Becoming smarter is what a lot of people look for. While joining brain training programmes is an option to increase your IQ, focus and creativity, it can be quite expensive. Luckily there are plenty of free brain training hacks you can learn to make your brain smarter.
In this article, I’m going to introduce to you 10 free brain training hacks that will boost your brain performance and make you smarter.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The importance of brain training
Brain training hacks that will make you smarter
Hack #1. Learn by teaching
Hack #2. Learn by writing
Hack #3. Physical exercise
Hack #4. Listen to audiobooks
Hack #5. Read smarter
Hack #6. Reason backward
Hack #7. Quick and easy math tricks
Hack #8. Think – Try – Learn
Hack #9. Brain training apps
Hack #10. Learn a new language
The importance of brain training
The fundamental building block in the brain is the neuron. By learning ways to enhance the building block, we open a new frontier for understanding the power of our brain. Author of Brain Building: Exercising Yourself Smarter by Marilyn vos Savant remarked,
“Building your brain power will open a new frontier beyond which lies an understanding that seems nearly incalculable.”
So, what’s the point?
We can improve our brain power and intelligence through certain brain training exercises.
You might be wondering:
In our busy life, how can I find time to do this?
The answer is simple and it’s not that difficult.
Brain training is simply cognitive training using exercises to improve your brain power. By improving your brain power, you will find that your IQ, focus, and creative skills will increase as well.
Let’s take a look at how you can improve your brain power through brain training.
Brain training hacks that will make you smarter
Here are 10 brain training hacks you can use now to make you smarter tomorrow:
Hack #1. Learn by teaching
In Mindhacker, Ron and Marty Hale-Evans argue that we should learn by teaching.
“Before you can teach an idea, you must understand it. Therefore, teaching situations can be proving grounds for your own knowledge. Accelerate your learning of a subject by agreeing to teach it.” – Ron and Marty Hale-Evans
How to make this work:
Dive deep into a concept by breaking it apart (analysis) and putting it back together (synthesis).
Find a way to teach the content. If you have the appropriate education, try teaching an online course. If not, try teaching
a new idea through places such as Udemy.
Use innovative systems thinking tools to conduct analysis and synthesis and to teach your course. Read my other article to find out how you can explain ideas clearer to others: How to Explain Things Better and Make Others Understand Your
Ideas Easily
Hack #2. Learn by writing
One of my favorite methods for learning and increasing intelligence is writing. By writing or blogging on a new topic, I force myself to break apart concepts. I then piece them back together by writing about them.
How to make this work:
Start writing for a blog (i.e. Lifehack.org) or start your own. A great place to start writing is on Medium.com.
Dive deep into a concept by breaking it apart (analysis) and putting it back together (synthesis).
Write about the content you are learning and pay close attention to the feedback you receive once published.
Hack #3. Physical exercise
Physical exercise will not only improve your body, but it will also improve your brain power. Neurogenesis is the birth of new neurons in our brain. Exercise increases the levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which supports neurogenesis.
How to make this work:
Start an exercise routine. Read my article This 24 Hour Workout Will Leave You Thinking, Looking And Feeling So Good for more ideas on how to start one.
Change your diet. Eliminate refined sugars and start taking vitamins to improve the functioning of your brain.
Hack #4. Listen to audiobooks
My favorite hack to use along with physical exercise is audiobooks. I am always plugged into an audiobook. While exercising, driving, cutting my grass, chores, and just about any other activity.
How to make this work:
Purchase wireless running headphones.
Sign up for a free app connected to your local library e.g. OverDrive. Checkout audiobooks through this free app.
Purchase audiobooks at a discount through Audible.com. If you are unable to find your audiobook free through
OverDrive, purchase the books here.
Download the app (or a similar app) Natural Reader, which is a free text to speech online app allowing you to convert text to audio. Essentially, you can convert an online article, a pdf, a word document, and similar files to an audio.
Step #5. After you have listened to an audiobook for a while, try bumping up the speed of the book.
