)

¹NewScientist.com (Article by K.Douglas, A.George, B.Holmes, G.Lawton, J.McCrone, A.Motluk, H.Phillips)

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