Have you ever wanted to give your brain an upgrade? Wouldn’t it be great if we could make an appointment, schedule a procedure, and immediately have a more powerful, flexible, productive brain? Sounds impossible—and it is, at least for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, there are steps we can take, habits we can build, and strategies we can employ to increase the capacity and productivity of our brains.
We do not have to rely on technology, take medications, or modify our genetics. By adopting and regularly practicing a few habits, we can experience significant benefits for our brain function. We can start by refusing to relegate our brains to serving as storage units. Memory is important, but our brains are built to be active, learn, and grow. We can increase our brain capacity by treating it much like a muscle and regularly stretching, exercising, and building strength. Here are five actions we can take and habits we can adopt to get started.
Attend to your attention span.
Many factors affect our ability to sustain our attention. Distractions, interruptions, multitasking, and ongoing habits can reduce the time our attention stays focused on any one source. Some people argue that our attention spans have naturally shrunk over the past number of years, but the research is not consistent on that point. What we do know is that switching from one topic to another saps mental energy. We also know that most people can lengthen their attention span with effort and practice. Further, as our ability to pay attention grows, so does the information our brains take in and can apply to tasks, challenges, and other activities dependent on brain power. Paying attention is a skill we can build.
How to grow your attention: Pay attention to your attention. When do you feel your mind begin to drift? Are there times when paying attention is more difficult? When you feel your mind begin to wander, try reminding yourself why paying attention might be important at that moment. Try discretely timing how long you can sustain your attention. Having a purpose for paying attention, consistent practice, and noticing progress are three of the most effective ways to grow your attention span.
Ignite your imagination.
Imagination is a wonderful thing. It is too bad that it is so often most accessible to children. Imagination helps us to conjure, examine, elaborate, and create what could be. Our imagination is free from the constraints common to most other forms of thinking. Our imagination can also make what seems impossible possible. Meanwhile, the activities associated with imagining can stimulate new brain pathways, unearth hidden connections among ideas and issues, and even complete half-thoughts and partial understanding. Imagining is one of the most powerful and effective brain-growth exercises. The responsibilities and routines of life can keep us away from exploring and discovering through imagination. Yet, imagination allows our brain to roam and explore in ways rarely available through other means. Imagination is often called the brain’s stimulation engine.
How to free your imagination: Mental rehearsal can be a powerful way to prepare for an event or activity because it activates brain regions that simulate reality. Similarly, imagining alternatives can help you move beyond rigid thinking and improve your creativity, problem solving, and adaptability. Employing your imagination to create mental pictures and build contextual stories can also strengthen learning experiences and memory. Further, imagining future scenarios can help to anticipate consequences, rehearse decisions, and emotionally prepare for what may lie ahead.
Surround yourself with stimulating people.
Some of us had people in our lives when we were young who said things like, “Choose your friends carefully. Who you hang out with is who you will become.” We may have doubted this advice, but it turns out to be far more true than false. The people with whom we converse, hang out, and otherwise spend time can have a more powerful influence on us and our brains than we realize. They can influence our values, how we spend our time, what we talk about, and what we learn.
When choosing friends and colleagues: You cannot always choose with whom you must work, but you can decide who you want to listen to and with whom you will spend time when you do have a choice. Your selection criteria should be driven by what you aspire to be. For example, if you want to be an authentic person, you need to spend time with authentic people. If you seek to be more open-minded, you need to seek out open-minded people who can help you to grow in that direction. Life is short: Spending time with people who drag you down, limit your perspective, and narrow your interests can work against building your knowledge and deepening your wisdom.
Curate your curiosity.
Curiosity might be compared to the starter unit in an engine. It stimulates the brain to be alert, engaged, and ready to learn, and it is also proactive, seeking information rather than just receiving it. Curiosity enhances the pleasure of learning by improving the brain's efficiency in processing information. Further, curiosity deepens learning, enhances memory, and activates the brain’s reward system, resulting in the release of dopamine. Consequently, motivation, anticipation, and engagement grow.
How to become more curious: Curiosity rests and builds on other brain capacity-building elements, such as attention, imagination, and associations with interesting people. You can activate your curiosity by intentionally approaching situations and issues with questions rather than judgment or conclusions. Exposing yourself to novel concepts and experiences can stimulate curiosity. Allowing yourself to wonder rather than expecting to have answers can be a freeing experience and a stimulator of curiosity. Questions like “What would happen if...,” “What am I missing….,” and “How else might I think of this…” can be a great place to start and a way to form a curiosity habit.
Enlist your environment.
This strategy may seem too simple to work. Yet, research shows that when we shift, modify, or rearrange our surroundings, our brain takes note. Our brains notice novelty and unfamiliar contexts. Redecorating and resetting a room we occupy frequently can give us a new perspective, stimulate changes in brain waves, and improve our memory. Interestingly, even reorganizing our immediate workspace can refresh our thinking, stimulate ideas, and motivate us to begin a task we have been putting off.
Ideas for changing surroundings: Consider moving your desk or worktable to face another direction. You might add some artwork or pictures to create variety and stimulate your thinking. Occasionally, move out of your regular workspace and try thinking and working in another location. Changing environments can also be helpful in capturing information in memory. Moving from one location to another while reading or studying can “location-stamp” memories, making what you learned easier to recall.
We might think of the brain as a place to store information, but its real value lies in building meaning, making connections, and expanding our ability to think and learn. However, unless we consistently focus our brains in these directions, we risk allowing them to become stale and to atrophy rather than to grow, strengthen, and perform.