Hack #5. Read smarter
Start reading books faster and smarter. There are certain ways you should read a book. Some books should be read faster than others.
How to make this work:
Skim the book first. Start with the title page, the inside of the cover, the table of contents, then the back of the book.
Identify the author’s main theme (and main points within the book). Ask yourself the question “why” throughout the book.
For example, “Why is the author arguing this point?”.
Throughout the book and at the conclusion of the book, ask yourself three questions:
– What? What happened in the book?
– So What? What was the key takeaway?
– Now What? What can you do with this new information?
Hack #6. Reason backward
Maurice Ashley, Chess Grandmaster, discussed the importance of retrograde analysis or reasoning backward in the following Ted Talk:
Let’s look at an example of reasoning backward.
Read the following sentence:
After reading this sentence, you will realize that the the brain doesn’t recognize a second ‘the’.
Now read the sentence again. Did you notice that you missed the second ‘the’?
Our mind is logical and proceeds forward, so we don’t see the second ‘the’; however, if we read the sentence backwards we will always catch it.
“What is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance. In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward.” – Sherlock Homes, A Study in Scarlet
Hack #7. Quick and easy math tricks
Let’s examine some quick and easy math hacks that should be (but are not) taught in school.
Easily multiply any two-digit number by eleven:
32 x 11
Simply add the first two digits: 3 + 2 = 5
Place the 5 between the 3 and the 2 and you have your answer: 352
32 x 11 = 352
ii. Easily add two digit numbers:
84 + 57
Add 84 + 50 = 134
Then add 134 + 7 = 141
84 + 57 = 141
iii. Easily subtract three digit numbers:
645 – 372
Take 645 – 400 = 245
Then add 28 (or 20 then add 8) as 400 – 372 = 28
245 + 20 = 265 + 8 = 273
645 – 372 = 273
iv. Multiplication guestimation
Another powerful trick is multiplication guesstimation.
88 x 54 is approximately 90 x 50 = 4500
This is much easier to multiple as 9 x 5 = 45
The correct answer is: 88 x 54 = 4752
For more math tricks like this, I recommend the book Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer.
Hack #8. Think – Try – Learn
In Mindhacker, Ron and Marty Hale-Evans discuss a powerful tactic called Think – Try – Learn.
Think: Theorize, Predict, Plan
Try: Test, Observe, Record, Play
Learn: Analyze, Define Meaning, Change, Grow
The following is an example of this method from Alphapunk.com:
Image via http://alphapunk.com/services/design/design-ethos/
Hack #9. Brain training apps
Elevate and Lumosity are brain training programs designed to improve our focus, speaking ability, processing speed, memory, math skills, and much more.
Both programs come packed with more than 40 games and puzzles designed to improve our critical thinking and cognitive skills.
A comparison of the two apps can be found here:1
Elevate
Pros: Personal tracking, has the feel of a mobile game, available on iOS and Android, and app of the year for 2014
Cons: Poor graphics and only comes in English
Lumosity
Pros: Fun and good memory improvement games, strong brand recognition, progress tracking, available on ios, android and pc, and used in over 180 countries
Cons: Expensive, repetitive, and have issues with iOS/Android app synch with desktop
Hack #10. Learn a new language
Learning a new language is one of the most powerful ways to improve your intelligence and cognitive capacity.
I recently came across a fantastic new app called Chineasy Cards. This program makes learning Chinese both fun and aesthetically pleasing. The design principles are stronger than any other language app I have previously came across. I highly recommend this app if you are interested in learning Chinese.
Brain training is powerful
Brain training is a powerful (yet simple) way to improve your brain power, IQ, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills.
As Marilyn vos Savan said,
“The mind can stretch. It can be strengthened, toned, and conditioned to perform miracles for you.” – Marilyn vos Savant
By using these 10 easy brain training hacks, you will find that you have the basic building blocks to increase your brain power.
REFERENCES
[1] Exploring Life’s Mysteries: Best Brain Training Apps: Elevate vs Lumosity vs BrainHQ vs FitBrains